"Does YOUR Church Help The Poor?"

If you hand a tract to a man that hasn’t eaten in over 24 hours without a sandwich, chances are you won’t reach that man for Jesus Christ! Jesus fed the 5,000 not so He could show off and impress people! He realized that sending them away in the middle of nowhere without food could be hazardous to their health. He was not just concerned with them hearing the Word; He was concerned about their well being also. Too many of us go to church in our big cars and SUV’s on full stomachs and sit next to someone whose stomach is empty. God forbid! We are often the miracle someone needs! You may not think you are rich, but $20 to some people might be a miracle! We spend money on newspapers, coffee, and bagels every morning on our way to work, and some people sleep on the morning paper and eat the left over bagel you threw away because it was not toasted to perfection for you! The 12 disciples wanted to send the 5,000 away, so do most churches in America. We call the homeless lazy and say they must “pull themselves up by the bootstraps!” That is Republicanism not Christianity talking! Some people are one missing payday from being homeless. I am disabled and I know from personal experience, only the grace of God keeps some of us from sleeping in the street! Another hard fact is that there are SAVED homeless people! For that matter Jesus was born in a homeless situation! The Bible say’s “When you give to the poor, it is like lending to God.”
(James 2:5; Leviticus 19:15; Galatians 2:10)

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Permalink Reply by Joseph Gill on October 28, 2009 at 12:59pm

Mark, my church is about to orchestrate a yearly community dinner/outreach. We have typically fed 150 souls in that event on previous years. But there is a little tension about the ministry goals of this community dinner... they are questioning whether we should include a period of overt gospel preaching (something we have not done before). The scripture we are wrestling with in this regard:

Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. [John 6:26,27]

What do you think about a direct presentation of the gospel before serving food to the needy?