I appreciate you all for your thoughtful postings! Some of the things I read about [different] churches make me feel bad for the way they see and do things.
Our church comes downtown to feed the ‘homeless.’ They stay around the park across the street from my office building. The take the free food and then panhandle for money for cigarettes and beer or wine.
How does our church ‘help?’
Some people can not be helped. But for every one person that sees the light it’s worth continuing to try!
Remember, God looks at your heart to do that which he calls you to do.
Feeding the poor is an honorably Christian thing to do. We are not judged on what others do, but on what we do.
While our works do not save us, it is our works that shows others we are followers of Christ. Let the homeless that take the free food and then go get drunk do what they do. But do not allow their actions effect what Christ calls for you to do.
My brother-in-law told me once that he was not tithing his church anymore because he did not agree with what they did with the money.
I told him that tithing is what we do for obedience towards God. They will answer to Him for their stewardship of the money they receive. But I told him that God looks to his heart and calls for us to give back Him that which He was blessed with.
Remember what Christ said to Peter when he asked,
(Matthew 8:21-22)
“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him,
“I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
We will all be judged and rewarded for our own deeds, just as those who deny Christ will be judged for each and every one of their transgressions.
Your church is doing the right thing, pray for those bums taking advantage, because even if only one soul is saved in all the years they feed them, that is one less soul Satan has.
Finally I will leave you with this message from Matthew
(Matthew 25:34-40)
(Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’)
God Bless you
There are so many different options, it would be difficult for me to narrow it down, but OneVike mentioned what God expects from us.
To give you one idea, let me share what my daughter shared with me a few days ago.
She is a 19 year old Freshmen at a private Christian college in Arkansas. A group of her friends drive an hour to Little Rock every Saturday, to a low income housing complex, and spend time with the children that live there. Last Saturday, while driving to Little Rock, they passed a homeless man and after some discussion they turned around and drove back to where he was. To make a long story short, they took him to a burger place (the group consisted of both girls and boys) bought him some food, and spent time with him hearing his story. They also prayed with him...when my daughter shared the story she kept saying how amazing it was and how great it was how God used them to "serve" this man. The story is much longer, but I think you get the idea.
It is great to plan ways to help, but many times, God puts opportunities right in front of us, and we just ignore them.
Beware, when you pray for opportunities, they will come! ;o)