When Jesus speaks of the final judgement he points to whether or not his followers were truly following him by how they or hadn’t served other people, particular people known as the least of these. These are the people who are hungry and poor, the stranger and the prisoner; “the least of these” — the people forgotten or ignored by society.
I’ve seen on all sides of the Christian spectrum co-opt the so-called “least of these,” using certain names and demographics as bywords to prove the authenticity of their faith–or discredit yours.
But who are the least of these? Traditionally, they’ve been understood to be the people who don’t get talked about, represented, or rallied behind. You definitely don’t get praised—by the left or the right—for serving them or spending time with them. They are the least, not the noticed. They are the forgotten, not the popular.
In Christ’s teaching of The Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), where the phrase “the least of these” is used, we see that it’s those who the hungry, the strangers, the poor, the sick, the prisoner. I think Christ is painting a picture here, not giving us a checklist of people. Christ praises his followers for serving them, but the people that Jesus praises for serving the “least of these” are surprised by His affirmation. That’s because they weren’t serving the poor or welcoming strangers to prove their faith to others. They certainly weren’t patting themselves on the back for doing this – or shaming those who weren’t. They were simply walking in the ways of Jesus, loving those they encountered—especially the forgotten, as they lived out their humble faith in their daily lives.
In John 12, when a woman uses very expensive oil to anoint Jesus, Judas complains the oil should’ve been sold to help the poor. It’s clear he was trying to show off to Jesus and those watching—trying to prove that his faith was purer than hers by using an argument that appeared morally superior: serving the least of these. But Jesus gives him a sharp rebuke. Because if “serving the least of these” becomes a way to justify ourselves, or prove that our faith is better than someone else’s, then we’ve missed the point entirely.
The people I know who are truly serving the least of these aren’t bragging about it online. They’re not gaining influence. And they definitely aren’t discrediting others for not doing it the same way they are. Those who criticize others not serving the least like how they do are typically the ones with a heart like Judas and the Pharisees.
Let’s stop looking to the standard set by others to determine whether we’re truly following Christ. We need to simply and humbly follow the ways of Christ.
