Mixed Emotions About the Homeless

This past Saturday I spent some time in Savannah's historic district both reading and relaxing. Due to my crazy work schedule I rarely get to do this. It was wonderful. Savannah boasts numerous pre-Civil War era squares that are excellent places to sit quietly. On Saturday I selected Orleans Square because of its awesome fountain (see my pic to the left).

After I had been in the square for about an hour, a man slowly entered, placed a blanket on the ground, lay down, and went to sleep. Based on his appearance I'm guessing that he is homeless. He stood in stark contrast to all the tourists and locals who walked through the square that day. Everyone ignored him as best they could. After all, he sort of messed up the photos they were trying to take of the lovely fountain. I watched the man for a while, wondering what to do. Out of respect for him, I did not take his photo while he slept. Eventually I just left the square.

I have mixed emotions when it comes to homelessness. Like any other city, Savannah has its share of homeless folks. I doubt that homelessness is as big of a national problem as liberals make it out to be. It's likely more of a problem than conservatives want to admit. Regardless, a significant number of Americans do not have homes.

On the one hand, those without homes need to take some responsibility for their actions. Just like all other citizens, they have certain rights and privileges. I have to work a lot. They need to as well. Additionally, due to our over-sized government, all sorts of social programs exist (for better or worse) to help people like these. Also, most cities provide places where the homeless can sleep and eat. Savannah has the Inner City Night Shelter.

On the flip side of this situation, we followers of Jesus need to show compassion to those with less. Even a cursory glance at Christ's teachings makes it clear that He expects us to care for the poor. Most churches in this country, especially conservatives ones, have done a poor job in following Jesus' expectations on this issue. Additionally, many homeless folks have little education and few skills. Because of this, they have no way to get a decent job. Also, a significant percentage of the homeless suffer from mental illness. This compounds their problems. My guess is that many feel as if there is simply no way out of their situation.

Making things even more complex, I've read and been told that some homeless people do not see their situation as a problem and do not want any help at all.

Just as I do not know what to do about and for the homeless in general, I did not know what to do for the man sleeping in the square. Part of me was disgusted and annoyed by his presence. Another part of me felt deep compassion for his plight. In the end I just walked back to my car and went home.

Not only do I have mixed emotions about the homeless, but I also do not know how to help them.

What about you?

#MildlyOffensive

Meme Sunday

Not a Bad Idea...

Um...could I have Channel 3 please?

Positive Acts - Not A Needy Person Among Them

Acts 4:32-37 is a passage that often makes us American capitalists uneasy:

"Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet (Acts 4:32-37).

"Whoa! That smacks of socialism!" some Christians might think and maybe even say.

Actually it does not indicate socialistic tendencies in any way, shape, or form. While socialism forces some people to surrender some of their possessions to others, the above Acts passage does not do that at all. Rather, the early believers wanted to give to one another. They did so willingly and generously (for a current example of socialism click here).

These early followers of Christ were living out the New Covenant principle for giving that Paul wrote about later in II Corinthians 9:6-7, "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

In Acts 4 we read of believers seeing needs and meeting them by deciding in their hearts to give up some of their own stuff in order to meet the needs of others. This was so much the case that Luke tells us, "...there was not a needy person among them." This is stunning. It is generosity that challenges us. It is something that, quite frankly, we do not see much of today.

I have a difficult time making this passage compute in my mind. I understand at a cognitive level what it says. However, I've never experienced anything like it. However, we know that the Holy Spirit does amazing things. This must have been one of those things. That said, the Spirit is the same today as back then. Maybe He wants us to give like the early believers gave.

May God create in our hearts a desire to give of our own possessions to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Positive Acts - Some Sweet Fellowship

I try not to get jealous. Really, I do.

I try not to get jealous when I read Acts 2:42-47. However, the picture that Luke paints of the sweet fellowship in the early church is almost irresistible. Quite frankly, it is exactly what I want but cannot seem to find.

The early church had its problems (see here for example). Despite those difficulties, the believers managed to spend a great deal of time together as a large family. We see this:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47, ESV).

What a beautiful portrait of what church life can be!

