Why does our city hate homeless people?
We have great discussions in our workshop. Sometimes they’re about the stuff I’d planned.
Homelessness matters to these guys. Many have been there, and they know they’re one bad choice from returning. So they’re concerned about the way our city is addressing the issue recently.
“What makes you think the city hates them?”
“Well, all I hear is complaints. But when you herd them all into one small area so you can ignore them, what do you expect?”
(Background—our city recently moved to informally confine homeless folks to one small park near the shelter.)
Another guy jumped in. “It shouldn’t be the government’s job. It’s something the church ought to address.”
Quiet. “What do you guys think about that?”
Everyone seemed to agree. “So what does that mean? How does the church help? What do those folks need?”
Crickets.
“C’mon, you guys know this. What do they need? What’s missing from that park that only the church has? Do they need a building, or bibles, or sermons?”
The guy who asked the original question responded, “If you come at them with bibles and sermons they’ll laugh at you or beat you up. And you’ll never get them to a church building, and the church doesn’t want them anyway because they smell.”
“So what do they need? Meals? Shelter? Clothes?”
“Yeah, but that’s handouts, and they get that from the mission and the government.”
“Okay, so what do they need that the church has?”
“People,” he said quietly. “They need people who really see and care about them.”
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How about that? The one thing the world needs, the thing only the church can supply, is people who will follow Jesus into uncomfortable places.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t feed the hungry or clothe the naked or meet other worldly needs, but lots of organizations can address those issues.
Only the church can send people to be Jesus in blue jeans.
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