"And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'” (Matthew 25:45 NLT)
I can admire a cute kitten in pictures, but since my son is allergic to cats, I wouldn’t want one in my home. I will admit, I am more of a ‘dog person’--especially if the dog looks anything like my beloved Golden Retriever. I will go out of my way to help an injured or lost dog. A few days ago, I saw a cat get hit by a truck on a rural highway. It was disturbing. I winced as I drove by, but I didn’t stop. You see, stray cats are very common where I live. Farmers use them to keep the mice population down. However, since they are rarely spayed or neutered, there are a lot of cats wandering around. It’s not that I hate cats; I’m just indifferent toward them.
It is natural for us to feel more compassion toward beings that evoke love and empathy from us. We are more likely to go out of our way to help a stranger if he/she reminds us of a loved one. It’s not that we hate people who look different; it’s just that we are more likely to be indifferent to their plight. Our country is going through a period where many of us are callous to the afflictions of those who are different from us. We have become a nation of alienation. This ‘us and them’ mentality is a breeding ground for discrimination, animosity, hate speech, racism, bigotry, paranoia, xenophobia, and persecution. We start viewing those who are different like sub-human pests who decrease our quality of life. We claim to be a Christian nation, but our values are far from Christ-like. We ignore those who are the least privileged; we can’t even acknowledge them as our brothers and sisters. When we refuse to help the ‘least of these’, we are rejecting Christ and His teachings.
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