When I read this passage several things jump out at me:

1. The church gathered simply. They got together, learned from and with the apostles, ate meals, and prayed.
2. The church met frequently.
3. The church experienced signs and wonders.
4. The church gladly shared all they had with each other.
5. The church was viewed positively by those around them.
6. The church grew significantly.

When I take all this in one more thing strikes me: there is nothing in scripture to suggest that this same thing cannot happen today. The only difference is that we do not have the apostles with us. However, this does not matter because we have the Holy Spirit to empower us and the scriptures to instruct us. Each and every aspect of this fabulous passage in Acts 2 is a possibility today. We can experience this!

Instead of moping around feeling jealous of the early church, I am more determined than ever to do two things. First, I'm going to pray that God will use me to edify other believers whenever and wherever. Second, I'll be praying more earnestly than ever that God will bless me to be part of a fellowship something like what we see in Acts 2. I encourage you to do the same.

Why the Institution's Top Priority is Self-Preservation

Institutional Christianity has three non-negotiable characteristics. First, the leaders are "experts" from outside the church family who are paid salaries to preach, marry, baptize, and bury. They are administrators (otherwise known as pastors). Second, scripted religious ceremonies that take place on Sundays are the high point of the church week. These we know as worship services. Third, expensive buildings are the location for large church gatherings, but these edifices sit mostly empty for the vast majority of the time. They are so ingrained in the life of the church that the buildings are often referred to as "the church."

The above three attributes - pastor(s), worship services, and expensive buildings form a sort of unholy Trinity that stifles church life. These three go largely unquestioned by the vast majority of Christians.

One of the three in particular is the primary reason that self-preservation is the top priority for the institution. That one is the building.

Institutional thinking goes like this: Doing ministry occurs primarily in the building. A church building requires significant money. The need for money requires a focus on giving by the church to the church. This leads inevitably to a focus upon self-preservation. This is part of the reason why pastors usually preach at least an annual dreaded "stewardship series" (translated as "Why you should be giving more money to the church").

Further exacerbating the focus upon self-preservation is the pastoral salaries. This can consume a massive portion of the church offerings. The pastor, who usually does most of the preaching, therefore speaks repeatedly about how "God wants you to give to the church." After all, the pastor's income depends upon it.

The constant need for money by institutional churches actually has very little to do with true ministry. Rather, it stems from local churches needing to pay their bills; and their two largest bills are the building mortgage/utilities and pastoral salaries. This necessitates self-preservation as priority numero uno.

Many churches like to say what the most important thing is to them. Some say the Great Commission, some say caring for the poor and needy, others say preaching and teaching, while others say prayer. None of these are accurate.

When it comes to the institution, the dirty little secret is that the top priority is unfailingly one of self-preservation. Everything else falls in line after that.

Unavoidable: the Poor and Needy

In our modern, wealthy, capitalistic society the poor and needy are often ignored. The reality is that life here in the USA is busy. Many of us struggle just to make it through the work day, get home, and spend a little time with family before collapsing on the couch in a stupor. The idea of caring for the poor and needy doesn't even cross our minds.

What we cannot ignore is that God cares for those in need and expects us to do the same.

We see this modeled in the early church. In Galatians 2 Paul writes of his meeting with Peter, James, and John, "...they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

In James 1:27 we read, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

From the beginning to the end of the bible we see that God looks out for those in need. At a spiritual level we are all in great need. While God certainly cares about this, he also cares about the physical sufferings of those who don't have the basic essentials of life. In this country, which is increasingly becoming a welfare-state, we often rely on the government to care for the poor. This ought not be.

God cares for the poor and needy. The early church did the same. This is an unavoidable principle for church life. What will we do about it?

A Church Budget Can and Should Be This Simple

I'm not generally a fan of church budgets. They are frequently complicated and self-serving. Too often they show what the church has become: a business.

Churches need better budgets. Well, I have a suggestion. Below is a simple and appropriate budget that I believe all churches should use:


40% to needy people outside the church
40% to needy people inside the church
20% to international missionaries


There it is. Simple and appropriate.

A Danger of Not Knowing Greek

Why Do We Largely Ignore the Poor and Needy?

This question stems from my prior post "Sorry, But I Can't Stop Asking Questions."

This question is also one that many of us, including myself, do not want to deal with. It is inconvenient. It causes us at least a little guilt. We know the biblical writers said quite a bit about caring for the poor and needy, but we just wish the issue would go away. Why is this?

