So this question comes from my own aggravation about not knowing what to do.
First I would like to hear your definition of "less fortunate."
I know that we are to help people in need, but I have never seen so many people coming from Texas that need gas money to go to Chicago. And amazingly enough we just happen to be the last church that is between Texas and Chicago.
Or the person has just died from a heart attack and was miraculously brought back to life but now they need money to eat.
I am not trying to be negative. These are just the same stories that I tend to hear over and over. It has almost numbed me to helping people.
So I ask, with all of the schemers and lazy people in the world, what is our duty as Christians to help the "less fortunate among us?"
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14 comments:
The first question I always ask myself is, can I ever really say that I am "poor?" 50% of the world's population lives on less than $2 per day...there is a family right across the street from my church that struggles to buy groceries. So I end up spending way too much time categorizing myself as "poor" when I am really, in terms of the real world, quite wealthy.
The second question I am beginning to learn to ask myself is, "do I have what I NEED" - by that I mean food and water and the like. This is a hard question for me because I'd like to say that I 'need' the latest bestseller or that I 'need' cable TV or whatever. But would I survive without it? Definitely.
The thing that I seem to be always reminded of is where Jesus says, "If someone takes your jacket, give him your shirt, and if someone forces you to go 1 mile, go two." There doesn't seem to be room in Jesus' teaching for Christians to be worried about being taken advantage of...just that we should give to whatever extent we can, and then sacrifice to give some more.
Fool- The Bible does tell us that we should not squander the resources that God has blessed us with. So, should we not be skeptical of peoples needs? Should we not use some form of guidelines as to whether or not we help people? Let me pose it this way. Do you think the people of your church would want you spending the hard earned tithe money on someone that comes to you lying about their situation and what they are going to do with the money. Would they not rather you use it as firestarter as opposed to support someones cocaine addiction, or tobacco addiction, or Lottery addiction (which you were so adamantly against)?
I pity the Foo that thinks otherwise!
Just kidding. Let me know what you think.
I agree with Joe. I think that it is not our place to act as the executors of what we willingly give to people. Jesus taught us that we should give without any expectation of anything in return. Sure, there are people that will take advantage of you, but does the risk of that one person stop you from helping all together? Also, those who do decieve you and take money under false pretenses have more to worry about than how they spend the $5.00you gave them. I heard once that it is great to give money to those less fortunate, but unless you give them a prayer as well, you are doing little for them.
Oh...BTW......can I borrow $100? Just kidding!!!!! Love ya!!!
Check out the quote by the late, great, Rich Mullins on my page. It made me think of this blog...
Off the subject, but have you heard anything about how Dave is doing yet and do you know if Pastor Troy got an invitation to the pastor appreciation breakfast at Faith Christian School. Since you are the manatary and all, I thought you might have read his mail.
Keith, let me start by saying that God has really been working on me recently in terms of this idea of how I, as a member - whether I confess it or not - of the wealthy, am to react to a world that is, generally, significantly poorer than anyone that I know.
Here's the problem I keep running into. We Americans live in an insulated world in which the biggest problems we are currently facing is our stock market going down. By and large, most of us never experience hunger or thirst on a survival level.
Another characteristic of our culture is its ridiculous level of pragmatism. Every decision should be weighed in terms of a cost/benefit analysis or something like that. I just don't find any basis in the teachings of Jesus (or Paul, or the Old Testament) for such a pragmatic understanding of life. There is no cost/benefit analysis in following Jesus...
What does that mean? I don't know, and I'm afraid to find out.
Jesus was never a sucker. Ever.
Read into that what you will.
Yes, Jesus was never a sucker...but Jesus possessed insight that we do not and simply cannot have. It came along with the intermingling of divine and human in the same physical body.
It is simply not possible for us to inherently "know" the motives of the other person. We are not Jesus and it would be arrogant to assume that we are or ever can be.
That said, we have to look at what Jesus actually taught on the matter, and I maintain that, in the New Testament, Jesus teaches his followers to err on the side of being "suckers." The tenor of the gospel is one that the other person's needs should take precedence over our own...
Andy - how does the "all people are not equal" problem that we discussed fit into this?
Fool - "..." means you're not done typing. But I think that you have to start your next post with "..." as well. Also, you never answered my questions.
Do you think the people of your church would want you spending the hard earned tithe money on someone that comes to you lying about their situation and what they are going to do with the money?
And...
... Would they not rather you use it as firestarter as opposed to support someones cocaine addiction, or tobacco addiction, or Lottery addiction (which you were so adamantly against)?
Do you see how the "...'s" work?
...Well, fine then. In case you were unaware, the ... can also mean that someone is still thinking these things through.
And let me answer your question(s) with a question or two:
Which is more important, what the people in the church prefer or what Jesus commands? Is it not sometimes necessary to make the people of the church uncomfortable?
To clarify what I am saying overall, though, let me add something. I am decidedly not saying that we should automatically give money to everyone who asks...we should let God guide us in that matter. And to put a bigger point on it, if we KNOW that someone is going to take the $20 that we give them and use it to get their next fix, it would indeed be irresponsible to give them the money...
The problem is, we don't always know that. I have heard too many "Christians" use, "Well, he or she will just use it to buy drugs or booze anyway" as their stock excuse for not sacrificing a little bit of their own money to others in need. I've even done it...more times than I care to count.
Here are my conclusions. Feel free to openly disagree.
1) When Jesus was talking to the rich man in Luke 18:18-24, he is talking to a person that was so reliant on his possessions that he didn't have a need for a Savior. In the Bible there is a consistant messege of selflessness and giving to other people across the span of the Bible. However, I do not feel like this is a call to financial poverty.
2) Wealth does not equal sin. So many times we think that rich people can not make it into Heaven. It's hard, not impossible. God blessed Job with wealth, so money can't be bad. Greed is bad but wealth isn't.
3)The Bears and Colts are both selfless teams. They both gave the victory that they had away to their enemy. Sounds Biblical to me.
1) Word
2) Word
3) Nice Try :)
I think I'm tired of the Colts "blessing" their enemies! ;-)
Observations from Lenny:
We are all selfish, so giving helps us break that self-will down and ignore our wants to meet others needs.
We all need accountability, and the early church in Acts required certain conditions of responsibility and accountability to be met before charitable gifts were distributed, so I think discernment in giving does have a scriptural basis.
Jesus and the disciples distributed more help, direction, & healing than money - we all recognize the good and bad that can be done with money - I suggest we approach charity in some areas from an assistance approach - vouchers or donations of food or other needed items, perhaps accompanied by some request for a good deed on the recipients part, if they are able.
Charity was often practiced within the community of believers first and foremost - this does not relieve us from responsibility for the wider world, but perhaps calls us to connect more closely with those nearby who need our help and include them as members of our community.
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