Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” And the King will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25:37-40
Have you seen this rainbow-like graphic that illustrates the well-over-163,000 cross references within the Bible? Apparently Jordan Peterson has described the Bible as the first hyper-linked book. This is one of the things I love about the Bible– all the different ways that various biblical passages and ideas connect to each other. Even from a literary standpoint it’s amazing!
I feel like this is the way our brains work too. One thought leads to another, and that leads to another, but it all circles back around to connect with other thoughts or experiences we’ve had before. This is how learning takes place.
The “hyper-linked Bible” concept reminds me of the old “Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon” idea from a couple (or more?) decades back. Supposedly you can connect the actor Kevin Bacon with almost any other actor or actress in seven movies or less. In a sense, all people are hyper-linked to one another— we just don’t always know how. Supposedly, every human is connected to every other human by seven degrees of separation or less.
And this leads to the thought that every action we take (or don’t take) will have effects that multiply out to more people than we can imagine.
Say for instance that you offer a word of encouragement to a stranger in the grocery store, and that causes her to smile at the young man working the checkout counter toward the end of a long shift. That smile lifts his spirits just enough that as he heads out into the cold night to go home, he’s willing to stop long enough to help an old lady customer who is struggling to load her bags. She tells her daughter at home how a nice young man helped her, calling him a good Samaritan. The daughter, who has been struggling with her faith, scoffs, but she can’t get the words “Good Samaritan” out of her mind. That evening she sits down with an open Bible for the first time in a long time. She prays for the first time in a long time. She asks God to show her what He wants her to do, and He answers through an ad for such-and-such church on the radio. She goes to their worship service the next morning and speaks to the man who is greeting people at the door. This man has recently lamented in the deacons’ meeting how their community outreach efforts seem to be failing. He is both convicted and encouraged by meeting this random person from the community who has come to visit due to a radio ad. In the next deacons’ meeting he apologizes to the group for his pessimism and asks their forgiveness. Another deacon who was on the verge of stepping down due to his own discouragement changes his mind. That deacon could be your own son, yet you would never imagine that your kind word in the grocery store had impacted him.
Of course we could just as easily come up with a corresponding negative scenario in which the withholding of grace and kindness leads to ill-treatment of others, discouragement, cynicism, and tears.
What part do you play in this amalgamation of causes and effects? Unless you’re George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life, you can’t often know the specifics. If we could see a chart detailing the impact we’ve had on others, would it be mostly positive? Perhaps in many little ways I have done more discouraging of others than I would like to think.
I remember Charles Barkley saying years ago that he didn’t want to be a role model. The general response to that was: too bad. We’re all examples. Our decisions and actions impact others, even when the decision is to do nothing.
The number of Bible cross-references is quite impressive, but what’s equally staggering are the innumerable connections each of us has with countless other people throughout our lives. Ultimately we should be asking ourselves whether the way we are treating others is linking us to Jesus.
Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. Matthew 25:40
Dear Heavenly Father, it’s amazing and even overwhelming to think about how many people there are and the myriad ways we are connected to others. Please give me the ability to see the big picture but also to recognize the impact of every small act of kindness and obedience to Your word. Strengthen my faith in Your ability to use my life for Your purposes. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
by Christie Cole Atkins
Walk Worthy 