Out of our abundance, should we not, as Christians, "love our neighbor as ourselves" by dropping a buck in his outstretched hand? Is the beggar not our God-ordained, Biblical responsibility to financially support, so that he or she can enjoy the same food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, and other unalienable rights that we prosperous, hard-working Americans enjoy? Should we not feel guilty that we enjoy lavish vacations and climate-controlled, sprawling estates while others suffer, impoverished, without even a lumpy mattress to cushion their frail bodies from the asphalt when their fatigue overcomes them?
Biblically, I argue the answer is no.
Jesus offers plenteous advice on money--He speaks more about riches and generosity than He does about Heaven in the New Testament! Even in the Old Testament, God provided many principles of generosity that should govern our budgets and behaviors toward money today.
Solomon, the richest king to ever live, had much advice about generosity in the Proverbs. "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it," advises Proverbs 3:27, for example. Our Sunday School literature, published by Lifeway, printed this verse above a list of excuses people offer "for not helping someone in need." No one mentioned the two caveats in this verse: 1) the person in need is "due" good (The New Living Translation even translates it as someone who deserves it.); and 2) it is in your power to do it. Solomon also wrote, "The generous soul will be made rich" in Prov. 11:25 and again, "He who has mercy on the poor, happy is he" in 14:21, and "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given" in 19:17.
Jesus said to a crowd of people in the Sermon on the Mount, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also... No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [money]."
If you pray to the Lord to show you someone in need and how you can help, He will. God's heart is for people. He said the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. I propose that handing a beggar on the corner a handful of cash is not the best way to love him. The claw of addiction grips many homeless beggars, especially in areas where organizations exist to shelter, feed, and clothe the homeless. The ones approaching us for handouts often refuse help from these organizations because they do not want to or cannot overcome their addictions. Would you call it love if I gave a meth addict more meth? Putting cash in the hands of an addict assures the continuance of his addiction, and perhaps even contributes to his death by overdose.
A sign in downtown Memphis shocked my husband and me as we moseyed down Main Street on a rare date night. It implored tourists to avoid giving handouts to beggars because that action undermines the efforts of the official organization to help the homeless. It basically said, "If you really want to help the homeless, stop giving them cash." (And if the government says so, it must be true, right?)
Skilled beggars play on your compassion. (The compassionate, unjaded heart does not displease God.) It's true, beggars need to eat. Perhaps consider giving them a sandwich. Once, in Chattanooga, a man knocked on our door asking for cash because he had called a cab to take him to a town 45-minutes away. He also wanted to eat. So we offered him a pizza and a ride. We honestly were surprised when he accepted. The surprise faded into reality when he asked to be let off at the corner only two blocks from our house. His excuse? The cab company would blacklist him if he didn't show up for his taxi.
At another time, inside a convenience store, a man approached me and asked me for cash for a meal. I told him I didn't carry cash (which was the truth), but I could buy him a snack. He declined. He ended up in front of me in line, purchasing only one thing--a large bottle of some sort of alcoholic drink.
An article a decade ago in Raleigh, NC highlighted begging as a career, pointing out a man who had a permit to beg and earned more than my full-time nurse husband did annually. I'm guessing he didn't report taxes on any of it either.
I share these stories as stereotypical of our experiences. I certainly don't want to label an entire subset of society based on a handful of my own experiences. This conversation could continue for decades. The poor will always be with us, as Jesus said. How can we honor God and help the needy--actually help the needy, not just salve a guilty conscience driving our luxury vehicles past a tattered man proclaiming his poverty?
I don't have all the answers, but I will share what I have found in the Bible. A passage in Deuteronomy 14 shocked me yesterday--God told the Israelites to store their tithe every third year to feed the Levites (the priests who were not given any land to work, but worked in the worship of the Lord), the widows, and the orphans within their gates. We can apply this principle by taking care of our ministers, whose work is for the worship of the Lord. We also know God commands us to care for widows and orphans--the unintentionally and unavoidably impoverished. In fact, James writes that pure and undefiled religion is visiting widows and orphans in their affliction.
Now here's a question: Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away." If you commit to follow this instruction to the letter, let me know, so I can get in on the action before you run out of money! Seriously, this verse poses difficulty for me. I have often given cash to those who ask because of this specific command from Jesus. However, I Timothy 5 offers outstanding advice in the Christian's responsibility for the poor of the earth. In a nutshell, Paul advises the church members to take care of widows who are true widows--older than 60, unlikely to marry again, and with no relatives to take care of them. He also says do not burden the church (by which he means us, the Christians) to take care of people who either have relatives who should be taking care of them or who can work to take care of themselves.
That's fairly sound advice, eh?
In the same passage, Paul warns against "overgiving" (a sin that very few of us are guilty of, I'm sure.) He writes, "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." Of course, your definition of "provide" may not match Paul's intention, which brings me to the crux of the matter.
Your money belongs to God. Every single cent. If you have the intimate love relationship with Jesus that He desires, He will guide you through His word and the Holy Spirit in how to use His money. The overarching principle of love should spur Christians to generosity, particularly to other believers who find themselves in a need they cannot work their own way out of, who have no relatives to take care of them. As for the others, I say give as you feel led by the Holy Spirit. Just remember that giving cash may actually be the opposite of showing love.
