A (Possible) Way to Help the Homeless

I had forgotten how ubiquitous homeless people are in the States. I know a lot of people don't give them money because they don't trust them -- they don't believe they're victims of circumstance and think they'll spend the money on drugs or alcohol. Just throwing money at people and hoping they don't spend it on the wrong thing isn't really a satisfactory option. I am sensitive to this, but as a Christian I note that Jesus did not leave such a loophole in his command to help others in need. By turning away from those who ask for money, we are dangerously close to turning away from him.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

Now I know some people will insist that most homeless people could get out of their situation if people didn't keep enabling them by giving them food, money, etc. instead of making them earn it. Again, I think there's a kernel of truth in this. But I'm a little suspicious that this only seems to come into play when we're asked to part with our money. Jesus didn't leave room for us to say that we're helping by not helping -- probably because we'd use such an escape route as an excuse to ignore those in need.

Some churches have sought to provide an alternative by giving chits for free meals. I think this is a good idea, but it raises the question of how we expect the homeless people we see all over town to get to the church in question.

For years, I've been threatening to put an idea of mine into action about this, but never have. Here it is: rather than get something from a church, go to Taco Bell or McDonald's and get a bunch of five dollar gift certificates. When a homeless person asks for spare change, offer them five or ten dollars worth. If they don't want them, they probably weren't going to use whatever cash you might have given them for licit purposes anyway.

The strength of this is that Taco Bell and McDonald's are all over the place, so it would be fairly easy for someone to use their gift certificates. The weakness is that it's not necessarily a healthy meal. But it seems to me to be a lesser evil than turning a blind eye to those who need help because of a generic distrust of homeless people.