I often see poor people begging for money or food. More often than not, they’re just standing at a busy intersection, holding a sign, hoping someone will stop a hand them a few dollars or maybe a cheeseburger from the nearby McDonald’s.
A long time ago I used to automatically give them something. After all, Jesus tells us to give to those who ask (Matt. 5:42). But then I heard that so many of these people use the money for alcohol or drugs. So I began to pray in each case about whether or not I should give, erring on the side of not giving. I also started to give food when I could, either taking the person into McDonald’s or buying them a meal on my own.
But then I heard someone who actually worked with the homeless tell how even gifts of food could be sold for money for drugs. So I really backed off and only gave reluctantly and if I only judged that the person was truly deserving and would use my gift for good.
Two days ago I saw a neatly dressed man, probably in his thirties, clean shaven, standing mutely beside a sign that told us all that he had been robbed, had no one to call and needed $56 for a bus ticket home. But now I was wiser than in my youth and was well informed about such scams. Even the amount was calculated to be believable. Not a nice round $100 but a more realistic $56. Of course there had been no robbery, there was no need for a bus ticket, and, if I gave this man what he asked for, he would thank me profusely, ask God’s blessing on me, and be back again tomorrow hitting up other suckers.
But how did I know? And was it even my business to know? Jesus tells me to give to those who ask. Simply ask. He doesn’t tell me to do His job and do a background check and get a complete family and criminal history. Just give because they ask. Someday soon when He says to me, “You saw Me hungry and you gave Me no food, you saw Me thirsty and you gave Me no drink” (Matt. 25: 42), will He excuse me when I say, “But Lord, I knew that You would just spend anything I gave you on drugs and alcohol”?
I could end there but I’ll go further and look at how Jesus responded to those in need. When ten lepers came to Him asking to be healed (Luke 17:12-19) did He consider that only one of the ten would thank Him and give glory to God? When the multitudes crowded around Him seeking bread, looking for healings, did He dismiss them knowing full well that they would take the food and the cures and then, at best, return to their everyday lives or, at worst, seek His death shortly thereafter?
No, Jesus had compassion on them. He saw their immediate pain – that they were hungry, blind, deaf, lame, that their precious, beloved child had died – and He did whatever was within His power to relieve their suffering.
Should I do any less for Him?
I, too, have wrestled with this same issue in much the same way. It's among of handful of "hard" teachings of Jesus I haven't been able to live out yet, mostly because of my lingering desire to self-rule.
ReplyDeleteTake these passages from Matthew 5:39-42 and Luke 6:29-30
(5:39) But I say, don't resist an evil person! If you are slapped on the right cheek, turn the other, too.
(5:40) If you are ordered to court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.
(5:41) If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.
(5:42) Give to those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow.
(6:29) If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also.
(6:30) Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back.
I wonder:
· Regarding 5:39a: Were the founders wrong in revolting? Was the civil rights movement wrong? Are the ACLJ and ADF wrong? (See also Phil. 2:6, 1 Peter 2:13-17.)
· Is 5:40 valid even if the judge was evil and I was in the right? Wouldn't this support evil? What about my family's needs?
· Doesn't 5:41 invalidate some of the reasons for the American Revolution?
· Should I truly let myself be abused and stolen from, even helping it happen? Does this extend to others? "And if someone rapes your wife, offer him your daughter, too?"
· Didn't the apostles resist evildoers by standing up to Jewish leaders and putting out false believers?
· Are 6:29-30 to be applied only to giving to the needy or also to thieves?
· Do I give all of my earnings and savings to the next person who asks me to give something?
· If a mugger takes all of my cash, do I offer to take him to the ATM? If I find a robber stealing my television, do I open my safe for him?
Great questions and I certainly don't have the answers. I just feel that I've gone too far in the direction of what makes sense. I think one of the best examples of what is right is the opening sequence to Les Miserable.
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