A dear little lady in our church called them that! Mind you she is a triple amputee and she can say this about these folks. It never fails, just when you reach what you consider to be the bottom of whatever state of existence has come your way in life . . . there is always, always someone who has it worse. And this little lady has it the worst of all worst.
She has one real leg, and no arms at all. She was recently in the hospital with the same flu everyone and their two nieces have in this part of the world. She has one leg. Finally she was able to press the button for the nurse to come with her chin, because she is dehydrated and is terribly thirsty . . .at long last the nurse shows up and when our dear friend asks for a glass of water, the nurse agrees to get her a glass of water, only if our friend will pay her a bribe . . . slide her some extra money under the table! While this happens to G. regularly . . . people taking advantage of the fact that she is a triple amputee, these are not "the worse monsters of the 21st century."
The worse monsters of the 21st century according to G. are people like she met last week at a new clinic she is trying to receive medical attention at. She arrived there, and there is this long line. Did I mention she has one leg? Thus she cannot stand but for very short periods of time. So she walks to the front of the line, and the lady there all but attacks her and let's her know that she will have to wait in line like everyone else. G. is not opposed to waiting, but shoot, you gotta give her a place to sit! Not a chance. The lady says, I bet you aren't even a real cripple! Those people, according to G. are "the worse monsters of the 21st century." Welcome to medical care in Eastern Europe. Be very very thankful for the medical care you can get wherever you are. And people wonder why I call it the hairy armpit.
I am just afraid we do this in the church to the spiritually crippled that come through our doors. Wanting them to be better before they even meet the Doctor/Savior. To not really be crippled at all. I am afraid that we don't facilitate them because they are the drug addicts and those without jobs and all those people will be a drain on the churches finances or some monstrous accusation like that. As hard as it may be, I need to remember that we are here for the cripples. And let's face it, I am just one prayer of forgiveness away from being one myself.
3 comments:
Oh Joan, you ask such good questions and I have such bad answers. You know me, I am the question guy not the answer guy. The blog was more about my own personal cynicism about helping the spiritually crippled than a good treatise or guideline for helping these spiritually crippled folks. I too have been stabbed in the back repeatedly, and almost never have found one who even responds graciously to the help offered. On the other hand, in the parable of the lost sheep, the focus was pretty clearly on the one lost sheep.
I am terrible at this . . . and here we have constant beggars not just in church on Sundays. Almost always they are women or children or physical cripples wanting only money, although they always frame it as a need for bread or medicine. Agreed, I am a terrible person.
I wonder when I will get to the point where it is OK to be stabbed in the back, taken advantage of, never discouraged because it humanly seems to do no good, shows no results, has no apparent point? Perhaps at the same time I really get it, that I am not far from being in the same place but for the grace of God? Perhaps I need more crushing? Perhaps I need more loss in my life? Perhaps I need less security in the human form that thinks I can do it on my own? I wrote a blog today about that one a bit. But the bottom line is that I am selfish, self-absorbed, and care mostly about me. It is hard for me to find Jesus in that quagmire . . . in me, when I am like that.
I am talking about me, not you, but this is where I am today. I hope that I keep growing on this one. Sorry I don't have any answers for you girl, cause you certainly asked some good questions.
Wow, Joan, you asked some hard questions in response to Dr. D's post. I confess I don't have the answers, either. God is constantly bringing people into my life who fit the descriptions of those who visit your church. Often my heart breaks for them, especially since I don't have the financial resources to help them or their children in any significant way. Other times I've felt resentful, especially when my already stressful life gets disrupted by their cries for help. I have one neighbor who will only contact me if she needs money, and her empty promises to pay me back have come to sound like a broken record. Knowing that my husband and I are barely surviving ourselves, this woman asked me to supply her family with an entire Thanksgiving dinner last year. I told her I would try to find a ministry that could provide for the need (normally I would have simply invited them to have Thanksgiving dinner with us, but we were visiting relatives out of town).
Then there's the 10-year-old daugher of a drug dealer in our neighborhood. This little girl practically begged my husband and me to take her to church when she learned we were believers. We take her to our church almost every weekend, and over the past six months she's become like a daughter to us. We even had the privilege of leading her to the Lord. But it hasn't been a bed of roses. She's stolen from us on several ocassions and there have been other problems. But we have seen God work in her in incredible ways. We once bought her some toys, and when she learned that a neighbor girl was having a birthday that day, she gave almost all the toys to this little girl.
But there were times when I've resented my husband for giving to the down-and-outers when we ourselves were in desperate need, so I can relate to the weariness you feel. Sometimes we just have to say no because saying yes means we won't pay our bills.
There was also a time when I was so sick of the parents of the little girl we befriended that I wanted nothing more to do with her or them. Yet it was at that point that God put His relentless love for her in my heart, and I couldn't bear the thought of not having her in my life.
I know there are times when we have to draw the line, especially if helping someone means we won't be able to fulfill our responsibilities to our own families. But other than that, I can't pretend to have the answers to your questions.
Excellent point, Joan! We do need to make it clear that when we give to those in need, we are doing so in Jesus' Name because of what He did for us. I confess that sometimes I neglect to do that, but my husband always makes an effort to mention this when he gives to someone. Once he even had an opportunity to lead a homeless man to the Lord; the man was obviously drunk but desperately wanted to be free of his addiction.
And Dr. D., thank you once again for challenging us with another thought-provoking post!
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