Are We Called to the Least of These?

Written by Dylan Wells

Since our family moved to The Gambia earlier this year one of the things I have struggled with the most is the amount of people begging. The streets are full of people, and we are approached at every store or restaurant when we are in the city. Over the past few years, I have explored poverty alleviation, and I have learned that giving to those begging on the street is most often an inappropriate form of relief that can perpetuate rather than alleviate poverty. This leads me to politely say no when I encounter those asking. 

My Bible reading plan had me reading Matthew 25 this past week and the second half of this passage hit harder than normal. Speaking of the final judgement Jesus says he will separate the sheep from the goats based on people’s response to the least of these. “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40 ESV) How can I reconcile the best practices in healthy, sustainable poverty alleviation with the command of Jesus to give to the least of these? I finished reading Matthew without an answer to this question.

While reading Paradigms in Conflict for my missions class this semester, I encountered a perspective that really resonated with me. David Hesselgrave writes that Matthew 25:31-46 is “one of the most misinterpreted, misunderstood, and misapplied passages in the entire New Testament.” (270)  He writes that the “least of these my brothers” does not refer to the material poor, rather it refers to the people of God bringing the saving message of Jesus to others. This interpretation is best seen by looking back to Matthew 10. When sending out the twelve apostles, Jesus says “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. …  And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water… will by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:40-42 ESV) Both chapters use similar language such as “littles ones” and “least of these” and mention the provision of water. This presents a strong case for Hesselgrave’s interpretation that Jesus’ test at the final judgement is not whether you feed the poor. Rather it is whether you welcomed and received Jesus’ sent ones and the gospel message that they bore.

As I have reflected on this newfound interpretation, there are three things that stand out to me:

Salvation is through grace by faith alone

Under my previous reading of Matthew 25, the one thing I could not reconcile was that this parable seemed to contradict the gospel. If I am dependent on the blood of Jesus for my forgiveness, why is Jesus basing his final decision on whether I said yes to the material needs of people I encountered? Jim Wallis, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Chair in Faith and Justice at Georgetown University, has described Matthew 25 as Jesus' “final test of discipleship,” applying “the least of these” to the poor, immigrants, and other vulnerable people. The Bible teaches that salvation is by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) but we also know that many who say Lord, Lord are not authentic believers (Matthew 7:21-23). How then are we to determine if we are following and obedient to Christ? Wallis would say that Matthew 25 provides clarity to this question based on each of our responses to the least of these. I would agree that Matthew 25 informs on this question, but it is not whether we care for the least of these, rather it is whether we become one of the least of these.

We are called to be one of the least of these

In our age of prosperity, it is difficult for western Christians to imagine we are the ones experiencing hunger, thirst, nakedness, and imprisonment that Jesus mentioned. From our vantage point we can only imagine ourselves as the ones meeting the needs. The reality is that Jesus is calling us to a life and faith that makes us one of the least of these. What are a couple simple ways we can adopt the posture of “the least of these”? First, bringing the gospel message to those who do not follow Christ. The most direct application of this parable is “that Jesus is referring to missionaries and their treatment at the hands of the ethne … to his “sent ones” or missionaries and those people of the world who either receive or reject them and their message.” (Paradigms in Conflict, 272) This is directly applicable to the situation in the world today where nearly 4.9 billion people live among 7,300 people groups that remain unreached by the gospel. Share the good news with those in your life and consider taking this message to the nations. Secondly, live a life of material simplicity modeled by Jesus. Reject the American standard of material consumption and expansion. If God is not calling you to the mission field, seek a life that leverages our resources of time and money for the glory of God and the expansion of his kingdom. 

Yes, we are still called to the least of these, just maybe not in Matthew 25

Even if Matthew 25 is misinterpreted, there is still a clear call to engage and care for the poor in both the Old and New Testaments. (Deut. 15:7–11, Prov. 19:17, Isa. 58:6–10, Mic. 6:8, Matt. 6:1–4, Luke 14:12–14, Gal. 2:10, Jas. 2:14–17) As we take the gospel to the nations let’s bring sustainable development to increase the prosperity and quality of life of those we encounter. Here in The Gambia our family is leveraging Farming God’s Way to bring sustainable and healthy farming practices to rural villages.

One day we will gather before the throne of Jesus with every nation and witness the separation of the sheep and the goats. Thankfully we do not need to worry whether we did enough good deeds or if we gave food or drink to the right people. All we need to worry about is our response to the gospel when it was presented to us. Did I receive this message gladly and then pursue a life as one of Christ’s least of these brothers?

Reflecting the Body of Christ through Differing Abilities

Written by Melody Franco

While a student at Duke Divinity School I received an internship placement at a local nonprofit, Reality Ministries. I searched the organization online and read in bold letters across the homepage, “where people of all abilities share life together,” and immediately thought, “Oh no, there must be some mistake… I am not qualified for this.” I grew up having no family members or close friends with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) and at the time would have struggled to name five people I knew with an IDD, and zero friends.

