How Can We Be Sheep Instead of Goats?

For so long we have heard a great emphasis placed upon preaching the gospel to all the multitudes. Yet so little emphasis is placed upon feeding, clothing, and tending those who are lost. Maybe because it is so much easier to tell someone what they should do, accept Christ as their personal Savior, then it is to show someone who Christ truly is.

Christ's ministry was divided into two areas. One was mentoring the disciples, Christ's friends essentially, to do exactly what He did. The other area was to actually perform the work of ministry. The work of ministry was feeding, clothing, and tending to the poor. Jesus Christ healed the sick, raised the dead, delivered the oppressed, feed the multitudes, taught the multitudes, and much more.

Where are the Christians today doing such things? We have turned Christianity into a thoroughly contemplative religion. Instead of a love acted out to those who are truly in need of help. Christ mentored the disciples to truly help those less fortunate. Then the disciples mentored other to do the same. Unfortunately at one point this became lost to believers. In America we simply allow the government and other organizations to do what we ought to be doing.

Jesus gave a sharp command and warning to us in Matthew 25: 31-46;

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;

and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. 'Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'

Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Christ was clear in what we must do. Our love is to feed and cloth and give water to the needy, invite in strangers, tend the sick, and visit prisoners. If we do not do this then Christ will consider us unrighteous. I want to be one of the righteous.

I have no clue how to do all these things as Christ would have us do. But I know that we need to do such things for the less fortunate. We need to do them out of love for Christ and love for those people.

Any ideas on how we can do this?