I believe three primary reasons exist for our general attitude. First, we've been raised in a culture that tells us to "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps." We may think of the poor as just a bunch of lazy people who need to get a job. The close relationship between the Republican Party and the church in America only perpetuates this stereotype. Second, we are busy. We just don't want to deal with it. Third, we are selfish and want to hold on to "our money."

We do well to remember passages such as Galatians 2:9-10. We read the following, "...and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

We cannot ignore the poor and needy. Jesus Christ won't allow it.

Reason #18 - Professional Pastors Keep Money From Going to the Poor and Needy

Simple math: a church has a finite amount of money to spend.

If a local body decides to pay a pastor a salary, then a large portion of the money taken in is already gone. A pastor's "package" may cost the church $50,000 per year (maybe more, maybe less). That means that the believers in that church have to give over 50 grand for any money to go toward anything else.

Of course, a local body that pays a pastor likely also has to pay for a large building. There goes the next massive chunk. So before any money can be spent on anything else, the pastor and the mortgage company must be paid.

The simple math is that if a church pays a pastor a salary, then it has far less money to give to those who truly need it: the poor and needy. When we look in the bible, we see numerous exhortations to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. We see in scripture the church give its money away to those who have little to no means of making money of any kind. The poor and needy can be those inside the church or outside.

The sick irony is that most pastors are, in fact, quite capable of working real jobs to support themselves and their families. They do not qualify as "the poor and needy." I quit as a professional pastor and have held down a regular job for four years. It is not, as they say, "rocket science."

Professional pastors ought to all resign immediately because they are keeping money from going to the poor and needy. It is as simple as that.


(This is post eighteen of 25 Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign.)

Reason #15 - Professional Pastors Preach Tithing In Order to Get the People to Give Enough to Pay Their Salaries

Institutional churches have to take in a certain amount of money to pay for their primary expenses: building costs and pastoral salaries. This is often a challenge for churches. In order to deal with this situation, many pastors resort to preaching about the tithe.

The main problem with this is that the tithe is an Old Covenant concept that has absolutely no application for those who are part of the New Covenant. Jesus Christ never told His followers to pay the tithe (in Matthew 23:23 Jesus is speaking to Pharisees, not believers). Acts through Revelation shows not even one instance of Christians paying the tithe.

Let me repeat: Christians do not have to pay a tithe.

For pastors to preach that Christ-followers must pay the tithe is a massive error. The interpretive gymnastics it requires boggle the mind. Even if they could state with a straight face that the tithe is binding, they then would need to say that payment goes for temple upkeep in Jerusalem (of course there is no temple, but I digress). Instead, pastors then say that this tithe should be paid to the local church, not in farm goods such as wheat but in cold, hard cash.

The irresponsibility of this type of hermeneutical manipulation is staggering. Pastors who do it should be ashamed. They do not interpret the rest of the bible in this manner.

One way to stop this sad situation is to have churches stop paying salaries for pastors. That would likely do away immediately with most tithe-preaching.


(The above is part fifteen of 25 Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign.)

Adding a Give Button to My Blog

Most Give Buttons ask you to donate money to some sort of institutional ministry. Not this one.

Instead, my Give Button is simply a reminder to give generously and freely when you see someone in need. It's really that simple. Money/goods should flow out of our hands relatively easily when we come into contact with folks who have needs that they cannot meet.

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." II Cor. 9:7

Church Simply: Giving Without Compulsion. Giving to Meet Needs.

Much of the giving that takes place within the church is done under compulsion.

Most of us have been told that it is required for us to give to the church to support its ministries, building projects, etc. We've heard that we must pay the tithe in order for God to open up the store house. We've been guilted into putting money into the offering plate in order to pay pastoral salaries. This is all hogwash.

God's intent is that his church give freely and without compulsion. The passage that best illustatres this is II Corinthians 9:6-7. Paul writes the following, "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Giving is important. In fact, it should be a primary mark of the church. However, this giving is far different in motivation that the usual guilt-inducing speeches we've all so often heard. We New Covenant people are not under any sort of tithe. Rather, motivated by the Holy Spirit, we are to give generously as we have decided. Paul clearly writes "not reluctantly or under compulsion." We give as the Spirit prompts.

