Does it Feel Good or Does it Do Good? Left vs. Right #2 God’s Way vs Man’s Way

When setting public policy, what’s more important: intentions or results? Feeling good or doing good? When it comes to being guided by the heart or by the mind, the Left and Right are very different.

Matthew 20:1-16 (NLT2)
¹  “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
²  He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.
³  “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing.
⁴  So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day.
⁵  So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.
⁶  “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
⁷  “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’
⁸  “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.
⁹  When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage.
¹⁰  When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage.
¹¹  When they received their pay, they protested to the owner,
¹²  ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’
¹³  “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage?
¹⁴  Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.
¹⁵  Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’
¹⁶  “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

Matthew 25:31-46 (NLT2)
³¹  “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.
³²  All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
³³  He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
³⁴  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
³⁵  For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.
³⁶  I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
³⁷  “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?
³⁸  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?
³⁹  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
⁴⁰  “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
⁴¹  “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
⁴²  For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.
⁴³  I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
⁴⁴  “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
⁴⁵  “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
⁴⁶  “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”