When reading the statement on this picture, I can't help but agree with it. It is correct in saying that you don't see that many Christians lined up to help food banks or homeless shelters or many other facets of serving "the least of these" as Christ commanded. And we should all know that being a Christian, we serve Christ by serving others and we should be eager to do whatever is called of us to serve. Christians as a whole, dramatically fail when it comes to serving the least of these with excuses such as but not limited to: "I don't have the time"; "I don't have the money"; "I don't have the talent"; and sadly for some "They are not worth my time". We judge those who need to be served thinking they should do better for themselves, they need to learn to help themselves or they should have made better choices. While this is true to an extent we forget that Christ doesn't put a limit on 'the least of these'. And we forget that serving doesn't always come outside the four walls of church or we think it only comes within the four walls of church. Some of us don't even serve within our own church on any given Sunday while others refuse to go outside their church on any given chance. And we certainly don't see this many people, Christian or not, waiting to worship on any given Sunday.
But I do have my reservations with the picture above. I, personally, find a few prejudices with this statement. Some may agree but others may think I'm overly analyzing the statement and missing the bigger picture. I think it's prejudice to assume that everyone of those people pictured and those not pictured who ate at CFA on that particular day were Christians. I also think it's prejudice to assume that everyone ate there for the same exact reason. No doubt, the majority ate there for 2 reasons: either to support Mr. Cathey's biblical stance on homosexuality or to support his freedom to speak it. It's also prejudice to me to think that the only requirement to serve at a food bank or homeless shelter is to be a Christian or of the Christian faith. To serve the less fortunate can be one of the most neutral outlets for many faiths to come together in unity. So if one is gonna judge Christians for not serving, it's only fair to judge other faiths, right, since this photo seems to be about judging what Christians should be doing instead. Now, if one chooses to serve at a Christian only mission than obviously the Christian faith will be promoted but there are many missions that would welcome different faiths to do nothing more than to simply serve by feeding, teaching, mentoring, clothing or giving. However, as critical as I just was of the church as a whole, there are many, many individuals within the church who passionately serve for the cause of Christ in their community, nationally and globally. And there are many churches who serve their community and the globe with a passion and unconditional love that one can't help but be drawn to Christ when a witness to it. And because of these people and these churches, it's not fair to place all Christians and churches into the category of the above picture.
For me the bigger picture is this, we as Christians, are called to serve in some capacity without conditions when it comes to the 'least of these'. And eating a chicken sandwich for whatever reason one chose that day, doesn't make up for the lack of service we fail to do. Christ doesn't require us to change some one's life but through our serving 'the least of these' he can change them. And just as amazing, we are changed. We become a blessing to someone and we become humbled when we finally realize that it's not about us but through serving others, it's all about Him.
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