When people come to the church office asking for money, I ask them where they went to church on Sunday. If they name another church, I tell them to go ask that church for money. If you have an account at Bank of America, you don’t walk into Wells Fargo asking to make a withdrawal. The truth is, most of these people don’t go to church anywhere, and there are certain criteria in the Bible about who we are supposed to help.
“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10
“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27
“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10
Our first priority should be members of our church who have a genuine need, especially the widows and the fatherless. Even the widows have to meet certain criteria as outlined in 1 Timothy Chapter 5.
The Bible does not teach that we should give away free money to every drug addict and whore that shows up on a Tuesday asking for money. These people have despised God’s commandments, despised chastity, and despised the institution of marriage. They are wasting what little money they have on lottery tickets, cigarettes, and worse. They go from church to church asking for money yet lack the character it takes to show up and even sit through one church service.
Recently, I had someone contact me a few hours before a church service asking for financial help. I told her what time church started and that I would talk to her afterward if she attended the service. She showed up for the service, and as soon as I started preaching on sin, she got up and walked out.
These lazy bums don’t want to hear what the Bible says, but they want God’s money. They want to use our church as an ATM machine when they don’t even have an account here. If you can’t stand the Bible and can’t stand preaching, then you should go somewhere else looking for money instead of a church.
With all of the government programs and charities available, people in the United States are not financially destitute. If they were really that hungry, they would be willing to sit through the service. These people need spiritual help more than financial help, but unfortunately, most of them are not interested in hearing the Word of God.
You can take your personal money and help whoever you want, but when I put my money in the offering plate, I don’t want it to go toward buying more drugs for a drug addict. Our church helps people all the time, but the Bible says we are supposed to “consider the cause of the poor,” not just indiscriminately hand out money.
“The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.” Proverbs 29:7
Here is a sermon to go with this article.
How about a few "beggar" stories from South Africa... where there is literally a beggar on almost every street corner?
ReplyDelete* There was a beggar at the highway off-ramp. No job, no food, usual story. He was eventually caught out... he would drive to the nearby supermarket in a BMW (!) early in the morning, get dressed into old clothes and walk to the off-ramp to plead poverty.
* A deaf-dumb guy would come to our door. No words, just a smile, waving to show he can't speak or hear, and hand out for the money. I didn't pay him. About fifteen minutes later I caught him speaking with someone... it must have been a miracle.
* A young boy would come to our door, asking for food or money; he had a dirty letter, kept in a plastic cover to protect it. His shack burnt down and he had nothing, so wanted food. OK, no problem. About a year later, same boy came back, with the same letter...
* There is a fellow who smiles and hobbles around. No job, no money, etc. Aww, he's a cripple. Except I caught him getting out of a car to go to his begging spot, walking perfectly fine... so the limp is for effect.
* There was a fellow (white, this is crucial in this case) who would gain entry to our complex and beg door-to-door. A few months later he regained entry and begged again - but suddenly he was claiming to be a white Zimbabwean displaced by Robert Mugabe. Basically all he did was speak like a local but pronounced the A as OR to sound like a white Zimbabwean. Had sores on his skin, possibly drugs/HIV...
* There was a man who was begging specifically white people (this will become important) for a bit of money because he got stuck without money and needs hundreds of Rands for the taxi fare to get to where he stays 30 miles away. Problem is, minibus taxis are dirt cheap in South Africa and maybe 40-50 Rand would have covered it. But since almost no white people ever use them, they wouldn't know. So they hand over sizeable amounts out of sympathy, being crooked because of their ignorance...
* Once I saw a fellow holding a sign. Usual, no job, no food, etc. About 15min area, at least 2 miles away, I saw another fellow holding the same sign. Same handwriting, same material/colours, same words, same spelling mistakes. There's no way they could have moved 2 miles and changed guys - so clearly someone is making and selling begging signs!
You see, in South Africa you get professional beggars. People who could work, but to heck with that - begging is easier, it makes more tax-free money. Utter laziness. You eventually give nobody because you don't know who's a crack addict, a drunk, a bum, lazy, criminal, con-artist... so unless they literally have no arms or legs, chances are they're fake/lazy/crooks.
Some quickfire examples:
* Guy begging a car driver for money because he has no job. Driver OFFERS him a labour job. Beggar turned it down because begging makes more money.
* Guy begging for money or food. Got given food - almost immediately threw the food away, he wanted money.
* Sometimes beggars will claim to take donations on the pretext they are trying to do something, by holding out a trash bag to collect your trash from your car. Many do this to look like they're not lazy so you'll give them money... then when the bag's full they just dump it in the bushes.
* Sometimes kids will beg; their parents will have sent them to beg because kids invoke more sympathy = more money.
* I've heard of Nigerian syndicates in South Africa, where they hire locals from the townships and promise them a fixed (small) salary, and they take the rest of the takings.
* In recent years, a common tactic is where they get down on the floor on one knee and beg, like they do in the cartoons.
* Another tactic, they almost ALL use "God" to get their money. Like "I have no money, job, food, please help, God bless"
* Common sign: "I keep the area crime-free". Yeah, who's to say it wasn't crime free before you arrived there? Or is that a thinly veiled threat?