In an article about the Christian left supporting Obama in the political game (read the article here), a “Matthew 25 political action committee” is mentioned. Here is what is said about it:
Obama’s outreach to evangelical voters has also included private summits with pastors, an effort to reach out to young evangelicals and a fundraiser with the Matthew 25 political action committee. It describes itself as a group of moderate evangelicals, Catholics and Protestants committed to electing the Illinois Democrat president.
Matthew 25’s name is inspired by a biblical passage, in the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” The name is meant to signal the group’s focus on social justice concerns about hot-button cultural issues.
Brian McLaren, a former pastor who spent 24 years in the pulpit and is now an informal adviser to the Obama campaign, believes that a significant portion of evangelical voters are ready to break from their traditional home in the the Republican Party and take a new leap of faith with Obama.
“I think there’s a very, very sizable percentage — I think between a third and half — of evangelicals, especially younger [evangelicals], who are very open to somebody with a new vision,” McLaren said.
That new vision, he said, isn’t focused on traditional social issues like abortion and gay marriage but more on efforts to end global warming and the war in Iraq.
First, Christian left, please ask yourself what feeding the hungry and giving the thirsty something to drink has to with cultural hot buttons, global warming or the war in Iraq. Even if Jesus was talking about supporting the unfortunate in general here, which He isn’t, the aim of the group and its name have nothing to do with each other.
Second, let’s take a moment to look at Scripture to see how much these people butcher God’s Word to make it conform to their political or otherwise motivated ends.
Matthew 24 and 25 present us with Jesus’ longest sermon in the bible. He is addressing His disciples – please keep that in mind for further reference. They question Him about the end times, and He warns them not to be deceived, then tells them about the tribulations that are to come, the persecution of the elect and a general collapse that will be so bad that, if God did not shorten these times as He surely will, not even the elect would survive. They should not despair, however, for they will receive help for Christ’s sake from people who are not part of the remnant. To these people, the disciples can promise salvation on the Last Day,
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” (Mat 25:35-36)
These people helping the elect who are persecuted (”these my brothers”, Mat 25:40, and not anybody and everybody who is in need, no matter how ungodly he or she is) are called righteous and are told that they will “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mat 25:34).
Sooo… What in the world has all this to do with social hot buttons, global warming, the war in Iraq, or even gay marriages and abortion ? People have been misinterpreting and misusing the parable of the sheep and the goats greatly, and this committee butchered Scripture real bad.
Now go ahead, grab your bible, read Matthew, stop wasting your time in political activity, take care of your God appointed responsibilities, and stay home on election day.