1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian Feed My Sheep | Page 9

Luke 16 v 19 – 26
Today I would like to consider the TEMPTATIONS that will come to us that distract
us from the command of “…you feed them…”’ (Mark 6).
1. Criticism – when we meet people in need we are tempted to criticise themand
blame them for arriving at the predicament that they now face. Even though this
criticism may be legitimate, it is certainly not helpful. Consider the older brother in
the story of “The Prodigal Son” (Luke 15) who criticised his brother on his arrival
home for having lived such a debauched life.He then criticised his father for killing
the fattened calf and celebrating his brother’s homecoming. The older brother’s
bitterness ate away at himand he could not come to terms with his father’s grace.
We too criticise others who have not lived life well, and we then abdicate our
responsibility to care for them by blaming them.
2. Rationalise the problem – how often haven’t we heard thestatement, “The
problem is so big that the little that I do will not make any difference, or at worse it’s
their fault for being in this position and it therefore cannot be my problem.” Again I )