Is it wrong to ignore a beggar?

[AlexDTX]

Begging has become a sanctified activity. Begging has gained that sanctification through organized religion that demand tithes which is a Mosaic requirement for Israel only. But they do so to make their salaries and to pay overhead. Sanctification of begging has been further increased through tax deductions to charities. Most charities spend 90% of the gifts on their staff and overhead with their CEO's living like millionaires. And many of those charities are branches of the elite cabal used for their agendas. For example, Red Cross is owned by the Rockefellers, and has been used to help those that benefit their goals. The one standout exception is the Salvation Army which still spends 90% on the homeless and 10% on their staff and overhead.

The spirit of Christ's teaching is based upon relationships. Those statements regarding their asking for your coat and giving your cloak, or if you walk one mile walk the extra mile are situations of compulsion, not voluntary giving. It is the same as being hit on the cheek and turning the other cheek. That is non-resistance to violence, not charity.

But we are encouraged to give when asked, and I qualify that with a relationship. We can help strangers that we have no relationship, but that is more a prompting of the Spirit situation, than blindly giving willy nilly just because someone is begging. Giving is a sowing and reaping activity. If we sow thorns we reap thorns. Sowing wheat is in the relationship category. That means, if you attend an organized gathering which deepens your walk with Christ, then sow into that ministry because of the relationship you have with it. If you know someone who has fallen on hard times, give to that person because you know that person.

Begging is an dishonorable activity and the Bible condemns it. Giving from a heart of compassion is encouraged. Therefore, follow your heart and the Holy Spirit in your giving.

 

[Yeshuas_My_Freedom]

It is better to volunteer once a month or more at a shelter.
Then you have a card with an address to offer and the
potential to provide real, long term help. I've never yet
found a beggar who had "good" intentions for free money.

Is that what you do in your area?

Most people who are homeless tend to find means to wash up every once in a while. The whole dirty sock, haven't shaved in a month thing is 'old homeless'. The 'new homeless' has slightly more opportunities. It doesn't mean they don't need charity, nonetheless.

Seems reasonable.

Also, did you know that's a Wiccan pentagram under that cross on your signature? Just giving you the heads up

Yes. And the pentagram is older than Wicca.

 

[thecolorsblend]

Yes. And the pentagram is older than Wicca.

That is true. And I think the usage of the pentagram in Christianity relates to Our Lord's wounds. Five points, five wounds.

 

[Yeshuas_My_Freedom]

That is true. And I think the usage of the pentagram in Christianity relates to Our Lord's wounds. Five points, five wounds.

 

[St_Worm2]

....the pentagram is older than Wicca.

Hi YMF, I too am interested. A Cross on top of an encircled pentagram. What is the meaning of this symbol?

Thanks!

--David

 

[St_Worm2]

That is true. And I think the usage of the pentagram in Christianity relates to Our Lord's wounds. Five points, five wounds.

That's true, but I've never seen it with the circle around it when that is its intended meaning.

 

[Yeshuas_My_Freedom]

Christ's five wounds occurred on the cross. The circle is to represent his sacrifice for the worlds sins. He was the final sacrifice, the cross the final altar, for blood atonement for the sin of the people of the world.

 

[St_Worm2]

Thanks.

 

[thecolorsblend]

Christ's five wounds occurred on the cross. The circle is to represent his sacrifice for the worlds sins. He was the final sacrifice, the cross the final altar, for blood atonement for the sin of the people of the world.

This.

And while I'm no expert on pentagrams and Wicca or what have you, I think you'd be hardpressed to find an example of a pentagram in Wiccan use prior to the Renaissance. As with so much of paganism, they took a symbol used in Christianity and co-opted it for their own purposes. For whatever reason now the association is with pagans rather than anything else even though the historical record tells a different story.

 

[His Disciple]

Begging has become a sanctified activity. Begging has gained that sanctification through organized religion that demand tithes which is a Mosaic requirement for Israel only. But they do so to make their salaries and to pay overhead. Sanctification of begging has been further increased through tax deductions to charities. Most charities spend 90% of the gifts on their staff and overhead with their CEO's living like millionaires

You are correct. People with both morality and brains would refuse to give to most charities. I support my church, but I'm annoyed by some of their panhandling, like a collection they make every Sunday School for third-world kids. Some idiot must have wanted to look pious and so got that ball rolling.

