Examiner.com article: They can’t take advantage of us
I’ve published another article for Examiner.com as the Raleigh Practical Christianity Examiner. The article is called “They can’t take advantage of us.”
Many Christians are concerned that people will take advantage of their good will if they begin helping others. But, if we understand the attitude and motivation we should have when we serve and give to others, then people can’t take advantage of us.
I begin with a story that I haven’t told on my blog yet:
A man – a stranger to all of the ladies – walked up to the door and introduced himself. He explained that he was trying to return home to a city just up the highway, but he didn’t have enough money to buy gas for his car.
The ladies talked to him and listened to his story. They heard about his struggles and his needs. One of the ladies offered to provide some groceries for him. A few of the other ladies offered to buy him some gas, then pooled the few dollars that they had between them. While some went to get the food for him, others followed him to the gas station to pump some gas into his car.
Please use the link above to jump over to Examiner.com and read the entire (short) article.
Stacy and I were discussing where Christ commands us to “give to everyone who asks of you” the other day.
We talked about that very issue, would we be taken advantage of if we lived in obedience to Christ? Maybe. It really does not matter, the fact is that in the course of a week, how many people just come up to you and ask for something? Not many, and when they do, you know they really go to the point where they would come to you for help, so we have started to make sure that out of our charitable giving we always have some money on us to give if somebody comes up and asks us.
It does help that we do not give to buildings or towards paying somebody to be a Christian, we only give to needs.:)
Now I’m not saying we should only give if people ask us, that is not our practice, but that we should always give when people ask us-like Christ commanded.
Hutch,
Yes. It also makes a big difference if we’re talking about Alan and his family helping someone, or XYZ Church organization deciding whether or not to help someone from their “benevolence fund.” I think obedience in this area becomes much simpler and more obvious when it’s personal.
-Alan
The man that I mentioned in this article called me a few minutes ago. My wife was one of the ladies who helped him, and she gave the man my phone number. I’m meeting with this man and his family in about an hour. (Thursday afternoon)
-Alan
Alan,
Excellent! I notice the ladies were wise, as well as loving, by not giving him money, but satisfying his expressed needs.