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A Personal Devotional by Debbie Hall
Ministry to the Poor
There have not been many times throughout the history of the church in which Christians have had to defend to their brethren the church's responsibility to care for the poor. Unfortunately, I believe that we are living in such a time right now, a time in which Christians have become polarized on issues and otherwise strong evangelical churches are afraid to take stands in areas that the Bible makes clear are of great interest to our God. Many have believed the lie that it is the liberals who are concerned about the poor and that we conservatives have been given the higher calling of evangelizing the lost world. To be sure, many a liberal has fallen prey to the trap that neglects evangelism almost entirely. But we have no Biblical excuse for neglecting the physical needs of the poor and solely evangelizing them. To be Biblical is to be concerned about both the physical and the spiritual realm at the same time.
It is also a fear that perhaps the church growth movement has taken our eyes off of necessary ministry to the poor. The homogeneous unit principle says that churches should be planted on the principle that people of similar groups like to be together and therefore churches should pander to the "needs" of these groups in hopes of planting churches among them. It is at least worth thoughtful Biblical reflection that many current church plants are aimed at fairly affluent middle class members instead of those that are considered "down and out."
The Bible itself leaves no doubt about what the people of God should think and do in regards to the poor. Deuteronomy 15:11b says "thou shall open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in the land." In Psalm 41:1 King David says "blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble." Solomon says in Proverbs 19:17 that "he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again."
In the New Testament we see Jesus eager to see ministry to the poor continue. In Matthew 25 as Jesus foretells the separating of the sheep from the goats, the sheep are characterized as those who did something about the plight of the stranger, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the poorly clothed, and the person in prison. In Luke 16 Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and Jesus makes it very clear that the rich man is in Hell for his unbelief characterized by his lack of urgency in helping Lazarus the transient in his midst.
The leaders of the early church were also adamant about ministry to the poor. The apostle James was very upset in his letter about favoritism being shown to the rich. When Paul met with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem he tells us, "only they would that we should remember the poor, the same thing which I also was eager to do (Gal.2:10)." Interestingly, Hebrews 13:1 tells us that if we minister to strangers, we may very well have met an angel without knowing about it!
Unfortunately ministry to transients is not easy work! There are concerns about safety. Some have mental problems and in addition to being hard to communicate with they also can be violent. We have all heard stories of good samaritans who have lost their lives simply because they cared enough to help somebody. In addition, If word gets out that such and such church helps transients more may come and the physical plant of the church might be in danger of things such as vandalism. If any attempt is made at assimilating the transient into the church's life there is the possibility that the safety of the church's children might be compromised. More than one church has reported (or covered up) a person like this gaining the congregations trust only to find out that the transient might be a sexual offender. There are concerns about integrity. Some are experienced conmen and will take whatever is given to them and if given cash will even spend it on alcohol or drugs. The very person trying to help might then be the one fueling an addiction. These are tough problems and it is easy to see why some churches simply don't want to deal with transients!
We however, will proceed with the understanding that it is scriptural to help, and in our final analysis we must. Therefore let's take a moment to address some practical things a church can do in its ministry to transients. First, the church needs a plan. Instead of expecting the pastor to display Solomonic wisdom and Mother Teresa like care every time a transient stops by, there should be thoughtful reflection given to the conditions under which the church should help. There should also be a designated fund set up which the pastor can use to help people with. Otherwise the good-hearted pastor will go broke doing what he believes to be his Christian duty. There should be a maximum number of dollars that he can use beyond which the church would have to vote for more to be used.
Secondly, it may be helpful to separate in-church assistance from out of church assistance. From time to time there may be members who need care and the church is in a place to take an offering for a car, or groceries or for whatever. At times like this when established members of the church have a need the church should not just pray for the need, the church should meet the need. One of the outcomes of this will be the strengthening of the body. Out of church assistance, however, and by that I mean ministry to strangers and transients, should have as its goals compassionate assistance and evangelism. The gospel should be shared! I do take the view, however, that in the majority of these instances assimilation of the transient into the church body should not be a goal. Obviously this can be set aside when it is absolutely clear that a work of God has completely changed the person, but we also must be sensitive to the fact that sometimes these same people become predators in churches that reached out to them.
Third, members should minister to transients in pairs. Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs. Paul always had fellow ministers of the gospel around. Our "lone ranger" mentality might not only be unscriptural, it might also put us in unnecessary danger or have us be unnecessarily taken advantage of! Instead of going back into the minister's office perhaps this ministry should take place out in the open in the presence of the church secretary. The minister should also avoid letting the transient see any more of the church then is necessary, especially where the help comes from. It's sad but it's true: if they see where it comes from during the day, they may break in and take all of the money at night.
Finally, we should follow Saint Augustine's commentary on Jesus' words to "give to them who ask of you." Augustine said yes, we should give, but we must keep in mind that Jesus did not say what to give! There is almost no circumstance in which a transient should be given cash. Most will go right out and spend it on alcohol or drugs. If the person is hungry, take him to a local McDonalds and feed him! If they need gas, take them to the local filling station and buy them gas! Share the gospel along the way! Word will probably get out and less transients will come by. And there probably aren't many sights more pleasing in heaven then the Lord seeing us eating with sinners! A note should be added that if the church already has food banks and clothing closets and adds programs like literacy training all of this will make ministry to transients go much smoother. The conclusion is probably best taken from I John 3:17, "but whoso hath the world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"
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