Google, Jesus, Sheep and Goats

It’s 8:00 at night on Thursday, and I am pushing the deadline for this blog post. Even for me. Some weeks, I can’t think of anything to write about. But that’s not this week. This week, all I can think about is the one thing I know I need to write about.

I have a long list of reasons I shouldn’t write about the Syrian refugees. I don’t know enough about the situation. I don’t understand it. I’m uneducated about it.

It would be easier to stay quiet. And that’s largely what I’ve done.

I spent the last hour researching, my google search engine filling up.

Christians and refugees.

How should Christians respond to Syria?

Jesus and Syrian refugees.

I wanted there to be a simple, clear, black and white answer. Instead, I was greeting by hatred and anger and fear. And I closed my search window feeling even more confused and unsettled than before.

So I walked away from my computer. I walked away from the vitriol spewed by faceless people on the internet.

Because, in the end, all I wanted to know was, would Jesus take in refugees? Not would the governor of a particular state. The president of a particular country.

Would Jesus take in a refugee.

As a Christian, I think we can get lost in the questions and debates. We can be overrun by anger and self-preservation. And in those moments, in my own life, I have to stop and ask myself, am I trying to be like Jesus?

Most of the time I’m not.

And really, that’s all I would ask of you. Look at His teachings. Read His words. Reflect on His life. Remember that He was criticized. Crucified. Society didn’t like what He was doing.

Society might not like what you’re doing either.

When I closed Google tonight, I picked up my copy of The Message. I know, it’s not a translation. But sometimes it shakes up familiar scripture for me. And that’s what it did tonight.

I read. I reflected. And I wrote this post. Because it’s not okay for me to be quiet anymore.

“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’ — Matthew 25:41-45 MSG