Not too long ago I was driving through New Philadelphia and as got off the interstate, this dude was standing at the red light:
His sign read: DOWN ON LUCK. ANYTHING WILL HELP. GOD BLESS.
Then, Friday night while I was in Vegas, a dude stopped me on the street to ask me if I could spare a few bucks.
What do you do when you encounter people asking for money? Do you ignore them? Avoid them? Give them money? Set stipulations? Buy them food?
What's the appropriate thing to do? What would Jesus do?
5 comments:
what a question to ponder and I must admit, I saw this post yesterday and thought I'd wait and see what someone else might say. I've often wondered myself what is the "right" thing to do.
What would Jesus do? Jesus would do the perfect thing. That's not me. Jesus would know their heart. I don't want to just assume what someone would do with the money I would give.
Jesus came for people just like this and I believe He'd be hangin' out with them. So, give? well, my hubby gave a guy on the street $20 bucks the other day and I asked him why and why $20. He just shrugged his shoulders and said it's what I had to give and it's not up to me to worry about where it's going. He just gave all.
I'm still pondering this, but we were with 2 non-christians (vocally non-christian, by the way) who witnessed Ted do this and I think the impact is more than just what the recipient of the $20 will experience.
Just my 2 cents.
when my wife worked in downtown atlanta she got approached quite often by folks asking for money for food. our solution was to take a portion of our income each week and buy mcdonalds gift certificates.
Hi John, our two boys (ages 8 & 10) always ask if we can get some McD's & take back to the ones who are there along the interstate with signs asking for help. We've done this so many times now, that our 8 yr. old (who was 7 at the time) said "Mom, I think this is our family's mission to help these people out. This is what Jesus wants us to do." WOW! Thought that was pretty cool.
-Shawna & Bob Smith
WOW... great responses! I like the idea of giving them food (or actually putting gas in their tank if that's what they are asking for). You just never know what they will do with cash though. But if God tells you to give cash (by all means)... give cash!... right? What an awesome family mission! I really like the idea of the McDonalds gift certificates. You can't go wrong with that system. Again... great responses!
Thanks for the feedback. I like the McD's idea, too. What a great idea to keep a supply of those in your vehicle for situations like that.
Shawna...very cool about your boys.
Tina...that was very generous of Ted. If you hear God telling you to do something, I guess you should just do it, right?
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