By Jimmy Meeks
We often hear that the primary reason God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah was because of their immorality. And the scripture certainly reveals that the loose living among the inhabitants of these cities was cause for concern.
Genesis 19 tells us that two angels came to visit Lot. Lot convinced them to stay the night at his house. While the two were inside Lot's residence, the men of the city came knocking on the door, demanding that Lot send the two outside. The scripture doesn't hide their motive -
They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” (Genesis 19:5).
Lot was terrified. He went outside and spoke with the men, pleading with them to back off. He even offered them his two daughters for their sexual pleasure! But they refused, insisting that the two men be given over to them.
You know how this story ends. The "outcry against them" rose up before the Lord, and soon Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone.
However, there is also another reason these two cities met their doom, one that is rarely addressed.
In Ezekiel 16:49 we have one of the more disturbing verses in all of scripture (we'll look at another one later). Read it for yourself -
Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
I've heard a multitude of ministers address the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah, and how God rained down His wrath upon them. But I can't recall any of them ever addressing this verse. Here, the Lord makes plain the sins that brought about their destruction: pride, excess of food, prosperous ease, and their failure to aid the poor and needy.
The judgment that befell Sodom and Gomorrah was also because they ignored the poor and needy.
There's another set of "disturbing" Bible verses found in Matthew 25. Here, Jesus will speak of sheep and goats.
He tells of a day when He will return, and all the nations will be gathered before Him. He will then separate the sheep from the goat, placing the sheep on the right, and the goats on the left. But what really troubles me about these passages is how Jesus defines goats and sheep.
The goats, He says, will be cast into the "everlasting fire," while the sheep will be with Him for all of eternity.
For the goats to be cast into hell, one would think that some gross sin must have dominated their lives. Surely the goats were evil, perhaps sexually immoral, or murderers, or thieves, child abusers, robbers, or something along these lines. After all, isn’t everlasting hell, with its torment, reserved for really bad people?
And surely the goats are the "bad."
But that's not the case. Read Matthew 25 carefully and slowly and you learn something that creates a bit of discomfort. It might even cause one to wonder if they’re truly saved - or not.
Jesus actually describes the goats as the ones who saw the needy and did NOTHING about it! They weren't necessarily "evil" people: they just simply ignored all of the needy and broken lives that surrounded them.
Matthew 25:41 tells us that Jesus will say to the goats, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Wo - these folks, the goats, are "cursed," and are going to a place that was made for Satan and his demons.
What, precisely, did these goats do that warrants such punishment?
Jesus provides the answer in Matthew 25:42 -
"I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."
The goats were confused by what He meant. So they asked Jesus the obvious: "When did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison and not visit you?" Jesus doesn’t hold back. He says to them -
"Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."(Matthew 25:45)
Did you catch that? When you come across the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, or the sick - AND DO NOTHING FOR THEM - you are a ... G-O-A-T.
Don't misunderstand what He is saying. He does not mean that every single time we see a homeless person begging on the side of the road, we are obligated to help. Jesus has no desire to put such chains on us.
However, He does mean to communicate that for those of us who are born again, who are His sheep, there is within us a concern for the needy, for the broken, the hungry, and the thirsty. And, if the love of God is truly inside us, we cannot live our lives ignoring their cries. As 1 John 3:17 clearly states -
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Look at that verse again. The Apostle John is asking you a question, and you need to answer it. He is wanting to know how you and I have managed to close our hearts to the needy. He is wanting to know what makes us think that God's love is in us, if we are refusing to help the down and out, the broken and shattered.
“When the people asked John the Baptist what they needed to do to be right with God, he told them that “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
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Most of us have "plenty." We own two cars, live in a decent house, and vacation in nice places. And yet it never dawns on us that we might need to consider giving away some of our cash, or maybe even that extra car!
I once heard a famous preacher say, "We have an American brand of Christianity." He was right. We look at all of our stuff and declare, "God has blessed me." And that is true. But you might be failing to see WHY He has blessed you. He did not intend that you merely accumulate a bunch of "stuff." On the contrary, He intended that you give some of it away to the less fortunate.
That begs a question: Where is the principle of sacrifice? Jesus spoke often about this subject, and Paul's letters mention it repeatedly. But somewhere along the way, we tossed out such a conversation. We seem to think like the world does: he who dies with the most toys wins.
So off we go: to the lake with our $30,000 boat, hauled by a $40,000 truck. And then back home to a house we struggle to afford.
I mean no condemnation. The last thing we need is to just "feel bad." Instead, we need to experience some good old-fashioned "conviction." The kind where the Holy Spirit calls attention to our greed, our lust for toys and stuff.
The kind of conviction that may lead us to take that money we saved for a vacation, and give it to a family struggling to buy food.
After all, the last thing I would ever want to hear from Jesus is, "Depart from Me, you cursed," and all because He was hungry, thirsty, or naked, and I chose not to help.
Think about it: I CHOSE TO NOT HELP JESUS. When you shut out the needy, you shut out … Him. And that could make you a … goat.
Don't you find it a bit strange that Jesus said when you withhold from the needy, you are actually withholding from Him?
In conclusion, let me ask you to consider something. Are we justified in screaming at the sexually immoral, when we as the church neglect the needy among us?
Perhaps we are mismanaging our funds. I’m reminded of a church down south that coughed up over 100 million dollars for their new buildings. It even included a one million dollar …
“…towering stone waterfall topped with a luminescent cross. A shallow pool surrounded by green space will provide both a common area for downtown residents and guests and a place for open-air baptism services.”
Strange, is it not, what we will do in the name of the One who, Saint Stephen said, "…does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 7:48).
I should probably shut up. When Stephen made that statement, it got him stoned to death…
We have a new seminar we are introducing!
It is called Heart for the City. Our speakers vary, however, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is one of our speakers, as well as Jimmy Meeks.
The theme is -
GOD-FEARING AMERICANS, who growing in their love for Jesus, they abound in their love for the city.
The seminar is completely different than our traditional Sheepdog Seminar. The new seminar focuses on how to reach your city with the gospel and how to motivate your flock to do so.
The seminar is open to all of those who are concerned for their country and want to make an impact for Christ. We focus on how to acquire the heart that one must have to do this.
If interested, email us.
WANT TO HOST A CHURCH SAFETY SEMINAR? TEXT THE WORD “SAFETY” TO 817.437.9693, OR EMAIL US. WE CAN ALSO CONDUCT THE SEMINAR ONLINE FOR YOUR CHURCH (AND YOU CAN INVITE THE COMMUNITY CHURCHES AS WELL).
