In the thread about Christmas, I brought up alms as an example in the discussion. Some things that were said by E. Lee in response as to how to handle the misuse of alms made me wonder what any of you do when faced with a beggar.

In regards to alms being misused by beggars, E. Lee wrote:

"They do this because we allow them to. If we used the money to actually pay their rent or buy food or provide various services directly to them and pay not the beggar but rather the provider of the services or supplier of the goods such foolish things as this would not happen. This is the result when we give money to the beggar instead of buying him a meal, or going to his landlord (if he has one) and paying the rent or paying the power company for his electricity. It is indeed foolish to just take money out into the streets and give it to beggars that may abuse its purpose. And Christians who do such things are responsible for the abuse because they knew that such could happen with their “Alms” and did nothing to prevent it."

And this is why I wonder if any of you have further advice on almsgiving:

Growing up in rural America, I would give money to those whom I knew needed it, naive to their abuse of what was given. I entered ministry in inner city St. Louis, then Chicago, and have now returned to St. Louis. Seeing beggars take money directly given to them and spending it on money, a group of us came to the conclusion that you stated above, take care of the need directly and don't give the money to the middle man (in this case, the beggar). Time after time I have gone into Hardee's, Subway, or other food place, purchase a sandwich for someone who asked, then watch them pull a buck or two out of their pocket and spend it at the liquor store next door because they no longer needed to spend it on the sandwich that I have already paid for. What do you recommend?

God bless, Scott

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

Answers

First of all...I feel no sense of obligation to those outside the body of Christ. The Scripture makes it clear, however, we are obligated to our brothers and sisters in Christ....James 2.

Second....the old saying..."Burn me once shame on you...burn me twice...shame on me applies."

Darrell will remember at Cocoa we had a food pantry we opened up to anyone in the community. What a joke. They told a friend...then they told two friends....etc...etc.

So....we made simple little rule. Food pantry will be open after services on Sundays and Wednesdays and you can get three days worth of food after attending a service.

Long story short....the food pantry was never used for a year...except by a few members of the church that were having financial troubles.

I believe whatever anyone does in relation to giving to those outside the church must be tied to some obligation on their part to receive spiritual food as well.

In fact, at one time I believe there was a Christian Church organization in St. Louis a number of years ago that operated on the premise.....1 service....1 meal. They had chapel services three times a day.....and in order to get the subsequent meal....you attended the preceeding chapel service. A good idea!!

The fact remains...you can house all the homeless....get everyone off drugs...fill every stomach...and if they do not know Christ....they are still destined for hell.

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

Darrell....

Very true about the police station thing.

We did that in KS....and had the same response (or lack thereof).

I can honestly say in my 20 years of ministry....I can count the number of "truly" needy.....on one hand or less.

The rest....were just bona-fide bums and users!!

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

Marc.......

Jesus taught....

1. Good stewardship 2. The spiritual needs far outweigh the physical.

I find no Sciptural admonition that the church is to be a channel of the Social Gospel.

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

Scott,

Danny is right-on with his comments, as I too was a part of the program in Cocoa he spoke of.

I also have recently had a close personal experience with "Street People" - it wasn't pleasant, I assure you.

What I have have gleaned from their comments is that:

1) Most all on the Street CHOOSE to be there! Few are there due to actions that were beyond their own control (things like layoffs, bankruptcy due to illness, or abuse are not near the cause that liberals would have you believe).

2) Most don't want your help - they just want a handout or a chance to help themselves to YOUR property. Here is a direct quote from one person (call him Bill), when I offered to help find him a shelter to live out of, "I could have been in a Shelter a long time ago, I don't want that. I guess you could say that I'd rather be homeless than live in a Shelter". That has got to go down as one of the sadest and stupidest statements I heard in 2001 - the Academy Award winner in that category!

Obviously, these folks don't need our pity or our hand- outs............They need Jesus Christ in their lives and they need to learn & APPLY the Scriptures to their lives. Scriptures like 2 Thess. 3:10........"if anyone will not work, neither let him eat".

My words may sound harsh - but they come straight from the "horse's mouth" in this case. There is an old saying, "God helps those who help themselves" - and I think there is some truth to that. Giving such people "things" won't help them. Teach them the ways of the Lord and how to conduct themselves accordingly - then they will be willing and able to change their attitudes & lives; to become productive members of society; to become fishers of men, rather than beggars of fish.

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

I agree that we have 1st priority to those in the church as Galatians 6:10 points out, ¡§So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.¡¨

Although this may not specifically be referring to money, it does indicate that 1st priority is the household of faith... however, we are still to do good to ALL people. Another scripture that seems to indicate that we are not to exclude anyone is Matthew 25:31-46 (Parable of sheep and goats). Again, this may seem to indicate that those taken care of were in the ¡§church¡¨ (for lack of better wording) ¡K yet Jesus talks about taking in strangers (I am interested in your thoughts on who this includes and why).

With all that said, I still agree that it is easy to be taken advantage of. We have a fund in the community to help those in need and like others have indicated, if they want help they must make an attempt to get involved in church (this usually stops them quicklyƒº). We also have in our church a benevolence fund which is for ¡§our¡¨ people 1st and other Christians if that need arises.

I agree with Danny that you can help someone in need and they can still be headed for hell¡K what good is that? This is why I personally don¡¦t support a lot of good causes financially unless they also are sharing the gospel with the people. I actually had one man get very mad on the phone with me because I would not support his worthy cause. I agreed it was a very good cause¡K but it was not going to save souls¡K unfortunately I am a poor preacher with 5 kids (6th due any day) and I can¡¦t give to everything. Yet, I must admit that sometimes I feel that we all could try harder and judge less¡K just a thought.

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

I've been in a couple of congregations, and each handled things a bit differently. In Tampa, if someone needed gas, we would head to the station and put some in their tank, rather than give them $$$

If they needed food, we supported a ministry in town where they could go. This ministry was supposed to check things out before giving out food.

I like what we did in Cocoa (Danny reported above). Made sense.

In Lake Lynn, PA, the elders said not to help anyone ... I guess that solved the "getting ripped off" problem, but I don't think it was very biblical.

Some communities help out through the police department ... I believe it was that way in St. Cloud, FL. You'd be surprized (maybe not) at the number of folks who drove on through town when they found out they had to go to the police station first.

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002

Danny you said, "I can honestly say in my 20 years of ministry....I can count the number of "truly" needy.....on one hand or less. The rest....were just bona-fide bums and users!!"

I can agree with that, yet did Jesus tells us to help those who appear to have need or only help if we feel they are worthy in our eyes?

-- Anonymous, January 03, 2002