Just a little help, please.
Now that I work in a church office and spend most of my day here, I am lucky enough to get to answer the phones almost all day long. Having not worked in a church office full-time for several years, I had forgotten how many calls we get everyday from people looking for help. 98% of those calling for help are very specific about the help they want: rent, gas, and food. And, being a small church whose budget has been adversely affected by the current recession (like every other organization across America… except for Apple…), we simply don’t have the resources to help. It bothers me that we can’t be more help, but it has gotten me thinking.
Most churches don’t really help people like that directly anymore–at least not to my knowledge. Indirectly, they help by contributing time, money, and other resources to other organizations whose sole purpose is to help the needy, like food banks and so forth. But the days where folks would call the church and ask for a handout are mostly gone.
And that’s sad.
But is it necessarily bad?
My first thoughts were “of course it is!” And I’m sure most people would feel that way. I can think of several people who don’t go to church who would say “that’s because the church is full of self-serving hypocrites who aren’t interested at all in helping people.” Sadly, they are not wrong, for the most part. And to think that I myself, or my church, are any different, would fall in the realm of arrogance, or ignorance–one of the two.
But stop and think about it for a second. Putting yourselves in the shoes of the person answering the phones all day long or the person whose decision it is whether or not to help, might give you a different perspective.
I ask you this: is it possible that churches, or other charitable organizations, have limited their handouts because there is so much fraud? I mean, you can’t be so blind or so immersed in the sadness of the situation that you can’t see the abuse. We (churches) have been taken advantage of so many times, or find ourselves in a situation where we don’t have the resources available to make an informed decision of the person’s real need, that we have pulled back a little–or a lot. We’re gun-shy when it comes to helping people because we see so much abuse of our charity, day-in, and day-out. I’ve had the same person call 3 times in a row because they were simply going down a list of churches in a phone book. I’ve brought food to people’s houses that were nicer than mine with a new car and shiny rims in the front yard, but they can’t make their bills. You can’t help but get a little bitter about it.
What do you think? Have you seen the abuse? Have you been burned by fraud?
Of course, I can’t end this without thinking about what Jesus would say about the situation. I think He would say: “Suck it up, boy. Don’t be a punk. I didn’t call you to help people who didn’t need it, or didn’t deserve it. Did you deserve my grace? Quit your whining and get out there and be my hands and feet.”
I’m not saying it’s OK to quit helping the needy. It’s pretty clear that the early church in the Book of Acts spent much time and energy helping the needy. I am, however, offering this as an explanation to the perceived inability of the church to help people. It’s really not fair to expect us to help everyone, in every way. But we have to at least try. We have to continue helping, because Jesus would.
Because Jesus would.