It is pretty easy to never run into those in need. If I just go to work, go home to my family and go to church I will likely never run into an orphan. Orphaned children don’t generally wander into a church on Sunday and our corporate security would stop them from getting in to the building where I work. Likewise I will likely never run into a single woman who is pregnant, scared and hurting. Single girls who get knocked up don’t often go to church. Being scared and often alone is bad enough without the sideways glances of disapproval. Widows are pretty common in church but we pay little thought to them. They get Social Security after all. Homeless people? Well there aren’t a lot of homeless people in the suburbs where our comfy churches are and it is unlikely that they are going to hitch a ride to show up to your nice church with its professionally maintained lawn and neat and tidy pews. People who are really hungry, really in need, are not likely to cross many of our paths on a given day.
Great news! That means that we get a pass on caring for the poor, the widow, the hungry and the orphans! When Jesus asks, we can just tell Him we would have been happy to help but we never came across any of them.
Maybe not. The commands to be merciful, generous, compassionate, loving are not limited to those who stumble across our path. It might just be that we need to go where the needs are. If Jesus had stayed where He was and waited for men to come to Him, He could have skipped the cross because there wouldn’t have been any. Jesus didn’t wait, He came to seek and save that which was lost. As His followers we are called to go to those who need Him and in doing so we are also going to run into people who are hungry, lonely, scared, orphaned, dirty and maybe smelly. That isn’t a job for someone else, we are that somebody else!
I have spent a lot of my time as a Christian believing that I could get away with waiting for the needy to come to me. If they came, sure I would help! Of course in reality I often looked at these people with suspicion and distrust. I often assumed they were taking advantage of the system and that made me a little irate. As Alan Knox points out, it is impossible for us to be taken advantage of when ministering to the needy. I think a lot of this attitude comes from a combination of evangelical America’s prevailing political conservatism, American “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” culture and often a misapplication of 2 Thess 3:10….
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10)
As if Paul was writing a white paper for the Heritage Foundation or preparing a speech for the Republican convention. When read in context, Paul is addressing the issue of believers in the church who were apparently taking advantage of the system perhaps assuming that Christ was returning imminently so why should they bother to work?
Merely waiting for those in need of food, of clothing, of love, especially of the Gospel to come to us is not what we are called to do. Nor are we called to look askance at anyone in need to see if they are really needy. We serve Christ by serving others. If there aren’t any obvious needs around, we need to go to where the needs are. Hiding in our homes, our churches, our jobs and our circle of friends to avoid the messiness of ministry is unbecoming and shameful for any believer in Christ.
2 comments:
We all could do a better job of reaching out to all of those in need. Smallgestures are easy: taking a meal to a family with an illness or new baby, shoveling the walk or driveway for someone, picking up a couple of extra items at the grocery when you shop. The trick is to do them consistently.
We took our foreign exchange student(a couple of years ago)to one of the food banks in Detroit. As we approached the location she asked me who would possibly need food. In her very financially secure life, she couldn't even conceive that someone wouldn't have enough to eat. I've never forgotten that.
Great post. It's a good reminder to make some time to reach out.
There is much need. The soup kitchen in FT. W serves 30,000 meals/month - all with a team of volunteers and a lot of donated food items. There are numerous food banks, there are many outreach programs for the homeless, the Ave Maria house provides a place to go in the daytime offering coffee, snacks, a place to take a shower, wash some clothes, get a sleeping bag, or dry socks, and other services to the homeless. The Rescue Mission feeds, and shelters many, the Vincent House shelters women and children. Miss Virginia's house helps the poor. One thing in common with all of the above, they need donations, they need money, they need volunteers, they need prayer - most people can commit to support at some level, perhaps donate extra vegetables from your garden to the soup kitchen, or money to the Rescue Mission. There are a couple of groups who go out each evening and walk the areas where the homeless are and hand out basic necessities. There is so much need, and all have seen an increased demand over the past couple of years. There are so many groups doing so many things to help, the need is endless.
Visit the downtown library during the week, it is loaded with people, many who appear to be homeless, who are allowed to "hang out" as long as they are looking at reading material. In fact during bad winter weather the library remains open just so people have somewhere warm and dry to go during the day.
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