How about you? What do you think of when you hear “disability”?

Perhaps you identify closely with the disability community - you are part of it.

Perhaps you have a child with an IDD or grew up with a sibling, family member, or neighbor with a disability - you have a name and a face.

Perhaps a particular person does not come to mind, but a vague category for a group of people - you have stereotypes. 

If you don’t have people in your social sphere with differing abilities, it’s not because the disability community is nonexistent in the Triangle. According to the CDC, more than one in four adults in the United States have some sort of disability. However, the disability community remains at the periphery of society with less access to transportation, independent living, meaningful jobs, higher education, and social involvement. Yet, many of us have not given much thought to the absence of the disability community from our lives. I certainly hadn’t until joining Reality Ministries three years ago. 

I now work at Reality full-time as the community leader to a group of sixty adults with and without IDDs. Multiple times a week we sing, play, eat, and study Scripture together. And there are four other community groups doing this same thing - two hundred fifty participants with IDDs, each with unique interests, quirks, temperaments, longings, and fears, just like you and me. 

This past spring, the Reality staff reflected on 1 Corinthians 12 in which the human body is used as a metaphor for the body of Christ. Verses 21-22 say, “The eye can never say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ The head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’ In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.”

Reality Ministries does not exist to serve adults with disabilities. It exists to reflect the kingdom of God, where all people are valued as integral. We believe that we need and belong to each other. We can never look someone in the eye and say, “I don’t need you.”

My time at Reality has challenged me to believe with greater conviction that I need the person I have yet to know. And perhaps, once I get to know them, I won’t be able to imagine life without them. 

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I welcome you to reach out if you’d like to talk more about your own relationship with disability and/or the work of Reality Ministries. Email me at melody@realityministries.org.

Our Road in Foster Care

Written by Sydnie Thomas

Last year there were over 11,000 children in North Carolina in Foster Care and there were less than 6,000 licensed foster homes.

4% to 10% of these children in the US are in group homes because there is not an individual home that can take them.

9% of children age out of foster care.

53% to 80% are separated from their siblings.

In 2025 there were over 330,000 children in foster care. There are over 350,000 churches in the US. If every church had one family foster, then every child would have a home.

After years of discussion, meeting with other foster parents, and deep prayer, my husband Caleb and I decided to foster at the beginning of 2025.

We didn’t decide to become foster parents because we couldn’t have biological children (that is something we don’t know yet). Honestly, we decided to foster because we couldn’t find a good enough reason for us not to. Rest assured, we thought through the reasons…

“It will be too hard, we’ll get too attached, it’s too sad, it’s too scary, we’re already too busy, the kids will be too difficult”. These are all thoughts we encountered. What we found though, was that when we countered these fears with scripture, God’s word transcended each one.

• It will be too hard - “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

• We’ll get too attached - “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18 (ESV)

• It’s too sad - “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18 (NIV)

• It’s too scary - “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)

• We’re already too busy - “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

• The kids will be too difficult - “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 (NIV)

With each thought we had that told us why we shouldn’t foster, we saw God’s word telling us why we should. However, this is not an easy road that we are on.

Our first placement, which many of you may remember, were removed from our home and placed in kinship (they are still in the foster system, just live with a distant relative). Our hearts were, and still are, completely shattered. Giving our children to others to love and walking away was by far the hardest thing we have ever done, but we would do it every day if it means providing a safe, loving and God fearing home for our kids in the meantime.

Knowing the ins and outs of why our kids are no longer with their bio parents is heartbreaking. We have cried many tears grieving the life they don’t have but we will take their burden any day for the chance of them knowing Jesus.

Because of what we found in scripture, we see that God has equipped and called his church for the mission of foster care. James 1:27 says “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (NLT). When Caleb and I became foster parents, we understood that this decision would require sacrifice on our end. We understood that it would be hard and that it would come with pain (of which we bear only a fraction compared to a child’s birth family). By God’s grace and through his strength, we take on the challenge of fostering. A challenge we’re not meant to take on by relying on our own power, but by abiding in his ultimate protection.

I believe that even in our church where we have multiple families who have or are currently fostering, we have many more families that can foster and need to challenge their own hearts to see if they are willing to enter into the messiness of the Gospel. I want to encourage you to think through if you could be a fostering home, if you could step into the messiness, or if you could step into supporting those who do foster (through giving meals, providing clothes or formula, babysitting for a date night, etc). I challenge you to take the time to pray, to fast, to talk with others. Step out of your comfort zone and step into the Gospel by fostering.

Please prayerfully consider if you could be a foster family.

If you’d like to learn more, please come to Waypoint’s Informational Foster Care Brunch on Saturday, September 5th.

Statistics from https://cafo.org/foster-care-statistics/