Do you help every person in need, or not?

written by Stephan Joubert

So, you encountered that guy with the hungry expression in his eyes at the traffic light. While you were thinking about what to do, the light turned green and you drove on. Just to find the next beggar with a similarly convincing story of suffering at the next intersection. Do you give something to every one and leave the responsibility for their personal honesty to themselves, or not? Do you say that you give at your church and then manage your money as you like for the rest of the month?

The answers to these questions are not simple. Paul helps in 1 and 2 Thessalonians where he constantly calls people of faith to work for their own livelihoods. He therefore implies that those who can work, but doesn’t want to, should not be supported blindly. However, we should help those who want to work, but who cannot due to disease, unemployment, retrenchments, dismissals, and other valid reasons.

Self-imposed poverty due to the evasion of God’s command to work is laziness. To hastily help such people is not on. Conversely, to refuse assistance to those who really do need help and who cannot get themselves out of their plight is also wrong. 1 John 3:17 says that we are short of the love of God if our hearts are closed to those we see suffering. The long and short of it is that we need to assess every unique situation afresh and then make a decision before God what we are to do. We cannot be everything for everyone, but we need to help where people with real names and real addresses land on our radar screens!

Prayer guideline

Ask God to place someone on your radar screen who needs concrete help and assistance. Then be the Lord’s local 911 number and report for duty.