The Matthew 25 Test

AS THE SEASON turned from summer to fall, I was reflecting again about Sojourners’ vocation, the focus of our mission and ministry.

Matthew 25:31-46 is my own conversion text, the scripture that brought me to Christ a long time ago out of the radical student movement. It’s also been a converting text for many others here at Sojourners over the years.

The 25th chapter of Matthew’s gospel has been foundational to Sojourners from the very beginning of the Sojourners community more than 40 years ago. But I am realizing that Matthew 25 is not only foundational for us, it is really our vocational text. In other words, it shapes not just what we believe and what we stand for, but also what we do as an organization—the issues we address, the campaigns we get involved in, the statements we sign, the coalitions we join, and much more.

In that sense, I’ve been thinking about Matthew 25 in relation to issues of organizational stewardship and sustainability. Autumn is always a busy season for me and for Sojourners. Faced with many invitations, requests, and opportunities to make a positive impact on a variety of issues, how do we decide where and how to focus our ministry, energy, staff, time, and gifts? How do we be good stewards of our calling? I think that Matthew 25:31-46 provides the answer. The key moment in the passage is when Jesus says:

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me ... Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.

When I first read this text as a student activist, I felt it was the most radical thing I’d ever encountered, more so than any of the authors whose work influenced the radical student movements of the 1960s. Here is the son of God telling his followers that how we treat the most vulnerable, the poorest, and most marginalized people in our society is the same as how we treat him. Very simply put, how much we love those at the bottom of society is how much we love Christ. And the text goes on to say, “Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” This is one of the few texts of judgment in the New Testament, and the judgment is on those who mistreat the most vulnerable. This text always reminds me why I’ve learned the most about the world, and my own life and work, by being in the places I wasn’t supposed to be and being with people I was never supposed to meet or become friends with. Matthew 25 has continued to convert me over and over again in new ways.

INDEED, A NEW understanding of Matthew 25 is why Sojourners has become so active on the issue of climate change. This great challenge led us to re-exegete Matthew 25 in relation to climate change. We discovered that virtually all who Jesus named as “the least of these” in this passage are being affected by climate change already, and will be the ones most devastated by climate change in the future. For the hungry—massive food shortages and starvation. The thirsty—more terrible droughts. The naked—stripping millions of all their resources. The stranger—dislocating millions more as migrants. The sick—spreading more disease. The prisoner—more destabilization, chaos, desperation, and crime.

This reality shows us that climate change isn’t just “an issue” among many to elevate on our list of priorities and see how it measures up to our commitment to ending poverty, promoting peace, and so forth. Rather, it impacts all the other things we care about—it’s integral to all of those other issues. Pope Francis named it as such in his recent encyclical, where he articulates an “integral ecology” that makes clear that our relationships to God, to our neighbors, and to the earth itself are all interconnected and interdependent.

How we as a society treat “the least of these” is the test of a nation’s righteousness and integrity. Indeed, Matthew 25 should be the test of our politics. The least of these should be at the top of our political agendas, when right now they’re the last people who candidates and politicians generally talk about.

For Sojourners, Matthew 25 is the heart of our history, ministry, and vocation, and it always will be. My prayer is that we as an organization—along with all of you who are part of our larger extended Sojourners community and family through this magazine, your gifts to us, our website, our email list, and our campaigns—will judge how we live our lives and do our work by this text: the Matthew 25 test.