Ward Kelly alerted me to this video from TheBlaze.com. Thanks, Ward!
The people in the following video were speechless after walking by some homeless people on the street. I would like to think I would have been different, but I am not so sure.
These people were speechless after walking by homeless on the street
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Hit and Run Christian Service
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The way that some churches try to “minister to homeless people” is by driving up to the park where all the homeless people gather, opening the side door, throwing out a bunch of crates of food onto the sidewalk, and then peeling off down the road to get out of there as quick as possible.
Then they give a report at church the next Sunday at how they served and fed the homeless… just like Jesus.
Such ministry is “Hit and Run Christian Service.” We drive up, hit some homeless people with food and Gospel tracts, and then get get out of there with tires squealing.
Or maybe it is closer to Christian drug dealing. We pull up in a windowless van, and handout sandwiches and gospel tracks from the back, and then tell them we’ll be back next week.
Part of the problem is this whole “ministry to” idea. Loving others is not exactly when we do something “to” people. Loving like Jesus means that others serve and minister to us just as much as we serve and minister to them. Or maybe more.
True Christian ministry begins with developing relationships with others, and more often than not, we find that we are the ones ministered to, rather than the ones doing the ministry. That’s why I put “minister to homeless people” in quote marks above.
Christian service actually means loving people and being loved. Christian ministry is not something we do to people, but with people.
Showing love to the homeless people often means receiving love back. Love from Jesus.
Most Christians are afraid of the dark
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A while back Jeremy wrote:
If the church wants to join God in storming the gates of hell, in defeating the darkness … We must find the mean places, the dark places, the dangerous places, and take the church there. We must go to the greedy, the liars, the cheats, the thieves, and show them generosity, truth, and honesty. We must find the places that even the cops won’t go, and go there with Jesus instead. Where do the most murders occur? Where do the addicts and prostitutes hang out? Let’s meet there.
Why Don’t We Enter the Darkness?
Most of us are afraid.
We’re afraid that we’ll be harmed physically.
We’re afraid we’ll catch a disease.
We’re afraid we’ll get dirty.
We afraid we’ll be robbed.
We’re afraid people will want our money or our stuff.
We’re afraid that somehow “those people” will break through the walls we’ve built around us, tug at our heart strings, and we’ll end up giving them our money, stuff and time.
We’re afraid we’ll be contaminated by their sin.
We’re afraid we’ll stop seeing their sin and start seeing them.
We’re afraid we might start loving them, sin and all, but we think we’re supposed to hate their sin.
We’re afraid we might learn to like them.
We’re afraid we might remember that Jesus loves them, but it is our arms Jesus uses to wrap around them.
Why Do We Think They Will Come to the Light?
My wife and I had moved. We visited a church service at a local church. One of the men confronted me at the front door. “We believe men should wear suits and ties to church to show respect to God.” I wasn’t wearing a suit and tie. I told him I didn’t believe that way, and went in anyway.
At another church, an elder told me, “We don’t want people attending here until they get themselves cleaned up. We don’t want couples coming here who are living together but aren’t married. We only want good Christian people here.”
Why would anyone want to “come” to church if those are the attitudes they find? The people who most need to hear won’t come near. We make certain of that. Why would anyone have even the slightest interest in going any place where they know they won’t be accepted?
What’s The Answer?
Jeremy’s answer is simple. “We must go” to them — to the adulterers, prostitutes, thieves, tax collectors, Gentiles, sick, needy, poor, greedy, selfish, and to all who dwell in darkness.”
It is safer, warmer, less-threatening and more comfortable to keep our distance from those who dwell in darkness. But if we really do follow Jesus, if Jesus really is our Good Shepherd, need we fear evil? Is Jesus with us or not?
Perhaps the question I must really ask myself is “Am I with Him?”
If I’m with Him, I don’t need to be afraid of the darkness. So go with the sinners are. Don’t be afraid. Jesus will go with you.
So don’t be afraid of the dark. When you’re with Jesus, no sin can harm you.
There is so much need in the world!
And YOU can help.
Fill out the form below to receive several emails about how to love and serve the poor and homeless.
(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)
Loving Others at Walmart
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Here is a story from Sam Riviera about how he showed tangible love and concern for a woman he met outside of Walmart. As we seek to follow Jesus and be the church in our community, loving others with the love of Jesus can be as simple as caring for the person right in front of us.
Another winter day, but the temperature in the sun in front of that Walmart here in San Diego was well over one hundred degrees. Somehow I never noticed Annabelle when I went into the store. But I saw her and heard her when I came out.
“Pardon me sir. Would you like to give something to help the homeless? Even a quarter would be appreciated.”
Annabelle was sitting in the hot sun at a small table with a sign that named the group for whom she was fundraising. Another sign said “Ask me for my testimony.” Annabelle was dripping sweat.
