I’m sure you’ve seen him, the panhandler on the street. Or maybe someone stops you to ask for spare change as you pass by. Or maybe it’s the person with the sign on their car asking for help to get to their destination. How can we help?
May I suggest “redemptive relationships?” Everyone should want to help, but what does help really look like? Until you know the score, you can’t really know what help would truly be helpful. Invite them to join you for something to eat and begin a relationship. The “story” is not always the story, and it rarely follows that they are just “down on their luck and need a few dollars.” The help that will be needed is ongoing and substantive. There is no easy fix.
Few can or will take the time to follow it through, and that’s OK. It’s been my experience that walking the road with many homeless neighbors is both difficult and heartbreaking. Many homeless neighbors walk away looking for someone who will just give them what they’re asking for – money. But that’s not what they really need. They need people who will love them enough to be a true friend and stick with them.
We need to approach each person with respect and an open mind. There are many reasons that people end up homeless and deciding that you know all about homeless people because you “talked to this one guy who was homeless and he said ____,” is a little like saying that you’re an expert on Moroccan culture, because you happen to have a neighbor two doors down who is from Morocco. We would be a lot better served to open the door to relationship, to ask good questions, to listen prayerfully and well, and then to take small, cautious steps forward.
I’m no expert, and I’ve probably done everything you’re not supposed to do. However, the few deep, redemptive relationships that have developed over the years by opening that door have kept me longing for more.
Recognizing that God has made each person special and that He has a plan for their life, I encourage you to remain open to the divine encounters and redemptive relationships that God might have in store for you. No, you won’t fix all their problems, but you might just make a friend. God may use that friendship to teach you lessons you couldn’t learn any other way.
The Gathering at Victory Acres 