I am sure I have posted on this topic before, but it’s an issue that seems to trouble me frequently. I am not a Biblical scholar by any stretch of the imagination, so I don’t have any intellectual context to interpret the quote from Jesus that goes something like, “whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.”
It seems to me if you take the life of Christ seriously, you’d have to pay close attention to this statement. There is also some references to giving up what you have and following Jesus – remember – the guy that had too much and couldn’t give it up? So if you take these two statements as the gospel within the Gospels, what implications are there for how you live?
As a husband and father, my instincts tell me to look after my family first in many aspects of my existence. Sure, I can help the least of my brothers but it will be right after I try to make sure my family is comfortable, safe, entertained, educated, healthy, etc. Surely Christ wouldn’t want me to help the least of my brothers and have my kids not getting their comfort/entertainment/education/health? Or would he not understand? Maybe being a parent is trying to teach your kids to serve the least of their brothers and worry a lot less about the other things parents provide their children.
I’ve heard the quote interpreted in several different ways as to who is the least of your brothers. I tend to think of it in terms of resources and choices. There are financially poor here in the Twin Cities and there are poor people nearly everywhere else. Some are clearly poorer than others and some of made choices to put themselves in their situation and others have had no real choices. Who are the LEAST of my brothers?
Another twist on the least of my brothers interpretation is that it’s about poverty or a deficiency and there are many people who are deficient in some capacity even in the tawny metropolitan suburbs. Maybe helping the least of my brothers is helping a rich godless person have faith. Maybe helping people who don’t get along develop and improve relationships counts as helping the least of my brothers.
Here’s what I am worried about:
“Dan, we are sorry, you can not enter the gates of heaven. As you are well aware having read the Gospel, you were to help the least of your brothers and give up what you have and follow Christ to get in. Wasn’t’ that clear enough for you? We thought we spelled it out so there shouldn’t be any doubt on what to do. Tough luck, you took a stab at it, but serving your family and your rich neighbors instead of the poor, is going to cost you. Hope you don’t mind extreme heat for all of eternity.”
Tags: least of my brothers, helping the poor, being a christian
August 23, 2009 at 2:15 pm |
you are very close to my revelation… one point I would like to make is the possessive pronoun that you changed which I believe is at the heart of the statement the man that you call Jesus said… that being, it seems to me that you interject yourself as the person speaking when you refer to the state “least of these MY brothers”. The possessive pronoun is referring to the least of these HIS brothers, not your brothers. He has already said who the least of these are. As I see it, we are left no room for interpretation, The least of these are HIS brothers. We owe them this respect for if we lift up the least among us, we all rise, if we lift up those who are already on top then we stand on the heads of the least of these, the ones who are already down and now will never rise because we are standing on their necks. Your other error is that you assume a zero sum game. That is that you cannot help the least of these without harming your children or the ones that you love. That is as far from the truth as Satan is from God. By helping others you do not impoverish yourself, you can many times become richer in spirit and in worldly wealth. Only, Satan could put such rubbish in the mind of an economist. Wake up!