Today I received a call from a person wanting rental assistance. Apparently they got kicked out of their place of residence and having found a room to rent, they just needed someone to pay for it. I am not sure how this person got our phone number. We are listed in the phone book and our phone number is on our marquee. However they found us they had the idea that a church, any church, our church should pay for their rent. This is a very strange notion.
I come in contact with many people, many who call and some who come and knock on the door of the church. These people do not attend our church and they give no evidence that they even believe in the same things we do. There is no relationship between these beggars and our church, yet there is the assumption that our church, or any church is just handing out cash to anyone who asks. This is what is strange. Why would any organization spend all their money on people who do not participate, attend or believe like us.
Some might say that churches have all this extra money, but that would be false. As church attendance shrinks nationwide, expenses do not also decrease. More and more pastors are becoming bi-vocational to reduce the cost of salaries and benefits on the budget. Yet people think that churches have tons of extra money and that we are willing to part with it on a moment's notice.
Within several miles of my church are some very large churches. One of them actually bought an old clinic building and turned it into a living space for the homeless. 122 units, 7,500 applicants the first day. Then the church said that people had to prove a need through means testing. That dropped the applicants to 14. It seems that people want something for nothing as long as you don't ask too many questions.
One difficulty with people and their need and assistance for them, is that the government has institutionalize welfare and food stamps and low income housing. Back in the day, the churches were to town welfare system. Church leaders could get to know the people of the town and through genuine care, could find out what people really needed and fill that need with precision. When the government took that away from the churches, people got used to how the government did it. Yet they still call churches. Probably because there are 8,000 more homeless in Alameda County than there are beds. So they contact churches, but the churches have no money.
Let me finish by saying that we take care of our own. From time to time one of our members, who attends regularly and who believes like we do, might have a problem with rent or a medical bill or a car repair. In that case, our church takes care of it the best we can. We take care of our own, we cannot take care of the whole world.
#thoughts on assistance#
I come in contact with many people, many who call and some who come and knock on the door of the church. These people do not attend our church and they give no evidence that they even believe in the same things we do. There is no relationship between these beggars and our church, yet there is the assumption that our church, or any church is just handing out cash to anyone who asks. This is what is strange. Why would any organization spend all their money on people who do not participate, attend or believe like us.
Some might say that churches have all this extra money, but that would be false. As church attendance shrinks nationwide, expenses do not also decrease. More and more pastors are becoming bi-vocational to reduce the cost of salaries and benefits on the budget. Yet people think that churches have tons of extra money and that we are willing to part with it on a moment's notice.Within several miles of my church are some very large churches. One of them actually bought an old clinic building and turned it into a living space for the homeless. 122 units, 7,500 applicants the first day. Then the church said that people had to prove a need through means testing. That dropped the applicants to 14. It seems that people want something for nothing as long as you don't ask too many questions.
One difficulty with people and their need and assistance for them, is that the government has institutionalize welfare and food stamps and low income housing. Back in the day, the churches were to town welfare system. Church leaders could get to know the people of the town and through genuine care, could find out what people really needed and fill that need with precision. When the government took that away from the churches, people got used to how the government did it. Yet they still call churches. Probably because there are 8,000 more homeless in Alameda County than there are beds. So they contact churches, but the churches have no money.
Let me finish by saying that we take care of our own. From time to time one of our members, who attends regularly and who believes like we do, might have a problem with rent or a medical bill or a car repair. In that case, our church takes care of it the best we can. We take care of our own, we cannot take care of the whole world.
#thoughts on assistance#
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