“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’
 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Matthew 25:31-46

What if the next person you come across in need is secretly Jesus testing You?

Have you ever wondered if you truly love your neighbor as you love yourself? Many would say yes. But have you ever recorded your first thoughts as a less fortunate person comes into your view? Subconsciously our own judgment of their particular situation tends to be our first thought. But Jesus says love your neighbor and your enemy. He also states that if someone would do wrong against you not only allow the slap on the cheek but give the other as well.

In society today it is easy to let our own image go unto royalty like proportions. This is the functional foundational of our social media which inadvertently turns each of us into lovers of self. It’s driven around the dopamine like high we receive when others recognize our life and how great we make it look through selfie’s and video snippets. But I would like to argue that if we have to portray our life as something amazing maybe we are trying to counterattack our true thoughts and perceptions.

Now I am not against social media and I do believe it can be an amazing tool for an outside connection to a network once untouchable. The problem that I see is without notice and through a natural “high” of acceptance, social media runs away from normal control and Leads to a highly effective addiction. This in return makes it easy to forget about others all around us to include the growing population of homeless. Thus presents the problem of judging others and looking down on populations of hurting people.

So back to my first question. What if the next person who ask you for help is secretly Jesus? Would you tell Him that “I would give you money but I know you will just buy booze or drugs?” Would you walk away in disgust? Or maybe tell Him to “get a job if your that hungry?” Whether or not you say this, we have all thought it before. Jesus is not limited to what He can do or see. My fear is that when popularity bleeds into our exceptions of what seems to be true an adverse effect may take place. Which feeds the increase in divorce, depression and suicide. The scary thing about it is how quickly the social norms change before we have a chance to see what is happening to us.

Denzel Washington said in an interview with CBN “God gave us free will, and social media is a reflection of our free will” he also states”If you don’t think your addicted, then turn it off.” How easy it is to forget about our neighbors when we are self consumed. Take a moment to see Gods creation and how He paints the sky in the morning and evening. Have a dinner with your family with out phones and discuss how the day went. But remember to tread lightly brothers and sisters, it is a tool not a place of worship.