Practical Christianity — E.A. Johnston

Practical Christianity and the Test of Compassion

I wonder, sometimes, if our Christianity is practical, or just something we carry around as a label. I fell under conviction recently while reading a certain passage of Scripture. It was Matthew's Gospel, in chapter 25, beginning in verse 34, which states,.

The King’s Welcome to Those Who Serve the Needy

Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink.

I was a stranger, and ye took me in, naked, and ye clothed me. I was sick, and ye visited me. I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

The Judgment on Neglected Acts of Mercy

Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungered, and ye gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink.

I was a stranger, and ye took me not in, naked, and ye clothed me not. Sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. I will stop there, friends. Well, I know something about the good we didn't do, but should have.

A Missed Opportunity to Witness

There's been a lot of times in my life of not doing the right things I should have done, but one incident sticks out above all the rest and haunts me still. I was having some construction work done on my house years ago, and I hired a three-man crew to do the work.

One man always arrived early before the others, and I would stand in the driveway with him and make small talk. We'd talk about the weather, or sports, or something along those lines just to pass the time.

While we waited on the other two to arrive, well, finally, the work was completed on my house. In about three months after that, I was sitting at my kitchen table reading the newspaper. I always read the obituary page, and this particular day, I saw a photo above an obituary, and it caught my immediate attention.

It was the young man, the construction worker, who always showed up early, and as I looked at his face and read about his life, I found he died at the age of only 33 years old from an accident. I felt terrible.

The Regret of Sins of Omission

I realized then and there my sin of omission regarding this young man. God had brought this young man to my house to work a job, had him show up extra early every morning so I'd have plenty of time to witness to him about his soul and eternity and tell him about Jesus, but I never did.

I felt like a knife was stabbed in my heart for my failure to tell this man about Jesus. His face haunts me still after all these years. Well, as I read this passage from Matthew this past week about the good we should do, I fell under conviction because I believe when we stand at the Bema seat and the Lord reviews our life, the things that will smart the most will be the good that we didn't do.

It will be our sins of omission that will give us so much regret. A lot of Christians think that the fact that they tithe to the church relieves them from any further responsibility, but they fail to realize that true, practical Christianity is a daily thing done for the Lord.

Putting Practical Christianity into Action

Well, since my open heart surgery, I've lost a lot of weight and my clothes don't fit me anymore and I had some new clothes I could no longer use, so I wanted to put this passage from Matthew into practice, so I drove around my neighborhood on Thanksgiving Day looking for homeless men.

I prayed for the Lord to lead me to the right recipients for these items. I found four homeless men sitting at a gas station and I pulled my car up next to them and I got out and told them I had some nice clothes in my back seat I'd like to give them and I couldn't wear them anymore.

Some of the items were still in their store wrappings and as I handed the clothes to these men, I told them, God bless you guys and have a happy Thanksgiving. They all gave me a wave and a smile and told me the same.

I drove away knowing a little something about practical Christianity from this passage in Matthew 25 and as I drove down the street, I felt the love of Jesus sitting in the car next to me. It was one of the best Thanksgivings I ever had.