I can remember several times when I have seen poor and homeless people when my first thoughts are directed at diverting the reality of the need and my response as a believer. Thoughts like; ‘I wonder if they are faking it’, or, ‘I bet they are where they are because of bad decisions, it’s their own fault’, or, ‘I hope they don’t look at me’, and on and on and on.
While I wonder why many times my first responses are sometimes like this, I have a gut feeling that I am not alone. In fact, Dale Hanson Bourke, author of The Skeptic’s Guide to Global Poverty, recently wrote this in the Washington Post:
‘Stuck in an endless line of bumper-to-bumper beach traffic, my frustration turned to fear when a dirty, disheveled man walked unsteadily toward my car. Instinctively, I locked my door and averted my eyes, hoping he’d move past me. Instead he stopped beside my window and held up his hand printed sign. Feeling a bit ashamed, I glanced over at him and burst into laughter.
“Why lie? I want a beer” the crudely printed sign proclaimed.
The man’s sign summed up the skepticism many of us feel about anyone asking for a handout. I was tempted to reward his honesty, but unwilling to enable a habit that contributed to his poverty. I hesitated and he moved on, leaving me to examine the range of emotions I had experienced in less than a minute.’
So, what do we do with these realities, how as Christians who have been called to reflect Jesus to the lost, poor, disenfranchised, missed and lonely, do we actually live this out?
We can take the ‘first step’ by reading Dale’s book, The Skeptic’s Guide to Global Poverty, just click on the cover and get your free eBook NOW!
