If our eyes haven't been opened to the evil in the world through hearing the stories of those who return from such a place as Haiti, maybe it would be better if God allowed us to really suffer and know what it is like not to have enough to make it through life comfortably. The majority of people that see themselves as needy here in the U.S.A. don't have a lot they could complain about if they saw the way the poor people of Haiti have to live.
Tell me what you think about the way the United States helps the poor today. Should we be more like Haiti and let people suffer? Should we help people more and do what we can because God has blessed us with more to give? How should we respond? More like the U.S.A. or more like Haiti?
7 comments:
I'm trying to answer this without it sounding like I am giving the Sunday School answer but.... I think it needs to be a little both. I really do believe the US gives abundantly where there is a need, now weather or not the people deserve it is another story. Haiti on the other hand, (let me know if I am speaking out of place here) doesn't have much to give and doesn't seem to try with what little they have.
Helping the needy can be a wonderful and sometimes very rewarding act but we get too caught up in how we think people will use the gift. We give to give not to command, but I also believe that at some point if you are in need, help yourself. Get out of the whole you are in and put yourself on God's path. Your journey will be difficult but could help others in similar situations.
I myself do feel bad for those less fortunate but I believe the strongest survive. We as Americans have takin away the "honest days" work and brought in "more kids means I get more money from the government". Why punish those who have worked for what they have?
What's that great old quote (biblically based in Matthew I believe???) about judging a society by how it treats its most vulnerable members? I have worked (sometimes 2 and 3 jobs) since I was 15 years old. Like everybody, I hate seeing money come out of my check. However, I also realize I was lucky enough to have parents that instilled a work ethic in me, made sure I went to school every day, checked that I actually did my homework, and cared enough to tell me that I can be anything that I want to be. I also realize that the ability to work (physically, mentally, intellectually) is a gift that not everyone is lucky enough to possess. Helping others (even by paying taxes) is not a punishment...it is a gift.
A gift? I suppose you are correct on that. But what I see is it being misused. Not by everyone but a big portion
Thanks for your input!
I have worked in a church now for the past few years, and in both churches that I have been apart of, they have a food pantry for people who can't afford food. And in the current church where I'm at, we have a Clothing Ministry to go with the Food Pantry. We give these things to people. They are allowed to get food a certain number of times a year and they are allowed to get clothes so many times a year.
With that being said, I still often ask the question, "What does it mean to HELP people?" I see the people who are truly in need of assistance. Those that are going through a rough time and need someone to reach out to them and help them get back on their feet. Those are the ones that I'm more than thankful to help. But then I see others who continually abuse the system and use the HELP that people are trying to offer as their means to make it through life.
At what point are we helping people verses inhibiting them from trying to do something for themselves?
Robbie, my eyes were opened several years ago when I read a book by Marvin Olasky called "The Tragedy of American Compassion". In the book, he focused on the 'tragedy' of how this country was following the errors of England in 'helping' people through bureaucratic means rather than on personal levels. He said 'compassion' comes from the Latin and means 'to suffer with'. Early in the history of the U.S., this was not done. Neighbors helped neighbors. Later, work houses developed and were less personal, but the helpers still knew the helped by name and insited they were sober and they must do the work offered by the house in order to receive help. By 1992, when he wrote the work after years of research, he found that the soup kitchens he frequented (as a homeless person) didn't even care to know anything about him. No questions asked 'help' was given regardless of what brought the 'helped' into the kitchen. There was no 'suffering with' the needy.
Though he did not address church benevolence funds, food pantries, etc., I realized this same 'tragedy' is common in the way they are usually administered. Thus, some don't get the real help they need and others even abuse the well-intended 'help' offered by a collection of good people.
Then, I was struck between the eyes. Each of us need to 'help' our neighbors; those we know and can share in their need personally. This is a problem, however, when we are so disconnected from those who are truly in need. My neighbors are not the same as your neighbors. If I help mine and you help yours, we are better equipped to know what they really need and also keeps them from becoming too dependent on help because even they would realize there is a real limit to the help we could offer. Most would not want to abuse someone who is expressing God's love through time and resources. Still, even in this individual approach to helping, we need to use discernment to determine if we are truly helping.
Anyway, you asked.....
Yes...well said...I live in Cayuga Indiana and we are in danger of losing our town trustee because the Governor wants to do away with county government. The trustee here discerns who needs and who might abuse the help they try to give and it is this local tie we need to help others effectively. As a rule I know it is not for us to judge who is abusing help...but it is always easier if you have a relationship with them in some way.
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