Mercy ministry is difficult. We don’t want to write off our responsibility to actively pursue caring for those in need because it is fraught with spiritual and physical challenges. Neither do we want to enter in on the work of mercy ministry out of a naive kindness that can be taken advantage of because of a failure to have a robustly biblical understanding of how we are to best help others. We need grace and wisdom for mercy ministry.
When I moved to Philadelphia in 2007 to begin my interneship at Tenth Presbyterian Church, I was excited about entering in on a work that had a special focus on mercy ministry. I knew Philly well enough to know how many opportunities there were for mercy ministry in the streets. If you walked through Rittenhouse Park you would see dozens of homeless sitting or laying on the park benches. If you walked down Broad St. or Market St., on any given day, you would walk past individuals sprawled out over the grates trying to keep warm. If you strolled down South St., you would most certainly be asked for food or money. Add to this the numerous nursing homes in the city where hundreds and hundreds of men and women had been essentially shoved away by their relatives–many of whom were never visited, except perhaps on a holiday. I was eager to enter in on this work with great zeal and joy.
What I learned at Tenth is that great grace and wisdom are needed for mercy ministry. I’ll never forget the time that a homeless man cussed me out for bringing him a blanket, a bowl of warm soup and a small copy of the Gospel of John. What he wanted, as he strategically lay over one of those Market St. vents on a cold November morning was $20 an hour tax free. Most of the homeless in Philadelphia know how to work the system. They know where to post up, how to make people want to give them money, what shelters they can consistantly move to and from on a regular basis and how to carry around a stack of business cards so that they can drop names when they go to a church in order to get a handout. You learn quickly that homelessness is big business, hard work and that you don’t have to be rich to have greed in your heart. That being said, we are called to care for the poor and the needy–as well as for the outcast and the stranger. So how are we to do so when there is so much con-artistry, greed and a sense of entitlement in the world of the poor? Consider the following:
1. Remember that you are an object of mercy and grace. One of the best ways to foster a merficul heart–even toward those who are needy because their lives are wrecked by sin–is to remember that at one time you were without Christ and an object of God’s wrath. If it were not for the grace and mercy of God in Christ to you, you would be exactly like (or worse than) those who are coming to you asking for help. When we are faced with the call to respond to someone in need, who has a sense of entitlement or greed (even in their state of extreme want), we have to remember that the Lord once gave us food and clothing when we were in rebellion against Him (Matt. 5:45). Yes, we will need wisdom to know how and when to respond, but we must remember how the Lord treated us–often through the instrumentality of believers–when we were rebels in our minds, hearts and actions. This will help us deal justly and merifully in word and deed to those in need. We will want to figure out the best way to help someone whose life is laying in ruin without hurting them by enabling them to stay in such a lifestyle.
2. Learn to Set Boundaries.