Are We Leaving Our Neighbor Behind?

The “Left Behind Series” is all the rage for some Christians. The basic premise is that we must turn our lives over to God before the end times come. If we fail to accept Jesus and he returns, we will be left behind and never see our families and friends.

First, yes, it is essential to believe and trust God. However, that is just one part of being a disciple of Jesus and loving God.

Jesus also calls us to follow the two most important commandments, which are:

²⁹Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; ³⁰you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 

³¹The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

~Mark 12:29-31, NRSVUE

Second, people have tied Mathew 24:36-44 on watchfulness with the rapture without finishing the rest of Jesus' sayings. Stopping at Matthew 24:44, forgetting what Jesus said before, and failing to read what comes after those verses is like starting and not finishing a race. Yes, in addition, we need to read Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus says:

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’

⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”

~Matthew 25:31-46 NRSVUE

I wonder if we forget that Jesus' love and grace are for all. When we reach out to those in physical or spiritual need, we reach out to Jesus.

When we build walls keeping people out and are unwilling to help those in physical and emotional need, we turn Jesus away. When we tear people down rather than build them up or put more resources into entertainment and luxury than into education, medicine, and ensuring everyone has enough to meet their basic needs, we fail to live the Gospel.

Many in our society today preach fear of the other so that our community becomes increasingly divided, protecting their wealth and power rather than following Jesus, who came not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

May we not be left behind because we worked as Jesus' disciples to never leave anyone behind.