Gospel of Kindness

[Sam]

This is an old story that may be familiar to some:

31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

34-36"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.'

37-40"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, that was me—you did it to me.'

41-43"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

44"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

45"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'

46"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."

Matthew 25:31-46 from The Message

[Sam]

"I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and you discussed my hunger. Thank you.

I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel to pray for my release.

I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.

You seem so holy; so close to God.

But I’m still very hungry and lonely and cold.

So where have your prayers gone? What have they done? What does it profit a man to page through his book of prayers when the rest of the world is crying for help?"

- By M. Lunn (1,500 Inspirational Quotes and Illustrations)

Father, May we work and pray, never neglecting one or the other… Through Jesus, Amen

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Sam

This is an old story that may be familiar to some:

31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

34-36"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.'

37-40"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, that was me—you did it to me.'

41-43"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'

44"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'

45"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'

46"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."

Matthew 25:31-46 from The Message

But I thought it depends on whether you repented, got baptized (by immersion and with the right words spoken), and spoke in tongues!

[GrowingPains]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

Define love. What do you mean when you use this word?

Since Christ said to love our wives as He loves the church, and used Himself as an example to love one another, it wasn't phileo or eros love. It must be a higher love: agape. The only love that could be applied to an enemy.

So we define that type of love according to what Christ displayed for the world.

Agape love:
Comes only from God
Does not always run with natural inclinations
Gives unselfishly
Takes action and is visible (you can see it in action)
Ready to serve
Does what is best
Not drawn out by excellency
Deliberate choice without cause

There's also a place for Phileo love too. That is friendliness, warm affection, kindness... agape sort of umbrellas it all, and does so without reason.

[GrowingPains]

Good point, Sam. Excellent illustration the Bible gave for love.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Timmy

But I thought it depends on whether you repented, got baptized (by immersion and with the right words spoken), and spoke in tongues!

Timotheus,
What you mentioned is good but you left off the most important parts like tithing, wearing the right clothes, unquestioning obedience to your pastor, shunning sinners, etc.

[nahkoe]

Originally Posted by GrowingPains

Since Christ said to love our wives as He loves the church, and used Himself as an example to love one another, it wasn't phileo or eros love. It must be a higher love: agape. The only love that could be applied to an enemy.

So we define that type of love according to what Christ displayed for the world.

Agape love:
Comes only from God
Does not always run with natural inclinations
Gives unselfishly
Takes action and is visible (you can see it in action)
Ready to serve
Does what is best
Not drawn out by excellency
Deliberate choice without cause

There's also a place for Phileo love too. That is friendliness, warm affection, kindness... agape sort of umbrellas it all, and does so without reason.

But what does it look like? Examples?

What kind of things do you, or others, do that demonstrate this?

I know I've seen it, but I have trouble defining this kind of love. And I'll flat out admit I haven't seen it often. It seems to be elusive.

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Sam

Timotheus,
What you mentioned is good but you left off the most important parts like tithing, wearing the right clothes, unquestioning obedience to your pastor, shunning sinners, etc.

Oh yeah, that too!

[nahkoe]

Originally Posted by Sam

Timotheus,
What you mentioned is good but you left off the most important parts like tithing, wearing the right clothes, unquestioning obedience to your pastor, shunning sinners, etc.

Shhh..Sam...you might make someone uncomfortable! If you're not supposed to shun sinners...are you supposed to...*gasp*..love them?

[GrowingPains]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

But what does it look like? Examples?

What kind of things do you, or others, do that demonstrate this?

I know I've seen it, but I have trouble defining this kind of love. And I'll flat out admit I haven't seen it often. It seems to be elusive.

Nahkoe,

Sam used a beautiful illustration of what it looks like.
Christ was a beautiful illustration.

The minimum of this kind of love, is kindness. And Agape works for people you both know and don't know. It's not love that's earned by the person whom you attend to, it comes from God.