What will you do if....?????

[Hishandmaiden]

1) You saw a beggar on a street approaching you for money?

A) You gave some of your money to him.

B)You gave all your unwanted coins to him.

C)You gave all your money at hand to him, no question ask.

D)You do not give him anything, but you tell him a bit about Jesus.

E)You smile at him a friendly smile, but walk past him, not doing anything.

F)You ignore him, pretend you never saw him.

G)You glare at him with a, "Stop asking me for money" look.

H)Your action depends on the way he dressed, the way he looks and if he is a handicapped.

I)Others.

What are your comments about giving or not giving to beggars? And are these comments what you personally believe in, or what the bible and you in agreement believe in? What will Jesus do, in the same situation as you?

If Jesus is standing next to you, when you pass by this beggar, what will your action then be? Will it be the same as what you previously chosen?

And what will Jesus think about your action? Will he support it, or be against it?

Put yourself in Jesus' shoes. How do you think he feel when he saw what you did?

A) He will say, "Ah... this is the man/woman after my own heart."

B)He will be sad.

C)He will feel nothing.

D)You don't know.

Let spend some time to discuss this, shall we, as fellow disciples of Christ, and let us be honest with our answers!

 

[Sharky]

What would I do?

I would not give him money. I will be happy instead to buy a good meal, tell him about Jesus and help him where his life started to stuff up.

Why give him just money? It won't last him long. Give him something that will be lasting even eternally. If he does not wish to know Jesus, then at least he had a good meal. If he was a drug addict, or etc, then the money i have 'given' him has been put to good use at least.

What would Jesus do? I guess alot more than that, He'd touch him then poof, all his diseases will be gone. Oh yeah, i could do that too .

 

[Hishandmaiden]

But we lack the faith, don't we? To those things that Jesus could do?

 

[Sharky]

Yup. Well if you utterly, absolutely, totally, completely believe without a single speck of doubt, you can do it in His Name of course.

 

[PrayerWarrior87]

You do not give him anything, but you tell him a bit about Jesus.

I think I would do a little bit of both, first off I'd probably head over to Shaws and pick up a $100 dollar gift certificate for him or her and leave it by their door and hand it to them later on in the day, then tell him or her that Jesus put this on my heart to do for you. I feel that anything you're heart tells you that's good or helping out others is put their from the Lord.

How do you think he feel when he saw what you did?

He will say, "Ah... this is the man/woman after my own heart."

 

[Hishandmaiden]

Personally, I got a few things to say about this question but I will leave it for now, as I am on my way home.

 

[raffhawk]

What would I do? I can tell you what I do. When I am back in the states at home I am often hit up for cash at the local Home Improvement store. "Can you spare some change, mister?" Isn't that the usual line...of course sometimes it's a story about being out of gas or out of luck. I always feel uncomfortable in these situations, always. (Though I think that will change now that you've forced me to really think about it)

My response is this, "I have no money to give you," when I am not carrying cash (I pay for everything with plastic). If I do have cash I say, "No." God has blessed me, and everything i have belongs to Him. If I were to give to this beggar, the majority of the time I would be giving to someone who would spend it on drugs or bews. But where my sin is, and I realize it more so now, is I do not take the time to speak with these fellow creatures of God. I am to busy with my errands and not in the mood so I fend of their advances quickly and sharply. That sounds cold, and I guess it is.

My Mother-in-Law visited and as we were leaving this particular store someone was holding a sign begging for money. She rolled down the window and started asking them all these questions about disability/support and welfare stuff I am not familiar with. They seemed to know what she was talking about. She told them about the Salvation Army in the area, as it is a homeless shelter and asked them to please go there. She was a clergy member in the Salvation Army, Major Russell, and she told me about how well pan handlers do. She told me people actually make quite a living at it. She spent her life working with the poor and the poor in spirit on the streets and is very street wise.

So what would I do if Jesus was there, easy I'd ask Jesus what to do. He would probably respond, "You should know what to do, I have instructed you for years to love your neighbor." Then I'd say, "great, thanks a lot! (Just kidding)" I would offer to buy this person a cup of coffee to talk about their situation, which appears most desperate. I would care about them and try to reach out to them through the Love of Christ. If I actually do this, just once in my life, I will praise God! I am so weak in the area of caring about others and I confess it openly here. May God grant me the strength to do what is right and good in charity and love.

But remember there is support in your area for people without homes or that can't pay their electric bill. You need to find them so you have the resources to help people. The Salvation Army is a good place to start. If you try one of these organizations and test them and see that they help people you may want to consider sending them part of your tithes and offerings. I now support the Salvation Army in my area because of this.

Love in Christ

 

[ZiSunka]

I keep a big bag of food in my car for whenever someone asks me for money, which happens frequently when I am downtown.

When they ask for money, I say, "I don't have any money (usually true), will you take food?"

No one has ever said no.

Then I reach under the seat of my car and pull out the big bag of canned spaghetti, peaches, those pre-cooked meals that don't have to be refrigerated, peanuts, crackers, candy, juices, etc., and hand it to them. No one has ever said no thank you. The asker takes the food every time.

I also put a brochure from the nearby homeless mission in the bag, so when they run out of that food, they can go down to the mission and get food, a hot bath, clean clothes, medical care, help finding a job, a place to receive their social security checks, and a place to hear the Good News.

Other people are usually very surprised to see someone actually talking to the homeless, and the homeless are very surprised to be treated with respect, and not ignored or told off.

I just keep thinking about how my Savior was homeless, how he lived on alms later in his life, how He loves these homeless people as much as he loves me, and how I love them because He loves them. They are the "least of these" that Christ told us about.

 

[PuppyforChrist]

That's a very good idea Lambslove. I never concidered that.

Personally I don't know what I would do. Cause where I live, there are no beggars on the streets, and I rarely go where there are any. Because I'm very shy, I don't know what I would do. But I think I would probably give them some money and tell them to go buy a meal for his or her family.

 

[BigToe]

Oh I have done some research on beggars and what makes people more likely to give them money hehe.

As for myself...

I got to school across the street from a street where many beggars sit asking for money. There have been reports that many of these street kids are actually from wealthy homes and do that instead of going to high school or whatever. So I do not give them money. But when they ask, I do smile and speak with them. Maybe all I say is no I don't sorry, or ask them how they are. But I try to be friendly with everyone who I come into contact with. Its been harder recently because I was assaulted and am a little more weary of people. However, when driving around, I keep bottles of water in my car to give to people asking for money or food.

HEHE, I have actually had people turn me down and say they wanted money, not food or water. Not many, but some

 

[Hishandmaiden]

Hehe.... what interesting idea, lambslove. I am asking this question, to find an answer, to this debateable question.

 

[Rafael]

The Bible sets a high standard for giving, but neither would it be right to bankroll sin. I think that it would take a bit of discernment to give money, but I have bought meals and given groceries for those that asked.
Giving shelter, food, and clothing is very important, especially when it is the only thing I see that the Lord specifically asks about when He returns. "Did you feed me when I was hungry, or give me clothes when I was naked", and did you give me shelter when a stranger and visit me when I was sick"?(Mat. 25:31-45)
I know that when I visited Santa Monica California, it was difficult to walk down the street without being approached by proffessional beggars at every block. They even had their own turf for begging, so it can become a challenge. Lambslove's idea is very thoughtful and would be good for some of those cases where you could anticipate daily encounters.

 

[Phoebe]

Matthew 25:35-40
James 2:14-17