Subway's Jarod, while not out hunting for children to sexually abuse, was living in a McMansion paid for by donors to his charity. And, what Jarod wasn't spending on himself and his pals, like his pedophile friend, he was spending on fundraising. Televangelists often are rightfully are criticized for their extreme material indulgence, but executives of almost every big secular charity do the same thing. Charities aren't just big business, they're among the most useless of businesses. At least other businesses actually make things people need, to justify the money they spend on themselves.

Even when the money makes to to where it's suppose to go, in most cases, it's probably still a waste of your money. Where do donations for breast cancer research go, on top of the billions of dollars government and insurance companies already pay? Some charities that collect money for breast cancer also support abortion (both are feminist causes). Where does the money go when you give it a panhandler who has, or could easily get, a government debit card to pay for food? At they very least, you're paying him to stand on street corners bumming tax-free income, while he sharpens his skill to squeeze more money out of people.

I have the utmost compassion for homeless people, but handing them money at intersections is not the answer.

 

[fat wee robin]

Well, it's not just now and again. There are a lot of well-dressed clean people in my town who sit in the town centre and ask passers by for money. We found out two of them have a council flat and are on benefits. I believe most of these people have more money than me, and there are so many of them everywhere. I have serious finance problems myself. Also homeless charities advise you not to give money to beggars.

In Jesus time there was no social security ,and He was talking about individuals ,not a system .I used to give ,but now only to those who don't beg ,by finding out those who
need it .The really poor are often too proud to beg, and will go hungry.
Most cities now have places to help people ,maybe better to help out there ,if you have little money yourself .

 

[fat wee robin]

I think it is wrong to ignore them. They are people and deserve acknowledgment. Even if you can't/don't give them any money, you can say, 'no, sorry', or give them a referral to a shelter. If you don't want to give cash, but believe they really do need help, how about taking them to lunch/dinner? I've actually done this, and it's been appreciated. Can you imagine how dehumanizing it must feel to stand and be ignored most of the day? I would get so depressed.

So you are prepared to give money several times a week to many people who approach you ,as this is the case these days where I live ?

 

[fat wee robin]

Follow your heart. That gut feeling when you see someone asking you for help. If you give because you think you're covering your bases with God following scriptures about charity you're not going to fool God. Because he knows it isn't sincere.

Go with your gut. Some homeless people look clean because they are able to care for themselves at a shelter. There's that too to consider.

This is a good answer ,and it is what I try to do .

 

[fat wee robin]

Could it be that some of the things Jesus said, according to the Bible, we're particular to his culture, and not applicable to all people and times?

Yes .

 

[Yeshuas_My_Freedom]

Thanks.

Welcome.

 

[rturner76]

I think it is wrong to ignore them. They are people and deserve acknowledgment. Even if you can't/don't give them any money, you can say, 'no, sorry', or give them a referral to a shelter. If you don't want to give cash, but believe they really do need help, how about taking them to lunch/dinner? I've actually done this, and it's been appreciated. Can you imagine how dehumanizing it must feel to stand and be ignored most of the day? I would get so depressed.

I think this is the right answer. Though we are called to give our very last, I just can't give to every one that asks. I have handed out sandwiches to people and very few refuse but some do. 90% of homeless people are either addicted, mentally ill, or both. Keeping that in mind, I still do get defensive if someone is aggressive. That makes me not want to give and even avoid contact if they seem to be very unstable or obviously hearing voices or is agitated. I also get put off by elaborate lies. I feel like I am encouraging people to lie when I give to someone who is obviously lying. I don't care what they spend my money on because when I give it to them it is no longer mine but don't insult my intelligence. The best way to get some money out of me is to just say "spare change?"I feel like I have no excuse to not give something even if it's the only thirty five cents I have. I do agree that you should at least speak back to someone that is talking to you just out of common courtesy and respect.

