"Give and give and give. Just don't give to the needy. That's irresponsible."

Today I met a homeless man. Well, I didn't really meet him for the first time- I've come across this man a couple times these past few years. But today I learned his name, Lucky. And Lucky wanted to eat grits and eggs at a nearby IHOP. As for me, I had just gotten done eating at a burger joint called Pawley's Front Porch (great burgers, by the way) with my brothers and friends, and arrived at Starbucks to enjoy each others' fellowship. So against some of my friends' wishes, I decided to come back after I buy this brother some eats.

And often times, this is the response I get from my Christian friends:

• "It's not safe to drive him alone, you could get hurt"
• "If you're too kind they'll start taking advantage of you!"
• "If you keep buying them food, they'll never learn their lesson!"
• "He just wants your money, don't bother with him"

My response is this- when has that ever stopped Jesus? (Who, by the way, touched a leper. With his hands. And we're terrified to shake a homeless man's hand of gratitude.)

Should we Christians, who are called to be imitators of Christ, be so concerned for our safety, let alone our wallets, when we help a brother in need? Imagine if Christ had done that. Suppose Christ was more concerned for his safety than ours; would he have even gone to the cross? And let's say we do lose something in the process. Weren't we promised a greater reward for what we suffer for the sake of the Kingdom? 

My biggest peeve is this, especially in churches: that if we keep giving to homeless people, then they'll keep coming back. Well that's interesting. It's as if we don't want them to come back TO CHURCH. Church, a place where the broken and lost are meant to gather. Church, a place where we have the opportunity to offer the Gospel of Christ to those who are hopeless (not a typo). Church, a place to lovingly invite people, not reject them with disdain and self-righteous judgment at the sight of them.

Does it hurt when you give? Because it should. A former youth pastor used to tell me, "You're not giving until it hurts." Give abundantly. Give freely. Give without regards to your own well-being. Because that's what Christ did. 

Before I left Lucky, I asked him if he had a Bible. He said yes, and I told him that if he's grateful, to go and read the Bible. Because I know this fact- no amount of giving or charity will do him any good if he has not Jesus. And that hurt. A lot. Charity without compassion for the soul is not love. 

"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." -1 John 3:16

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13

In Christ,

Peter