"Our lives as we live them seem like lives that anticipate questions that will never be asked. It seems as if we are getting ourselves ready for the question “How much did you earn during your lifetime?” Or “How many friends did you make?” Or “How much progress did you make in your career?” Or “How much influence did you have on people?” Or “How many conversions did you make?”
Were any of these to be the question Christ will ask when he comes again in his glory, many of us could approach the judgement day with great confidence. But nobody is going to hear any of these questions. The question we are all going to face is the question we are least prepared for. It is: “What have you done for the least of mine?” As long as there are strangers; hungry, naked, and sick people; prisoners, refugees, and slaves; people who are handicapped physically, mentally, or emotionally; people without work, a home, or a piece of land, there will be that haunting question from the throne of judgement: “What have you done for the least of mine?”
I don’t think even the Christian God really cares about the straight and narrow dogma, and would not appreciate the in group/out group focus of the hardliners. The bottom line is the point of their religion, caring for those who are not cared for by others.
I often figure if Jesus came back, he would always appear to you as the person you least want to help.
Traditional? No. They are not more traditional.
I think this is relevant
From Henri Nouwen:
"Our lives as we live them seem like lives that anticipate questions that will never be asked. It seems as if we are getting ourselves ready for the question “How much did you earn during your lifetime?” Or “How many friends did you make?” Or “How much progress did you make in your career?” Or “How much influence did you have on people?” Or “How many conversions did you make?”
Were any of these to be the question Christ will ask when he comes again in his glory, many of us could approach the judgement day with great confidence. But nobody is going to hear any of these questions. The question we are all going to face is the question we are least prepared for. It is: “What have you done for the least of mine?” As long as there are strangers; hungry, naked, and sick people; prisoners, refugees, and slaves; people who are handicapped physically, mentally, or emotionally; people without work, a home, or a piece of land, there will be that haunting question from the throne of judgement: “What have you done for the least of mine?”
I don’t think even the Christian God really cares about the straight and narrow dogma, and would not appreciate the in group/out group focus of the hardliners. The bottom line is the point of their religion, caring for those who are not cared for by others.
I often figure if Jesus came back, he would always appear to you as the person you least want to help.