When Doing Nothing Is the Sin

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats Explained Ever walked past someone in need and hoped someone else would help? This one is about the things we don't do. About this episode We are continuing the Jesus the Revolutionary series, and this week Ade Birkby looks at the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46, the last thing Jesus taught His disciples before He was arrested. Ade makes the case that we are sorted not by what we believe or say, but by how we treat the people most of us overlook, and that the goats are condemned not for cruelty but for apathy, for the good they simply never did. Hosts Matt Edmundson and Anna Kettle pick it up afterwards in Conversation Street, asking what a successful Christian life actually looks like and who the "least of these" are in an ordinary week. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome to Crowd Church 01:20 Live Lounge and reading the comments 03:30 Remembrance Sunday and a prayer of thanks 06:38 The talk begins, what the research says about how we treat the poor 09:10 Reading Matthew 25:31-46 12:00 The context, why sheep and goats were separated at night 13:30 Hospitality as life or death, and "the nations" meaning the Gentiles 15:10 The Son of Man and the true shepherd (Daniel 7, Ezekiel 34) 17:20 God's very different measure of success 18:40 Holiness that doesn't keep records 19:40 The sin of omission, accused of what they didn't do 21:10 Jesus becomes the least of these 22:16 Conversation Street begins, how do we measure success? 27:38 Deep roots and the parable of the sower 28:39 Leading and lagging measures of a Christian life 32:29 Three depths of belief 40:25 The starfish story 42:45 Why giving your time changes you 44:00 Help, thanksgiving, generosity, a chain reaction 46:59 Do not grow weary in doing good 49:20 Wrap and Live Lounge Key references Matthew 25:31-46 , the sheep and the goats, Jesus separating the nations by how they treated the hungry, the stranger, the sick and the imprisoned (the main passage) Daniel 7:13-14 , the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, given authority over all nations Ezekiel 34:12 , God Himself promising to shepherd and rescue His scattered flock 1 John 3:18 , "let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth" Micah 6:8 , "to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God" James 2 , what good is faith without deeds, can such faith save them Quotes from the talk "Theirs is a sin of omission. They're not being accused of murdering or stealing or breaking the Ten Commandments. They're being accused of what they didn't do." - Ade Birkby "The righteous aren't keeping records. They didn't help people because they wanted to get something back. They simply saw a need and they acted in love." - Ade Birkby "He didn't just sympathise with suffering, He lived it. He died for the least of us. He died for the most of us. Quite frankly, those two terms aren't in His vocabulary." - Ade Birkby Conversation Street highlights Where the talk ends and the real conversation begins. It opened with a question from Sharon in the comments, how do we measure success, and is success really about loving God and loving other people? Ade answered that you measure it by the fruit, by the output, and he borrowed a bit of business language to make the point. The fruit of the Spirit is a lagging measure, something you only see after the fact, so he flipped it to the leading measures we can actually check day to day, are you spending time in the Word, praying, plugged into a community, serving it with a servant's heart. Anna agreed, adding that a successful Christian life for her looks like growing more loving, more patient, more generous, and being quicker to forgive and slower to anger, the kind of thing that only shows up over time. Several people helped sharpen what "success" means. Ellis pointed out that loving God and loving others is the greatest command, that a bit of honest self-reflection is a good thing, and that "Jesus mentioned visiting, so this doesn't cost a penny". Warren offered a definition worth keeping, "a successful Christian life is faithful to God and obedient to His word, and little is much when God is in it". Will Sopwith told a story from a kids' club where children were desperate to catch the leader's eye and show off their good behaviour for a reward, and asked whether we do the same with God, because non-transactional giving does not come naturally. Matt drew out three depths of belief, believing something that changes nothing (even the demons manage that), living your life by a belief, and living by it even when it costs you, and the parable tests the third. When the room turned to who the "least of these" actually are, Anna made the point that it is often not the obvious person, it might be a teammate having a hard week, the homeless person on the walk from the station, or the struggling single mum whose child is in your kid's class. And she added that giving your time and getting your hands dirty is usually worth more than sending money from a distance, both for the person and for your own heart. Ade left a challenge about Christmas, that charities turn volunteers away in December while going short the rest of the year, so don't be the "Christmas Christian". Ryan brought up the people in nursing homes we never think about and the loneliness epidemic among the elderly. Matt told the starfish story, the girl throwing stranded starfish back one at a time who can't save them all but makes a difference to that one, as an answer to feeling paralysed by the scale of the need. He also shared that he has visited a non-churchgoing neighbour every week for five or six years, often wondering if it helps, and the answer he keeps landing on is that what matters is showing up. Anna closed with an encouragement for anyone leaving the talk feeling they ought to do more. For those already serving faithfully, the word is simply do not grow weary in doing good, keep going and keep being faithful. And for the rest of us, Ade's question is a good place to start this week, where are the least of these in my life, and what can I do to help? Links Explore more and join the conversation at crowd.church https://www.crowd.church/talks/parable-of-the-sheep-and-the-goats Crowd Church, a community for those who might not see the point of church.