To what or whom should we give? In the New Testament we see believers give to meet people's basic needs. Acts 4:32-35 informs us:

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

That passage still amazes me every time I read it. What a challenge to us! And what an opportunity as well.

The above photo shows a person with open hands. This represents two things related to giving. Some are in a position to give and open their hands to do so. Others need help and open their hands to receive.

My encouragement to you is to give freely, generously, and joyfully. When you see a need meet it. This may occur either inside or outside the church body. Don't feel guilty if you go a while without giving. You may at other times find yourself giving so much that you cannot believe it. Additionally, avoid the pride of not accepting gifts from others. You may sometimes or many times need the help.

Give, give, and give. Just do so for the right reasons.

Tithing After the Cross

Does the tithe apply to Christians today? This is a significant question that needs an answer based in scripture as opposed to man's traditions. David Croteau provides us with that answer.

In Tithing After the Cross, Croteau systematically explains numerous traditional arguments in favor of the tithe, and then shows why each of the arguments fails. The author deals with arguments from the Old Testament, from the New Testament, from systematic theology, from church history, and from pragmatics.

The book concludes with a chapter on how Christians should give today. I appreciate that Croteau provides various principles for giving based in scripture, but refrains from suggesting any sort of formula or dollar amount.

The only negative is that the author says it's important to remember that the local church has bills to pay and that the pastoral staff has financial needs. Unlike the remainder of the book, he doesn't root these statements solidly in scripture. But hey, no book is perfect.

I recommend this book for two reasons. First, it focuses on a key topic in the Christian life: giving. Second, the author deals biblically and concisely with a wide range of issues related to the tithe.

It's a quick read (only about seventy pages) and is inexpensive. You'll enjoy it.

"We Ought to Support People Like These"

"Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth." 3 John 5-8 (emphasis mine)

The letter of 3 John doesn't get much attention. However, we can learn a good deal about the importance of hospitality by reading through its fifteen verses. As our home fellowship recently was discussing this epistle, I noticed something I had not seen before. John makes a strong statement about Christians the church should support.

John specifically says, "we ought to support people like these." Who is the apostle talking about? The answer is those "who have gone out" and who are "on their journey." John is describing traveling Christian workers, probably apostles, prophets, and evangelists.

The recipients of this letter had already shown hospitality to these Christians. John is now calling upon them to support them. Since they receive no financial assistance from the Gentiles (non-Christians), John is exhorting those who received this epistle to help these folks.

Why did the traveling Christian workers, who we might call missionaries, need financial assistance? Since they traveled from place to place, they would have been unable to hold down a regular job. This would have made earning a regular income a difficult task.

We see the theme of financial support for traveling workers in a few other places in the NT. For example, in Philippians 4:10-20 we read Paul's commendation of the church in Philippi for the financial support they gave him. Paul was a traveling Christian worker.

Also, in I Corinthians 9:8-14 Paul writes, "In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel." The context is strictly that of traveling Christian workers (note: not elders or pastors). Although Paul did not accept any financial support from the church in Corinth, this seems to have been due to the numerous problems there. Based on what we see in both 3 John and Philippians, it was generally a good thing for churches to financially support those who traveled from place to place sharing the gospel.

One additional note: while these passages speak of financial support, they say nothing of salaries. Most likely, these churches sent love gifts from time to time. The workers probably all had some sort of skill to help provide for their own needs (such as tentmaking).

We Christ-followers should be giving people. We must also be wise. The scriptures provide us with models for who needs financial help. We read repeatedly of the importance of helping the poor. We see that widows are generally worthy of our assistance. And, as we see in 3 John, we have a responsibility to help those who travel about spreading the gospel.

I'll admit that it is not always easy to know specifically who we should help and exactly how we should do so. Despite this, we can be sure that God is pleased when we give to those who go.

A Good Thing to Tithe

I've worn enough ties to last a lifetime. I'd be happy to get rid of all of them. In light of that, this comic seems to provide a good idea. We should all tithe our ties. That would at least get rid of 10% of them. Since tithing income is not a New Covenant concept, we may as well give part of our pointless clothing. It makes just as much sense.

Ouch!

Not Reluctantly or Under Compulsion...

"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." II Corinthians 9:6-7