Two weeks ago I went on a Mission Trip to Vancouver and it was one of the greatest times of my life. We worked with a lot of the homeless and did a lot of community work. We got to meet a lot of great people and a lot of Christians who have dedicated their life in helping the poor and fighting for justice.
It was a different type of experience. It was nothing like camp or YC- it was joy and fulfillment in knowing that you were helping someone who desperately needed help. We spent most of the time outside of the Church than inside of it. We were getting our hands dirty and working hard so that someone in need will benefit from it.
It was sad that this was the first time that I did something like this. Why haven't I done this before? Perhaps there was no opportunity to do something like this? Or perhaps I was too busy feeling comfortable? I feel both are true. Helping the poor in my opinion is bottom of the list for most Churches. It looks like most churches are too consumed with ministering inside the church than it is outside of the Church. Just look at some Church's Budget and you will see what they prioritize and what they value.
From this experience, I cannot help but be frustrated at how many Churches ignore the poor. Jesus was all about healing people. Whenever someone was in need like the blind man or the man with leprosy, Jesus would immediately heal them. He didn't tell them that He would do it later. He never ever said no. He never said wait for heaven. And He never said that if you accept me first then I will help you. Jesus was not only concerned about people's spiritual and eternal destinies, He was also concerned about their present needs. He was also concerned about their life in the here and now.
Sometimes Churches focus way too much on the future. Yes, it is very important that we preach that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Yes, we should tell people about the Gospel. Yes, we should be concerned about people's eternal destinies. But it should not give us an excuse to ignore and and not care about what people are going through in their present lives. If we look at Jesus, He looked at the person holistically. This means that Jesus was interested in the whole person. He was concerned about forgiving their past, abundant life in the present, and heaven in the future.
I got to meet and talk with a lot of homeless people. It was interesting to know that many of them do work, but they just don't make enough. It was also interesting to meet a man named Chris, who had a college diploma from SAIT. He had diploma in networking- yet He couldn't find a job. It was also heartbreaking to meet people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. I met one person who spent $1000 of his welfare cheque on booze.
It's true that some of them have made pretty bad choices but not all of them have. We as a society love to put stereotypes on people- thinking that everyone fits into them. The funny thing is, many people who have stereotypes have never talked to or spent time with the people that they are judging. But it is humbling to have your stereotypes broken and destroyed when you meet someone that doesn't meet fit that criteria.
I truly believe in helping others for the sake of just helping them. There should not be a hidden agenda or a hidden criteria. So what if they are addicted to alcohol, does that mean we don't help them? I wonder, what if it was your friend or relative that was addicted to alcohol- do you just sit there and criticize them? Or do we do something about it?
When Jesus said love your neighbor- it didn't just mean your friends and relatives. It meant everyone! Your neighbor is the poor person in Downtown Calgary or the person you do not like. We sometimes forget that the homeless in Calgary are people too. They are loved by God and made in God's image. But for some reason some of us have these feelings of superiority about ourselves. And we may never say it, perhaps we even think it- that we are better than these people. But honestly we are not.
I would encourage you to read Matthew 25: 31-46 and answer this question:
What have you done for the least of these?
"For what you do for the least of these- you do it to me" Matthew 25: 40
