Walking with the Wise #446: Give Yourself

“If you faint in the day of adversity,


your strength is small.

Rescue those who are being taken away to death;

hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’

does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,

and will he not repay man according to his work?”
—Proverbs 24:10-12

At the end of our lives, when we take our last breath upon this earth, we will leave our broken earthly bodies and step into the presence of Almighty God. Each of us without exception will be judged according to two things—did we believe in Jesus (cf. John 5:24; 6:29; et. al) and, secondly, what did we do with our lives in the service of Him (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:10, et al)? As Mother Teresa once said,

“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.’”

She was referring to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:31-46—which give us the criteria for what our lives are to look like. We are to take care of the “least of these,” using our lives to help those in need.

During World War II, the Protestant church in Germany was faced with a dilemma. Like many Christians, they were patriotic and tried to keep out of politics. But with Hitler’s megalomania and vitriolic hatred for the Jews — as well as his caustic disgust and hostility toward anyone else who opposed him — pacifism and tacit support for the Third Reich proved to be untenable for anyone holding a biblical worldview. But what to do? Many Christians, to their shame, sat by and did nothing. As German Pastor Martin Niemoller so painfully expressed it,

“First they came for the socialists,
and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me."

Niemoller captured the pain of indifference and inaction. It could be understood as the reverse of the Golden Rule: “Failure to do unto others means a failure to be done unto you.”

Today’s proverb captures that truth. We are to spend our strength on behalf of others. The “adversity” that the proverb is referring to is not just our own, but the adversity of others. We are to rescue those who are being led away to death—something Niemoller and many of the German churches missed. We cannot ignore them, or explain them away. The proverb is clear that God knows our hearts (v. 12) and will judge us according to how we helped them (cf. v. 12; Matthew 25:31-46).

This may very well look different from one culture to the next. In America, it includes protecting the unborn, standing for life and against anything that would breech its sanctity in whatever form that may be. In another culture it may mean the same thing or it might differ—it may mean standing up for women so that they will not be abused or raped. It may mean protecting children, or a certain race, class, tribe, or caste that is persecuted or exploited. Whatever the case, our job is to identify and help the "least of these"—investing our lives in the pursuit of others.

Laying down our life for others is a very Christlike thing—for that is what our Lord did for us (cf. John 10:11, 15, 17; 15:13; 1 John 3:16). I pray that we all may identify who the “least of these” are in our neighborhoods, villages, towns, cities, and countries. And may our strength not fail during that time, but may we find the strength and perseverance of Christ who gave Himself for us, so that we in turn might give ourselves to others. Amen.