 

[LaSorcia]

I do agree that you should at least speak back to someone that is talking to you just out of common courtesy and respect.

Yeah, that's what I was trying to emphasize. A smile and acknowledgment are free.

If you don't feel called to give; don't, but don't ignore.

Some beggars are liars, some aren't. Some are addicts and some aren't. If I lost everything due to an addition, I'd hope to get some mercy instead of disgust. Where I live, I've met quite a few Vietnam vet homeless. War and PTSD can really mess up a life.

 

[St_Worm2]

I agree as well. We cannot, as Christians, simply ignore a request for help When I used to work downtown, I remember heading out to lunch with my boss and a couple of my colleagues one day, and there was a homeless man lying on the sidewalk with his hand up in the air, asking us for help (it was pitiful). Everyone else in my group made a wide berth around him, like all the other passers-by were doing on that beautiful Fall day (and I have to admit to my shame that I thought about doing the same at first), but I'm a Christian, so I stopped to help. Once I got him up, he asked me for money, but I offered to take him to lunch instead, which he agreed to

Like others have said above, I worry about giving money directly to the homeless (or more specifically, to beggars who may or may not be homeless) because I don't know what it will end up being used for. But if a man needs to eat or needs some of life's other necessities...............

I also knew of a great place downtown where he could wash his clothes, get a shower, get regular meals, and have a bedroom to sleep in at night, all for free (or for whatever he could afford if he had a job), but he wasn't interested in living off of the streets

Still, that is something else that's handy to know as an additional way to be helpful, IOW, to know how to help the homeless find places that cater to their basic needs, as most cities have them, but sometimes the homeless do not know about them or have forgotten about them.

 

[Laureate]

If you're walking down the street and someone asks for spare change, is it wrong to ignore them, from a Christian point of view? Jesus said something like if someone asks for your tunic give him your cloak as well. The thing is, since I became Christian I feel I can't ignore beggars, but I have barely any money myself, and a lot of the people who are begging, I don't even believe they're homeless.

Back in 1997 I was a proprietor of a propane station operating in the poorest district (per capita) in the U.S., yet I was living out of my car, and my daily diet conisted of a candy bar, a bannana, and a small bag of chips, and a juice;

One day a local beggar came up and asked me for $1, and so I reached in my pocket and pulled out the $7 that I had, and gave him $1, that minus my morning/daily sustenance left me with little to nothing in the
way of having change to give to one of my customers;

When I handed the poor guy the dollar he reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad big enough to walk into a crowded Mc Donald's and pick up everyone's tab, and come back again, and do the same the next day;

Not to mention he collected SSI, and foodstamps, I was infuriated, not because he did this to me, but because of the thought that could do this to someone in my
shoes, we live among the pooreset of the poor, and your begging for $$$ from people who have the fear of the Most High in them, and it is difficult for them not to give when asked;

I saw him again years later, and sure enough he asked if I had a $1, and I had $3, yet did not give him a dime, and heaven slapped me upside my head.

The reason being, I was stumbling over the beggar, and over looking the importance of obedience, and compliance to the Law of Love, the picture is always
bigger than it appears, yet we stumble sometimes while ironically looking at our stumbling block square in the eyes;

Now don't get it twisted, it was not the fact that one gives, or does not give that is the most important thing here, but Why One Gives, or Refrains from Giving, personally, I it would not have put me in a worse place
for me to just have given him the dollar;

But now consider this, when we ask for forgiveness, how is it done?

Is it not by forgiving others? And how can one forgive another, if they do not first become the victom (as if it were) of another?

I say, as if it were, because everything we do, (and refrain from doing), we are doing, (and refraining from doing) unto Him, for all I know heaven was asking me to pay for a debt, yet I was blinded by an unjust mote in my eye, too blind to see it for what it was;

 

[Laureate]

You are in the hand of the Most High, no one can come up to you and say, or do anything unless He permits, thus weigh every scenario with a scriptural justification, and stay in the grace of His Spirit, and you can never go wrong, of course, sometimes, that is much easier said than done.