Charity, Cracks & Christ

Last Sunday to and fro from our church gathering, three people and a couple, asked me for money, food, drink.

I almost always say "No" but then feel guilty as sin when I do. I compromised with the couple and bought them Chinese Take-Out. I got them guilt-ridden General Tso's with convicted sugar sauce. I wanted redemption from a previous encounter (below) that left me with a bad taste in my conscience.

One of the individual's begging before church copped an attitude when I said "No" before he asked... and I amped on him, basically telling him to get out of my face. I tried to track him down a minute or two later to explain to him my frustration with being on the receiving end of peoples' incessant begging for hand-outs. I also wanted to apologize for being unnecessarily harsh. I hated myself for not treating him with dignity, regardless of how he was treating himself. He had vanished like a ghost.

I assume that each of these five people were addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Begging like a dog is unbecoming and it has to be the outworking of impairment.  

They had the telltale look of substance abuse. Really sin abuse. The abyss of addiction is like a black hole, absorbing energy through gravitational inwardness. Throwing five dollars or a sandwich into their askew universe does nothing to align their hearts to health. Often, hand-outs are more like nails in the coffin they are constructing for themselves. The dark side of charity. Keeps them stuck.

As part of the cost I extracted from the couple eating the Chinese food was me telling them how awkward and awful it feels to be approached by strangers with empty eyes, hearts, and open hands. Not that I think empathy is necessarily a quality addicted people cultivate. I also said that Christ can set them free. Easy for me to say I know.

I want to have mercy on those in such misery. I don't want my soul to become as hard as the sidewalk or benches they sleep on in a stupor. I also don't want to judge them with a self-righteous spirit. Urinating attitude-wise on their Image of God. I want to help. I consider it a calling regardless of how they got to be where they are. Not my fault but still my responsibility. Some Christians are harsh and heartless on the plight of those ensnared by the Evil One. Our condemnation drives them deeper into the Satanic trap. Yet, our charity often lacks any long-term strategy to set them free. Just because it feels good does not mean that it is. By the fruits we should judge. A well-fed addict is still an addict.

Lancaster City, with both the men running to be mayor in a self-congratulatory spinning mode, hardly want to admit that having five people coming up to a stranger begging on a Sunday morning is very indicative of a social safety net in tatters. Look at the Art Scene!!! How about the broken people begging. Hardly a beautiful sight. They must be blind. Maybe they need to get out more often onto the streets beyond the corridors small-city power. Cracks in the city's soul...

Where is the Church with the whole person healing Gospel? Calling people to repentance and restoration for body and soul. Too little hope in Christ's incarnation and identification with humanity's depravity, setting people free? I have many more questions than answers at this point. But, I am not finished thinking through how I need to respond in the future.