Sabertooth and others,
IMHO I believe the parable of the Talents applies to everyone as well as Paul's statement about "To whom little is given, little is required; to whom much is given, much is required." If the Lord gives us just enough faith to accept Jesus and just enough to even desire Christian company even if fellowship of a normal sort is not possible, then we'll be judged by our faithfulness to what we have been given. I also believe that if in the parable of the talents if the person who had received only one had tried to invest his one coin and had lost even that one, the master would have been pleased that he had tried. I think the Lord judges us more for effort and the character we gain in our many failures (yes, even Babe Ruth admitted he struck out more times than any other baseball player--over 3000 times--no I'm not a sports statistics savant, so I can't remember the exact number.), than on our successes. It's more like Avis: "We try harder." that will make the Lord pleased.
The world system looks at material things and defines success as perfectly achieving some sort of goal that impresses other people, while God does not look at things the way we do. His ways are higher than our ways; His plans are higher than our plans. After all we can't take any of our wealth or possessions with us to Judgment Day. Even our marriages and family relationships will vanish ("They will not marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels."--Jesus). We will be clothed in our resurrection bodies without sin or blemish, and will have only our growth in Christ relative to what we were before we knew Him to present before the Almighty. So what if our brains were hard-wired to not spontaneously have compassion.
I can't read people's faces, but by the power of the Holy Spirit--and my
obedience to His moves, I have been used of God to intervene at least three times to turn people away from suicide, plus help restore several backslidden Christians to a living faith in Jesus again. The words I used came from the Lord. Paul says, "God's power is made perfect in our weakness."
NT people's own strengths get in the way of God's discernment through them, as He will not violate their free will to force them to yield their own natural abilities to read people. However, in an Aspie who lacks the natural ability to read people, the gift of discernment of spirits or word of knowledge can flow more easily as he/she has had to learn to trust the Lord rather than in him/her self for these matters. God's compassion can flow through better, too. I have wept with Christ's compassion for a hurting person, and speak the exact words or prayers this person needed to hear the most, while not comprehending myself why I said what I did. Since I've already learned how not to rely on 'self' in these matters, I then more quickly yield to God's will. I can truly give God the glory, because it really was not me but the Holy Spirit within me speaking. On Judgment Day, I think the times I yielded to God's direction will be held up in my favor rather than what I actually said, sung, or did.
So if anyone says anything critical about our lack of compassion or apparent lack of caring, just remind them that we were given certain gifts and other people given others, and only God is our judge. The only area that Aspie Christians need to be concerned is to be obedient and faithful to our faith, and let the Holy Spirit give us the direction and discernment our natural minds lack. Also we need to trust the Lord, even if we're totally skeptical about other people. We need to trust the Lord even in times His discernment doesn't come to us; it's merely the testing of our faith that every Christian has to go through. Yes, it may hurt at times to still feel like an outsider, but we really aren't, and we need to trust that God thoroughly understands us and will only hold us accountable for what we have, not for what we lack to begin with.
I think the sheep and goats judgment will take place, but only for those who are unwilling to grow in Christ to the level of caring and compassion that
He defines for us individually. If we, being ourselves, help someone else develop tolerance for the eccentric, and thus better enable that person to reach out to the lost, we have been faithful to our calling (one sows, another waters, another reaps), as that person has been faithful to his/her calling. If we care enough to attempt fellowship with NT Christians, then it may be enough--of course if or when the Holy Spirit tells us to go further, then we should do so. If we can't, God understands and loves us just the same.
Sorry for the wordy reply.
I sometimes write more than necessary since I learned as a former professor that seeing or hearing something more than once helps increase comprehension of a difficult topic. Trying to understand our role in the Body of Christ, when it's assumed all born again Christians should be openly loving and unselfish, is difficult. I just wanted to be sure that the insights the Lord has given me over the years that helped save my faith, could possibly benefit others under condemnation by other believers and Satan for their 'lack of compassion'.
God bless!!
