Recently a city near me amended an ordinance and added that it was illegal to give water or food to the homeless on city property. That means on the sidewalk, streets, and parks no one can give food or water to a homeless person. The city hopes for programs that provide help beyond just a meal, and to help them get off the streets. But they can't give any money for this and really wish the homeless would just go away. They even offered the homeless bus tickets out of town. 

    When I heard this I was deeply saddened by the state of our society. Friends of mine were incensed and preaching how we must obey God and not men. But I can understand why people do not want the homeless encouraged to congregate around their homes and businesses. The homeless may have mental problems and definitely have difficulty being clean. They throw the trash from their food on the ground, they urinate in public places, they bother customers and set up unsightly camps. Homelessness is a problem.

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Then I prayed about it.

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      God reminded me that Jesus often required things from people. He fed the 5,000 and preached to them about how they should live and think. But he didn't come back day after day and continue to feed them. He told the lame man, "Take up your bed and walk." (John 5:8). He told Jairus, the synagogue ruler to believe and have faith when his daughter had died. (Mark 5:21-43). He told the woman caught in adultery to "Go and sin no more," and He convicted her accusers of their sin (John 8:1-11). He told the demoniac after he was delivered, “Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that he had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19). In other words, He asked people to listen to Him, repent of their sin, testify of God's love, and believe in Him. He told His disciples to follow Him and they gave up their old lives and followed Him. He said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Mark 8:34)

    The truth is that the only way to get people out of their problems is for them to accept God's healing through Jesus. Those who refuse to repent, by definition, will not change. When we keep people from suffering the consequences of their choices, they become dependent on others and do not need to change. The point? We must offer the homeless more than a sandwich. The church needs to step up. We must develop comprehensive help programs that require changes, effort, cooperation and willingness to do what is necessary to change. Help them? YES!   Just give them a meal? NO! That is not working. If we offer housing, food and other assistance without requiring anything, every homeless person in the state will show up for the free handouts and the program would collapse. But by requiring work, adherence to rules, and counseling in the Word, those who will receive God's gift will be changed and helped, and those who won't we cannot help. But the testimony of those whose lives have been changed will draw others to put forth the effort to change their lives and save their souls. 

This famous Chinese saying is true:

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;

teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."