"... and you wanted me deported..."

(i originally wrote and posted this to renown on August 26, 2010. still a powerful & indicting paraphrase below.)

no doubt Jesus' words in Matthew 25:31-46 are pretty intense. i've talked about them a lot. Those words (and many others like them in Scripture) are changing the way we see everything.

To sum up - basically Jesus said that when we help the hungry, thirsty, foreigners, poor, and prisoners it's just like we're helping Jesus Himself. When we ignore them we're dissing Jesus. it's a very sobering talk from Jesus.

Yesterday i read about half of A Hole In Our Gospel by the President of World Vision, Richard Stearns. When he was talking about this passage his paraphrase almost knocked me down. i literally had to go and sit down and write some thoughts.

After reading the passage from Matthew he gave his contemporary paraphrase:

"I was hungry

while you had all you needed.

I was thristy

but you drank bottled water.

I was a stranger

and you wanted me deported.

I needed clothes

but you needed more clothes.

I was sick 

but you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness.

I was in prison

and you said I was getting what I deserved."

*is that us? we do that right? is that me? is that you?

i'm still just letting that sink in. i hope you'll do the same.