Help-less to the homeless on purpose
A friend of mine shared a story with me tonight about a pastor who dressed himself as a homeless man for the introduction to his new congregation. Of the thousands, only three acknowledged him. Not one would spare him any change and he was asked to leave the front seating for a place in the back. He stood to his feet when his introduction was made. Shame fell upon the people.
As I thought about people's actions, I realized how many people I know who will not give an extra dollar from their wallets for a man on the side of the road for fear. The fear of being cheated out of the dollar because it may be spent on booze or cigarettes. It's shameful. My statement in response to my friend's story was this:
"I say you can never be cheated. Either you have fed someone physically or you have planted a seed of God's love and fed them spiritually. That person will think at one point, 'He (or she) gave me money without insult. Who loves like that?' Jesus does. Who cares about being cheated out of a dollar? We should be thinking about how we are investing that dollar."
When Cain denounced his position as his brother's keeper, he had in word (not just deed) contributed to his death. When we refuse people, we contribute maybe not to their death, but to the death of brotherhood, the death of humanity.
As I thought about people's actions, I realized how many people I know who will not give an extra dollar from their wallets for a man on the side of the road for fear. The fear of being cheated out of the dollar because it may be spent on booze or cigarettes. It's shameful. My statement in response to my friend's story was this:
"I say you can never be cheated. Either you have fed someone physically or you have planted a seed of God's love and fed them spiritually. That person will think at one point, 'He (or she) gave me money without insult. Who loves like that?' Jesus does. Who cares about being cheated out of a dollar? We should be thinking about how we are investing that dollar."
When Cain denounced his position as his brother's keeper, he had in word (not just deed) contributed to his death. When we refuse people, we contribute maybe not to their death, but to the death of brotherhood, the death of humanity.
Comments
Post a Comment