Jesus was Homeless

[aldona]

Here is a very confronting and thought-provoking article from "The Wittenburg Door."

Jesus was a Homeless Bum

[John317]

Here is a very confronting and thought-provoking article from "The Wittenburg Door."

Jesus was a Homeless Bum

I photograph homeless people and work closely with them on the streets of LA. Have been doing this for about 2 years. During this time I have stayed in the missions with them, eaten with them and worshiped with them in the street evangelistic efforts held in open tents on skid row. I've posted a number of my skid row pictures in the photo album in CA.

What have I learned? That most homeless people are unemployable and have emotional, mental, alcohol, and drug issues. Many do not want to work. Quite a few are actually wanted somewhere by the police. It is not like it was back in the depression or even in the early 80s when there were lots of employable people out of work and hungry.

Today there are many organizations doing all they can to help the homeless. I sometimes try to give them clothes and food, but many times my help has been rejected because the "homeless" already has more clothes than he knows what to do with and he doesn't want food but money with which to buy marijuana, etc. On the streets of LA it is common to walk among them and smell the strong odor of marijuana. I often see "homeless" making a drug purchase right in front of the rescue missions. A one-legged man named Bill whom I talked to for over an hour and photographed told me right up front that he wanted money that he planned to use to buy some drugs. A few years ago, I watched one homeless guy make over $100.00 in about an hour begging for money by telling people an impressive sob story.

I believe in doing what I can to help them, but we need to be honest about them and not be condescending. However, to compare Jesus' homelessness to theirs is unfair both to them and to Christ. In his humanity Christ may be properly compared to every man and woman, poor and rich alike.

[Gail]

Interesting comment! Thanks for starting this thread, Aldona

[Gail]

I would be interested in knowing the difference Jesus makes to a homeless person

[Bravus]

I'm sure all that is true, John - you're in position to know, and you're doing great work. But there are two other factors involved:

(1) Many of them have been damaged by others - abused, in many cases. They are responsible for their own choices, of course, but many come from homes so horrendous we can't imagine them, so any judgements of their culpability in their own situation ought to take that into account.

(2) Many homeless people are mentally ill people who in the past would have been institutionalused. In many Western countries the idea was to integrate them in the community rather than to institutionalise them. A good and fair plan, if the necessary support mechanisms had been in place, but they weren't and many ended up on the streets, with drug and alcohol dependencies exacerbating their mental illness.

So before we think about the 'deserving' and the 'undeserving' homeless, it's important to recognise that there are causes for their actions beyond personal depravity... and that Jesus cares for even those who are there by their own choices.

And in answer to Gail's question... I think Jesus most often makes a difference to a homeless person through us.

[D. Allan]

Jesus was a homeless bum ... by choice. He could have continued on working in his father carpentery shop where some say he made yokes for oxen. But he dropped out of the rat-race, jumped the rut, so to speak.

Most of us are guilty of ignoring the 'homeless bums.'

I suppose homeless people are just as likely or more likely than celebrities to get addicted to drugs. Do they get any help for that problem?

A lot of these 'homeless' people were in institutions until Ronald Reagan kicked them during his shift at the helm, leaving them to shift for themselves.

[there buster]

Quote:

A lot of these 'homeless' people were in institutions until Ronald Reagan kicked them during his shift at the helm, leaving them to shift for themselves.

Wrong on two counts. First, it was the courts, at the behest of the ACLU, that removed mentally ill people from institutions, claiming it was their right to be free. And the ACLU has continued to actively resisted efforts that would place these people under institutional care. Second, even this occurred previous 1o 1981. It's just that the media 'discover' homelessness during Republican administrations.

This is a simple fact. Surveys have determined that homeless stories in newspapers and periodicals essentially disappear during Democrat administrations. As inhabitants of large cities can tell you, the homeless don't disappear, although they were herded far from TV cameras during the Democrat convention in 1996. Mayor Dinkins didn't want them seen at that time.

[olger]

Excellent points John. I have worked with these people some myself and agree that what you say is true. Our poverty is different than that in Mexico, for instance.

Bravus makes a good point too, the homes that people come from have a large impact on their lives. To each of us comes this question "Will we rise above our environment or sink beneath it?"

