WORSE THAN AN UNBELIEVER -- Devotional for March 25, from "Good Seeds"

But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers. (I Timothy 5:8 NLT)

According to the Bible the worst condition to be in is out – outside of the family of God. These are those who the Bible says are “without God and without hope in the world” (Ephesians 2:12), and who, when losing a loved one, must “grieve as those who have no hope” (I Thessalonians 4:13). And yet, it seems, there is another group even worse off than these, for Paul calls them, “worse than unbelievers.” These are people who claim with their words to be in the fold of God but deny it by their works. There’s no worse deception than self-deception, for the one person most prone to fall for your lies is you! And who are the sorry individuals in this lot? None other than those who neglect the care and feeding of their own blood relatives! The Bible says these people contradict whatever they say they believe by the things they do, or in this case, what they don’t do. Actions will always steal the floor from words, for it is surely true that “What you are speaks so loud no one can hear what you say.” As “Faith without works is dead,” so belief without commensurate behavior is a lie. “By their fruits you shall know them.” Paul calls such ones worse than unbelievers in that even people who don’t know God still normally take care of their obligations in such matters. Just look at the oriental cultures. In fact, a whole separate religion, called Shintoism, has grown up around caring for (and then worshipping) their elderly. Jesus found some “worse than infidels” right in the midst of the most religious of the land, the Pharisees. They had concocted a loophole in Jewish law called CORBAN, which permitted them to take the money earmarked for the care of their aging parents and place it instead into their temple coffers and pet religious projects. The Bible says that the practical responsibility of every Christian is to care for others – and the closer the relationship, the greater the obligation. How many widows and others with legitimate needs have been turned over to public assistance because they have uncaring kin? The impersonal government welfare system is a poor substitute for a son or daughter, nephew or niece, whose family ties qualify him or her to give the quality of care totally unknown in secular world.

Worse by far than an infidel,
That’s what a man must be
Who follows his dreams
And self-centered schemes
While neglecting his own family.