...Ignore the Homeless

Wait, no. That's not right. But I got your attention, right? After all, scripture straight up says "¹³ If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." Proverbs 21:13

And yet, here I am: an upper middle class white girl, content to walk by those in need despite my Corporate Salary.

I understand entire political parties are divided on what kind of help we, as a country, should provide for those under the poverty line. I will not claim to solve all the world's issues by a single blog post. But I'm convicted.

My conviction likely came from 1 of 3 places:

1) This video of a homeless man in Chicago my church recently featured. My pastor is incredibly passionate about caring for our local community. Therefore, he initiated a series called "Jesus in the Trenches" where we discuss how Jesus got his hands dirty with people. Furthermore, Jesus expects the same of us.

Ronald Davis, the man in this video, tearfully explains to the camera crew that he is not a bum.  After a sweet sermon, my pastor charged all of us to care for the needy of Dover. He asked that we reserve cash in our wallet to do the Lord's will with that week. I left pretty pumped!

2) My newest online friend/girl crush, Rachel Karman. Rachel runs a blog from LA called Hit on by the Homeless, documenting her work with the at-risk population on skid row. She caught my attention because of her graceful response to the #FitchTheHomeless hooplah going on in the twittersphere.

She described the homeless, who are often regarded as either permanent street fixtures or statistics, as friends. The 3.5 million people who experience homelessness in a year have valid opinions and feelings that can be hurt. Perhaps you'd already come to this novel conclusion. I, however, apparently needed a kick in the pants to realize this.

3) While options 1 and 2 were incredibly compelling to me, it was likely my wild encounter today that led to heavy guilt on my conscience. During my lunch hour, I sat on the river bank by the library in the ho-hum town in which I work. I frequent this spot as respite from the office but today was different. My bible was open as I leaned against the cypress tree and a man approached me.
"What are you studying, young lady?"
"The bible."
"Good for you! What part?"
"Genesis - I'm reading about Joseph."
This simple and honest exchange led to a 30 minute conversation about life, and more importantly, Jesus. My new friend, Charlie, explained his hardships in life as he cracked open his beer. I often say that my favorite thing about people is their story. Through the unveiling of Charlie's story, I discovered that Charlie believed God was good but that he'd had a rough life.

Because of the passage I still had open, I was equipped with an account that seemed so applicable to Charlie. Joseph was dealt a pretty crappy lot. He was offered great temptation. And yet, Joseph was obedient to God. Genesis 39 says that God showed Joseph steadfast love and ensured anything he did succeeded.  

I told Charlie I could not possibly imagine the hard life he'd been dealt. And that my prayer for him, and myself, would be for obedience like Joseph's.

He was beaming. He said he could see joy glowing from my face. He then offered to buy me lunch sometime. Did you catch that? He offered to buy me lunch. Granted, this was mostly a come-on but still...what incredible generosity!

My lunch hour was up so I exited the scene, saying I hoped to see him around town. As I drove away, I remembered my pastor's charge (see option 1). The excitement I'd felt leaving that sermon waned: I had failed. I did not have cash on me, nor anything else tangible to offer Charlie. I missed the opportunity to provide for this man's physical needs.

Certainly, I could pat myself on the back for feeding his "spiritual poverty". But at the end of the day, I am a fool if I believe I did all I could for Charlie today.


The best part of all of this? Charlie lives in my own little suburbia. Sorry youth group kids, you don't need to go on a mission trip anywhere to fulfill the charge to "³ Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. ⁴ Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4 

In the pursuit of holiness, being shoved outside of my comfort zone is required. Giving, both spiritually and tangibly, is required. Being a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant doesn't make me holy; being kind to the needy does.