Our counseling ministry is aimed at helping people resolve those kind of issues.

I recall somewhat amusingly an experience I had years ago. I was returning from the next town north of us on interstate. As I pulled off the exit, there was a man standing there with a sign "Hungry, need food." On the seat beside me was a nut log I had just purchased in Sidney. I picked it up and held it out the window to the guy. "I would like you to have this, Sir."

He took a long look at it and waved his hand off. "I got no TEEF." So much for that.

og

[Dr. Shane]

I absolutely believe the best way we can help the homeless is by supporting the Salvation Army. This is one of the few non-Adventist ministries that Ellen White actually encouraged us to support!

The Salvation Army knows how to help the homeless unlike most people. Giving a homeless begger money is most often just helping them to buy cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. The Salvation Army supplies meals and shelter for these people. Our local shelter does not allow any that are drunk or high in. Thus the noontime meal is always bigger than the evening meal. If the homeless person is employable, the Salvation Army often finds work that can be done by them.

We can help the Salvation Army by donating our money or our time in the kitchens, thrift stores or (my personal favorite) ringing bell for them at Christmas time.

[Planey]

by supporting the Salvation Army

Oh, Come on, Shane!

You have totally misunderstood the purpose of the homeless! They are there so we can blame the evil liberals for causing their plight, or the even more evil conservatives. Failing that we can castigate the totally reprehensible pinko commo media for highlighting/not highlighting their presence and/or condition.

Or we can discus why they deserve to be the way they are, or conversely why it is counter-productive to try to help them in any way.

We don't actually DO anything for them...

Graeme

[Gail]

And Jesus said that we will have them with us always...

[aldona]

Quote:

Oh, Come on, Shane!

You have totally misunderstood the purpose of the homeless! They are there so we can blame the evil liberals for causing their plight, or the even more evil conservatives. Failing that we can castigate the totally reprehensible pinko commo media for highlighting/not highlighting their presence and/or condition.

Or we can discus why they deserve to be the way they are, or conversely why it is counter-productive to try to help them in any way.

We don't actually DO anything for them...

I hear what you're saying, Graeme...some of the comments I get from fellow Adventists (even pastors) when they find out I feel strongly about trying to help those less fortunate...have left me wishing I was one of the compassionate, principled atheists I meet at Amnesty or at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

Here is a follow-up article from the same source.

What the Homeless Really, Really Need - And Why They'll Never Get It

Quote:

There was a time when churches would allow the homeless to sleep in their sanctuaries. Not any more. Churches have "programs." All the "programs" involve the church member giving money, so that the church member never has to actually see the homeless person. Many churches have a policy that their "social welfare" programs are only available to ... members of that church!

Quote:

Unless you have personally taken a homeless person into your house, you're not an expert on the homeless. This rules out almost all the government employees, most of the preachers, all the lawyers, all the doctors. This rules me out. I haven't done it. I'm guilty. But I'm not gonna pretend anymore. I've given money to charities. But I'm not gonna do it anymore, because I know this much:

They don't need money. They need us.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

I hear what you're saying, Graeme...

I didn't get what Graeme was saying at all. I guess it went right over my head. I was serious. The Salvation Army, which is a Christian denomination, does the best work with the homeless I have seen. I support them and encourage others to.

[Bravus]

Graeme was being entirely sarcastic, illustrating the attitudes he's seen. I'm sure in sincere mode he would agree with you (as I do). I also see what the second article aldona quoted above is saying... and it's quite right. It's easy for me to be an internet warrior on behalf of the homeless, and much harder for me to go to a soup kitchen and deal with them. But that's what I need to do. The gospel challenges all of us to do the hard stuff.

[D. Allan]

The Salvation Army actually does do something, and they do need money. I should look them up and see if they can use any of my time, esp. now that I'm retired.

[Planey]

Yes, Shane, I do agree with you. Just look through some of the replies to the original article and you will see what prompted my (very sarcastic - mea culpa) reply.

The Salvation Army does a great job here in Australia and I presume in your neck of the woods as well. Wonderful organisation, gets in and does rather than talk talk talk.

Graeme

[Tom Wetmore]

This topic title brings to mind the line from Rich Mullins' song "You Did Not Have a Home" from The Jesus Record

Quote:

The hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man...

Tom