“Tell me about this group you’re raising money for,” I said. “How did you get involved with these people?”
Annabelle told me about how the group had helped her and her daughter get off the street and break her addiction to drugs. She said that she is following Jesus now.
“I had a job, but lost it a couple of months ago because of the economy. So I thought I should try to give back by sitting out here fundraising.”
“You look like you’re cooking out here in the sun.”
“I am. I feel like a piece of roast beef, but I’m going to stay.”
Annabelle went on to tell me that some people are kind to her, and some are not. Some call her nasty names, tell her she is what’s wrong with this country, and some even tell her she is ugly.
I told her it’s how God sees us that counts. In God’s eyes, we’re beautiful.
“I know that, but sometimes it’s hard sitting here with people saying some of those things. The devil tempts me to not be nice to them. But I try real hard to be nice to them anyway.”
After giving Annabelle a donation, I told her my wife and I would pray for her and asked how she would like us to pray.
“Please pray for my teenage daughter and my teenage niece who lives with us.”
“Should we pray for a job for you also?”
“Yes, I need a job. But I’m not worried about me so much as I’m worried about those girls. I’m right with Jesus and I’m OK.”
We shook hands and hugged. Apparently the group of people that had gathered around us listening to our conversation were not familiar with seeing customers and fundraisers hugging in front of Walmart.
When I got home, I remembered that we had a clip-on beach umbrella in the closet that we probably didn’t really need. A little later I fastened it on Annabelle’s table, since I had to “pass by that way anyhow on my way to an appointment.” (My appointment was really in the opposite direction, but Annabelle didn’t need to know that.) Someone had given her a cold drink and she said she had already eaten lunch.
“Can people see you under that umbrella when they come out of the store?”
“Even if they can’t see me, I can see them and they can hear my big mouth. God bless you and your wife!”
As I walked back to my car I could hear Annabelle.
“Pardon me, sir. Would you like to give something to help the homeless?”
Please pray for Annabelle, her daughter and her niece.
Be the Church in Your Community
Want to be the church in your community but don't know? Here are some posts which not only explain what it means to be the church in your community, but also gives concrete, practical examples of what it looks like and how to be the church whatever you do and wherever you go.
Remember, you ARE the church, and wherever you go, Jesus goes with you!
- How to Be the Church in Your Community
- The Tribe and the Church
- Church Tribes vs. the Jesus Tribe
- How to Preach the Gospel to your Neighbors
- Being the Church is Loving the Person in Front of You
- 4 Practical Suggestions for Being the Church in your Community
- Love Like Jesus by Listening to People
- Welcome New People to the Community
- Finding Jesus in Denver
- Loving Others at Walmart
Do you like rain? Imagine being homeless in the rain…
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The cold rain streams down my window as I sit in my warm and dry home, yet hot, wet tears stream down my cheeks as I watch the rain.
I love the rain, especially since we need it so much in Southern California. But I am not crying for the rain.
I am crying for the people I love who must sit in the rain, soaking wet, with nowhere to go and nothing to cover themselves.
Recently my wife and I distributed a car trunk full of tarps, sweatshirts, sweaters, pants, blankets, food and other supplies to the homeless living in San Diego. But our meager supplies fell far short of meeting what they need.
This morning the temperature is fifty degrees. Fifty isn’t all that cold unless you’re soaked to the skin sitting on a wet sidewalk in the rain. Sitting under a tarp helps, but not everyone has a tarp. Some are sitting in the rain, shivering.
Blood on the Sidewalk
Many of our Christian friends are afraid to go with us to buy and distribute clothes, food, and tarps to the homeless. They’re afraid to go to the inner city and mingle with the poor, the bikers, the gangs. They blanch when we tell them of the times we have stood on still-wet blood stains on the sidewalk where someone was murdered during the previous night. (I think this has happened five or six times.)
Sometimes we’re afraid before we go. For some reason we’re never afraid when we’re there. We see beautiful people, who are in the middle of life’s messes.
To Show The Love of Jesus
My friend who does not follow Jesus, who loves the homeless, the poor, and our gay friends wants to go with me today. She is trying to take off work for a couple of hours to join me. We’ll buy tarps and then hand them out.
When the homeless ask who we are and why we’re doing it I’ll say “I follow Jesus and we’re here to show the love of Jesus.” Then I’ll ask their name, and ask what they need. My friend will write it down in my little notebook.
Sometimes I pray with them there on the sidewalk, in the rain. Sometimes they ask about Jesus. Sometimes they bless me, at God’s bidding. I bless them in return.
We’re safe, warm, and dry. But are they?
There is so much need in the world!
And YOU can help.
Fill out the form below to receive several emails about how to love and serve the poor and homeless.
(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)
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