August 27, 2010
Life's Choices
There are some community conversations going on about whether or not our area has a homeless problem. It appears that those who feel there is a problem want to start proposing the need for a homeless shelter. From a Christian perspective we are to supply our own food and shelter, with the exception of widows and orphans who are unable to provide for themselves. Personally I don’t see homelessness as a problem that requires community solution. It seems to me that the situation is the result of either a matter of choice, or because of choices made.
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Gail;
-----Anything said about homelessness, community, and Biblical perspective in a short discussion is not enough. In fact, anything said in a voluminous discussion does not seem to be enough, either. I think it is because the issue rests entirely on belief, abandoning the consideration of empirical evidence. Some folks actually want to be homeless. I know this not only because I have heard it expressed and supported with case evidence, but also because I would choose to be homeless for at least a period of time if I had no wife and family. So the first thing that must be said is that even if some program perfectly dealt with homelessness, homelessness would yet remain.
-----But of those homeless against their will, how is the Biblical perspective divided between community program and individual responsibility? Does Scripture really limit participation in the needs of the poor to only widows and orphans unable to provide for themselves? “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (I John 3:17) “And if your brother becomes poor, and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall maintain him; as a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you.” (Lev 25:35) “...As a stranger and sojourner...” does not reference a homeless condition, but rather the legal status and hospitality given to strangers and sojourners. Noting that Scripture uses the term “brother” in both its strict sense of familial relationship and a looser sense of community relationship, neither is the poor man with no siblings expected to go without life support. But I believe its expectation that charity starts at home is demonstrated in Lev 25:25, “If your brother becomes poor, and sells part of his property, then his next of kin shall come and redeem what his brother has sold,” and in I Tim 5:8, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.“ The Bible certainly calls upon man’s mutual nature for the support of the poor.
-----Yet, it must also be noted that the call is not made to the government for a program. It is made to individuals, starting first with the siblings, then moving out from there. I believe the church program initiated to help the poor focused upon those who had no one else to help them. If we were allowed to publicly express the Bible’s praises and shames for different behaviors, and the community as a whole did so, there would be much more incentive for individuals to help the helpless, and much more disincentive for them to hand that responsibility off to the public at large. In such a circumstance, the helpless would not only receive material support from those closest to their situation, but they would also receive the up building and encouragement needed to better their own ability to care for themselves by folks who best know them. Such a community would serve both sides of the human dichotomy - individuality and mutuality. At one time our country was such a community, many, many decades ago before the government was handed these responsibilities in service to the moral degradation of the community’s individuals. The concept of personal attachment to one another has suffered by our striving for governmental and public supports.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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