I’m not a fan of memes that wander beyond the purely comedic. Weighty issues are far too important and complex to be relegated to memedom. What might seem a pithy and insightful statement far too often turns out to be shortsighted and manipulative. So when I saw this memed quote, I couldn’t help but shake my head a little:
“When you die, God isn’t going to ask you about someone else. He won’t ask you about the two men down the street who got married. He won’t ask you about the girl who had an abortion. He won’t ask you about the atheist that lives on the corner. He won’t ask you about the woman who feels more comfortable as a man. He WILL ask you how he loved those people as he called you to do.”
A decent enough sentiment, it seems, but if I wanted such rank legalism, I’d just stick with the standard American church.
Yeah. Most people don’t get that calls for “love” as a means to answer to God are merely legalistic appeals. They get things backwards. They miss the part about being a new creation in Christ – one that loves because of Christ and the renewed Spirit within them, not as a means to make God happy and earn a spot in heaven. The only answer in which God is really interested (and which he already knows) is the one we give to the question “What did you do with Jesus?” Because if the answer is, “I trusted in him for my salvation,” the result should be, to some degree, a new person who also does what he says.
And here’s what he says: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And your neighbor includes the men who get married and the women who have abortions (and everybody else, for that matter). Now, we know that to love doesn’t mean wholehearted approval of everything the object of one’s love does, but it does call for a certain amount of kindness, patience, and understanding. We are not the ones to condemn – that is for God, who knows the heart. But we are called to something in Christ that should make him appealing to the world and not one to be scorned. As Paul wrote in Romans, “the name of God is blasphemed because of you.” This should not be. But rather, we must keep in mind the words of Jesus himself:
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:34-46
The Bible screams of this attitude. We are to be at peace with others. We are to show forth the fruit of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” — you just can’t go wrong with that (“against such things there is no law”). This attitude shows out of the New Creation who is the one who is in Christ. It is not compelled by some legalistic obligation brought on by a pop-quiz God gives us at heaven’s door, but rather, it is the genuine result of a heart truly captured by the Spirit.
When I die, God isn’t going to ask me anything. He will know. He’s God, and if his Spirit lives in me, the answer is there already. The key is to make sure everybody else can see it too.
