Years ago, while walking through a parking lot, a young man asked me for some money. He said he needed a bathing suit. Many years later, I parked downtown to go to the library, when being approached by a couple of boys asking for money. A couple of times, while in a parking lot, young women would ask me for some money. They were homeless. One lady promised me she wouldn't spend it on liquor while the liquor smell was on her breath. Another time, Steve and Theresa came up to us after my husband and I were on a date night, asking for money because of a strange story that Theresa needed to go to the hospital again and they needed money for the bus, even though my husband offered to take them to the hospital.
You've probably met some of these people, or people just like them. I used to feel guilty if I didn't give money to a person who asked, because I felt like I was being very selfish with what I had. But, there may be another twist to this story that most people don't realize.
Before I go any further, please understand that there are people who legitimately need money. Some are out on the streets because of a job loss. They have no intention of staying on the streets and as soon as they find employment, they will be back at work. Others are handicapped and can't work, and are very unfortunate in that there is no one to take them in, nor do they know how to apply for unemployment or disability.
Those in this category of losing a job or being handicapped could get help if they knew where to go and how to apply. These people do not have to be roaming the streets begging for money, although some of them might be desperate. They just need someone to show them where they can get help.
The other category is probably what makes up most of the homeless population, unfortunately. I have even heard of people who are perfectly fine, collecting money at intersections, while they hold up a sign saying 'need food' or 'need money'.
What is this breakdown in society about? Sadly, much of it has to do with taking drugs. We hear so much about the subject of drugs that we have tuned it out of our thinking. But the drug problem is much more serious than what we think. It affects people who are wealthy as well as the homeless.
I remember talking with a man who was homeless and very angry. It started when I offered him a tract that looks like a hundred dollar bill. The thought of my giving money to a homeless person was repulsive to him. It obviously triggered some bad memories for him. I spent a while listening to his story, and what I got out of it was that he was angry with Christians in particular, because they were always giving money to the homeless. The homeless people would use the money and buy their drugs, then sometimes they would die or someone else died because of their drug taking. This man lived with the homeless day in and day out, and knew the ropes.
I was explaining the situation of Steve and Theresa to my friends on Facebook, and one replied to me and told me that she was homeless for a while. She said to never give money to a homeless person, or even anything else, because they use it on drugs, and they take the gift cards and sell them to buy drugs with.
As we look back at Steve and Theresa, it became clear that Theresa was most likely suffering from drug withdrawal because she didn't have access to her drug. So, the $20 we gave her, plus the other money they probably collected from other sympathetic onlookers helped to pay the money for her next fix.
We used to go downtown to feed the homeless and share the Gospel with those who would listen. It was a very good time for us, for the most part. The man who led the ministry to feed the homeless, was skilled in dealing with homeless people. He advised us to not even bring our wallets with us. We were to give the homeless people NO money. At first, this might seem cruel. You have to understand though, the man leading this ministry was miraculously saved from drug addiction and used his ministry, with everything he had, to serve these people with. Giving the homeless people money was not going to serve them. It would probably bring harm to them. In fact, we really enjoyed talking with these people and serving them food, yet, one of them stole a young man's wallet while he was playing in the band. The goal would be to serve the people, minister the Gospel, and become friends with the people, and teach them how to live. Their temptations will be to go back to drugs, or to look for money to pay for the next fix. It is not judging these people, but knowing what the culture is like in order to ultimately serve them.
The goal of helping the homeless is not just to give them a meal so they can survive one more day. We have to break into their culture and get to know them, in order to serve them effectively.
Every Christian should be filled with the compassion of Christ, but many times, that compassion is misdirected. It takes a lot of wisdom from above to know how to help homeless people the right way. We can do more harm by having compassion on them, but using it the wrong way.
Next time you see a homeless person asking for money, please consider the best way you can help them. To give money out could perpetuate the problem. Let them know about the homeless shelters available to them. If they seem resistant to that idea, then you know that the person can't be helped. It's a good indication that they don't really want to be helped, but just want the money they can suck out of you because of your compassion. Don't be fooled.
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