We Don't Really LOVE the Homeless!

Don't believe me?

OK, I get that. That's a very strong statement, a bold one, and, I am sure, offensive to many Christians who sincerely strive to be everything that God wants them to be. And so I get why some would be angry. But hear me out.

Try this sometime: go to a megachurch and watch the various people who come in the door. Not just any megachurch; go to one with a strong outreach to the impoverished.

You will first notice school cafeteria rules apply: the clicques form almost instantly. If someone is new to the church, curiousity usually encourages regulars to get to know them, but once the "new" wears off, they each settle into their own cliques. You simply don't find the families of factory workers sitting side by side with the families of bankers.

But when someone who is homeless, or appears so, walks in, the difference becomes outright disturbing. The regular begins to talk above the homeless person, and immediately goes into "fix it" mode. This is well intentioned, but the message is clear: while we love you "as you are", we don't mean "as you are"; we mean "on the road to where we intend you to be". Not just the homeless get this, but sometimes people on the working class side of things get it as well.

The result is catastrophic for a lot of struggling families: buying into the lie that where they are is simply not acceptable, they indenture themselves, they go into deep debt, they do everything they can to be like "those" people; the ones in the front row, the ones with the pastor's favor and encouragement. And the homeless who are satisfied with where they are slink off, wondering what happened to the love and compassion of Christianity they've heard so much about.

I've seen it happen a lot of times. In conservative circles, "suggestions" are often made to families who are living hand to mouth. I put it in quotes because I have seen firsthand what happens when these "suggestions" are not followed. For two years, I was a news carrier as my primary occupation. The reason was simple: I generally netted $15-20 an hour for halftime work; a very good wage in a town where they were few and far between. And yet, I was constantly harassed by police officers, by well meaning people in the community who would constantly ask how I could live off of what I did, as if that was frankly any of their business.

I'm not saying there not exceptions among the people in the congregations. There are; I have seen them. But I will say the exceptions are generally atypical, and in some cases, discouraged by their home fellowships.

True love is not guided by a sense of "fixing" someone. In my case, I have long hair. That is an obstacle for some., But it's not something I am going to change just because it makes YOU uncomfortable. If it ever makes ME uncomfortable, off it goes. But as for you, well, I've found that not being dressed to the nines and wearing my hair long is a real good way to find pout who is friend and who is fake.

True love, Christian love, is guided by a sense of fellowship. A sense of genuine caring. In the case of the poor and homeless, your priorities are not their priorities. You may worry why their kids don't have socks, while they are worried about replacing the bald tires on their only form of transportation. You may question why they are unkempt, while they are simply trying to find a safe place to sleep for the night.

So if we want to change the situation for the homeless, we must first change it for ourselves. They're not an audience for the rock band that we call a "worship team"; they're not an outlet for our outdated cans of hominy and beets, and they're not a tool to make us feel good when we go to church the next Sunday. Unless they are first and foremost our friends and neighbors, then, brothers and sisters, we are doing it wrong.