Homelessness: The Shaking Cup
There are times in our lives when our heart conflicts with our instinct. Driving home from having dinner downtown, my friend brought up what was on her heart. "Kiel, do you remember the homeless guy we saw back there? I really felt convicted to say ‘hello’ or to give him my leftovers from dinner."
I’ve had this conversation many times before with many different friends. Homelessness is a constant reminder when walking down the streets of downtown Indianapolis. Somewhere in-between the "clickity-clack" of the horses taking people on carriage rides and the sounds of cars passing through, one can hear a distinct sound. The sound is that of loose change tumbling around in a McDonald’s coffee cup as a man sits on the sidewalk shaking the cup, silently begging for money.
That sound for me is a constant reminder of homelessness and every time I hear it, I think of what Jesus said in Mark 14:7 when He said, "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me."
At first I thought Jesus was saying that even if everybody shared everything, that as humans we would find some way to place value on humans and classify people as poor. But the more I thought about it and studied, the more I realized that it’s our sin nature that keeps people poor.
As I talked to my friend, we went through the typical reasons why someone wouldn’t want to give a homeless person money. The answer almost always is, "I don’t know if they’re truly in need" or "they’ll probably use it to by alcohol."
I can understand that and when we give the homeless money or resources, we may be empowering them to continue a life of homelessness. But I look at it like this, is giving a homeless guy a couple bucks and not knowing what he’s going to do with it any different than the Lord providing us with financial resources and wasting it on things that don’t matter in the end?
It’s like I can almost see God saying, "Oh there’s John, off buying the next tech gizmo instead of giving his money to an organization that can use his money to dig wells in villages so they can have access to clean water."
Do you see? Both can be wasteful and counter-productive behaviors: alcoholism and consumerism… of course, that’s just my opinion.
We’re caught between what our heart wants to do and what our instincts have taught us. Our heart really wants to help out, but our instinct tells us not to give money. Can I offer a suggestion? Perhaps the first step is just acknowledging their existence. I was downtown for a business meeting and was waiting for the signal to cross the street when I ran across the guy who holds his sign proudly: "I’m not gonna lie, it’s for beer."
I didn’t give him money, but at the end of our short conversation he said something that struck me, "hey, thanks for stopping to talk to me." You may not realize it, but when you’re there begging for money everyday, people dart their eyes and pretend like these people don’t exist. I’m guilty of this myself sometimes.
Earlier I wrote that "it’s our sin nature that keeps people poor" and I mean that on so many levels. When we fail to give money to organizations that help the homeless, we keep them poor. When we fail to acknowledge their existence and treat them as a fellow human being, we keep them poor of spirit. And when we fail to share the Gospel, we keep them spiritually poor. Although I would bet there are more homeless men and women who have a richer faith with God because God’s all they have.
I really enjoyed my conversation with my friend about homelessness. I’m no expert, but I do have friends who have worked with homeless organizations and opened my eyes to the way things are. I think we can all at least start to open our eyes a little bit and even if we don’t give that homeless man or woman money, we can at least start to see them as someone’s son or daughter… human.
So every time I hear that cup shaking with change in it or every time I hear the Salvation Army bells ring at Christmas time, I am reminded of those who need to know that we care.
If you’re interested in reading more, my friend Barry did an experiment where he spent a few days and nights living the life of someone who is homeless. Here are those links: