Giving to a neighbor in need is one of the most meaningful and uplifting of all human interactions. Government welfare has robbed many of us of that experience. It has reduced the need for meaningful human interaction and has robbed us of a very strong fabric that once held us together.
There’s something that happens when someone sees a friend or neighbor in need and personally gives to them. It fosters gratefulness; not just in the receiver, but in the giver. It creates a strong bond and sense of responsibility between two human beings.
A few weeks ago I was taking my son out for some 1 on 1 time when we drove by a panhandler on a street corner. The rough-looking young man had all the stereotypical tokens: cardboard sign, torn backback, missing teeth framed by an unshaven face. As we drove by, my mind went to all the jaded, cynical places it usually goes. “This man is a fraud. He’s probably on drugs. Anything I give him is just going to hurt him more.” My son saw something different. “Dad! There is a man who needs help! Do you have money in your wallet? We need to give him money!” Thankfully, I did happen to have some cash on me, so we turned around to meet the man again in the intersection. I gave him some cash, asked his name and made some conversation. It may be a silly example, but that event did something for both me and my son. We were, for that time, pulled out of our small little world into the world of another human being made in God’s image, and again reminded of our blessings. There was a moral law-giver we were serving, whose goodness and grace we were feebly trying to emulate. I won’t forget the enthusiasm of my son as he told his mother and siblings that afternoon.
I was reminded that Jesus commands us in the Bible to give to the beggar without holding back. Nowhere in his command does he make that command conditional on the worthiness or honesty of the beggar. In fact, in the same passage, he also tells us to give freely even to those who rob us! How does that change our attitude toward the corner panhandler? Perhaps Jesus is trying to lead us toward something more meaningful than simply providing for someone’s material needs
I can’t deny the need for some kind of safety net. I know that at some level, there may be a place for the government to help the poor. But I think that our modern welfare system has robbed us all of something very important.
It has robbed the prosperous of the pure joy of giving to the poor, and the sense of responsibility to the neighbor down the street whose problems we don’t know- because we never interact with him.
It has robbed the poor of the joy and sense of gratefulness that comes from a neighbor showing love and compassion face to face. It has robbed us of a very strong fabric that once held us together.
Instead, we vote to confiscate the wealth of our neighbors to feed people we will never have to befriend or see. The poor receive cash cards and direct deposits from a nameless, faceless bureaucracy that will never care about them. The long-term result of such an arrangement is resentment on both sides. There’s something wrong with that.
