Spirituality for the rest of us:
How does one judge the vitality of a country? By the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? By The number of millionaires or billionaires that exist in the nation? Or is there some other avenue by which one can determine how healthy a society really. One of the things that has always fascinated me about Jesus is that his way of doing things always seemed to go against the grain, yes, even against the grain of religious teachings. He infuriated religious leaders because he loved the unlovable and saw through the masks that people wore to hide their brokenness and flaws. And when he gave the story of the sheep & goats in Matthew 25, he basically turned our way of doing things upside down. Our societal norms usually demand that we reward and praise the top performers and V.I.Ps' of our time, while simultaneously loathing or being apathetic towards the disenfranchised in society, Jesus said that doing for the "least of these in society" was the equivalent of doing for him and basically implied that he can monitor the spiritual health of a nation by how it treats the forgotten ones. Here are his own words from "The Message"
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.'
"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored (the least of these), that was me—you did it to me.' (Matthew 25:34-40)
Who are the least of these in today's society? There is no shortage of people who are hungry, yes, even here in the wealthiest nation that the world has ever known. One of the most humbling sights I have seen on TV recently was showing how in this economic recession, even some people who were once considered to be middle-class have had to resort to going to food banks to get enough food for their families. Things that people once took for granted such as eating out, have now become a luxury for many, something that has always been a luxury for the chronically poor; there is definitely not a shortage of the homeless, many who are afflicted with mental disorders that only worsen their state of living; and the United States has more prisoners than any other developed nation in the world. And while we may argue that these people, the "least of them" as they are put in this story, don't deserve to be loved, because they made their bed, now they must sleep in it as it and face the consequences, this is not the point of the story. Jesus is making it inherently clear that when it comes to love, the issue is not whether the person you are loving deserves to be loved, the issue is whether you are going to love them. Love that is earned is not love, but simply a reward for a job well done. We are all in need of grace, forgiveness and compassion, and it is the realization of this need that should fuel our love for others. Religion says, "you get your act together first and tote the line, then I will love you", Jesus says, "you've got it all wrong, love reaches out to the hopeless, the destitute, the forgotten.' Who are the forgotten today? Who are the black sheep of today? I will let you answer that question because I know you know some, there may even be a black sheep in your family who has been totally cut off by other members because of their actions.
I think the world is really tired of religious rhetoric, maybe that is why even in the United States, for the first time in any generation the percentage of people who call themselves non-religious is now in double digits, percentage wise. People see through the smoke when religious practices are simply about who can adhere to the rules or doctrines of your particular sect. What the world really needs is a mass flow of love from people to people. Less talk about how "saved" and "sanctified" people are, and more action. If your religious experience is simply a safe haven to further your own comfort zone, then it is a misguided ethos. If the love that we say we have for others is an exclusionary love that only accepts others if they adhere to your brand of faith, then re-examine what you call love. Jesus identifies with the "least of these in society". The question is do we?
Stephen Oladotun Akinduro
Columbus GA
706-563-6012
How does one judge the vitality of a country? By the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? By The number of millionaires or billionaires that exist in the nation? Or is there some other avenue by which one can determine how healthy a society really. One of the things that has always fascinated me about Jesus is that his way of doing things always seemed to go against the grain, yes, even against the grain of religious teachings. He infuriated religious leaders because he loved the unlovable and saw through the masks that people wore to hide their brokenness and flaws. And when he gave the story of the sheep & goats in Matthew 25, he basically turned our way of doing things upside down. Our societal norms usually demand that we reward and praise the top performers and V.I.Ps' of our time, while simultaneously loathing or being apathetic towards the disenfranchised in society, Jesus said that doing for the "least of these in society" was the equivalent of doing for him and basically implied that he can monitor the spiritual health of a nation by how it treats the forgotten ones. Here are his own words from "The Message"
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.'
"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored (the least of these), that was me—you did it to me.' (Matthew 25:34-40)
Who are the least of these in today's society? There is no shortage of people who are hungry, yes, even here in the wealthiest nation that the world has ever known. One of the most humbling sights I have seen on TV recently was showing how in this economic recession, even some people who were once considered to be middle-class have had to resort to going to food banks to get enough food for their families. Things that people once took for granted such as eating out, have now become a luxury for many, something that has always been a luxury for the chronically poor; there is definitely not a shortage of the homeless, many who are afflicted with mental disorders that only worsen their state of living; and the United States has more prisoners than any other developed nation in the world. And while we may argue that these people, the "least of them" as they are put in this story, don't deserve to be loved, because they made their bed, now they must sleep in it as it and face the consequences, this is not the point of the story. Jesus is making it inherently clear that when it comes to love, the issue is not whether the person you are loving deserves to be loved, the issue is whether you are going to love them. Love that is earned is not love, but simply a reward for a job well done. We are all in need of grace, forgiveness and compassion, and it is the realization of this need that should fuel our love for others. Religion says, "you get your act together first and tote the line, then I will love you", Jesus says, "you've got it all wrong, love reaches out to the hopeless, the destitute, the forgotten.' Who are the forgotten today? Who are the black sheep of today? I will let you answer that question because I know you know some, there may even be a black sheep in your family who has been totally cut off by other members because of their actions.
I think the world is really tired of religious rhetoric, maybe that is why even in the United States, for the first time in any generation the percentage of people who call themselves non-religious is now in double digits, percentage wise. People see through the smoke when religious practices are simply about who can adhere to the rules or doctrines of your particular sect. What the world really needs is a mass flow of love from people to people. Less talk about how "saved" and "sanctified" people are, and more action. If your religious experience is simply a safe haven to further your own comfort zone, then it is a misguided ethos. If the love that we say we have for others is an exclusionary love that only accepts others if they adhere to your brand of faith, then re-examine what you call love. Jesus identifies with the "least of these in society". The question is do we?
Stephen Oladotun Akinduro
Columbus GA
706-563-6012
posted by Stephen O. | 1:36 PM
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