You read this verse and two emotions pull at you. (1) You feel sad/bad for the poor man and (2) you feel angry at those who could have helped him. Within this verse are several assumptions. I'm sure you've heard them before.
- The poor man is poor because of bad decisions he made.
- The poor man is poor because that is a form of God's judgment on him.
- The poor man says he is poor but really isn't.
- Others shouldn't always have to bail out the poor man.
- If the poor man acted like the others, the poor man wouldn't be poor.
- The poor man is lazy and his brothers or friends worked harder than he.
- The poor man will never be satisfied; he will only keep coming back for more.
- Some will always be rich and will never know financial need.
Each assumption might have an ounce of truth, but also has one or more exceptions; therefore, these assumptions should not be taken as axioms.
Here are some things to beware:
- Presumption - cast guesses on the poor man's motives, skill, work ethic, etc.
- Pride - "This could never happen to me!"
- Compassion Fatigue - overwhelmed by need, shut down, stop caring
- Waste - giving resources that aren't needed
- Delay - Don't promise to help later when you can help right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment