By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16-18).How does that work for you? "If anyone has the world's goods ..." which would include far more than the so-called "1%" -- more like 99% -- "and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" Unless you are one of the rare folk who has a real heart for people in need or, by some unbelievable circumstance, never see a "brother in need", you have to feel the weight of this statement.
This is not a call for higher taxes on the rich. It is not a biblical cry for communism or socialism or any other "ism" you may want to think about. It is a statement from God's Word that those of us who have the love of God should be loving in deed, not in word. Now, if, by chance, you're one of those people that happen to have this particular characteristic of the Christian life down pat, I think it is incumbent upon you to start teaching those around you how to do that. This is a spiritual good that should be shared with brothers in need of it. For the rest of us, I think it's clear what direction we need to go from here.
No comments:
Post a Comment