#feedthe5000

This is a subject that came up in our men’s group the other day, what should we do for the community? We were studying James and the “GO, DO” parts. I love James since he is short and to the point, but this opened a lively discussion. How do we use our limited resources to serve the community? Should we be the “judges” on who deserves care or should we be “led” to serve? Should we “cast ye pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6 – KJV) or give to anyone who asks?

 So how do you determine the service project and how to use your resources? Does Jesus say hold back to determine if the poor are using you? No Matthew 5:38 -42 gives us the instruction to give to those who ask, ending with verse 42:

 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. (ESV)

 So with giving of our resources is not to be judged by man but by God. We need to pray about making sure our resources are used by God, but not used by man taking advantage of our kindness. We shall not judge that, but allow the Holy Spirit to work on those receiving the help. Matthew 6:1 also warns us about how we serve:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)

 Now when serving we need not have our service done for all to see and all to take notice, but rather the “transaction” is between you, the person receiving the help and God. Churches often make headlines for their service. I know 12 Stone and their Feed the 5000 one year made news. We got the Gwinnett Braves to allow us to use their lot to give the food. It became headline since during the start of shopping chaos for Christmas at nearby Mall of Georgia, 12 Stone had thousands more clogging the road. In their defense they did not plan properly and the next few years went unnoticed by the press since they changed the distribution model that did not disrupt the community.

 So do we give blindly and hope we did not cast pearls or do we judge who gets our help or do we prayerfully trust Jesus and the Holy Spirit will guide us those in need who are receptive? I believe the latter is the model Jesus was saying we need to follow. So what happens when we give to someone who starts obviously abusing the generosity? Do we stop or do we keep giving? Well Jesus said if you feed a man a fish he will eat for a day, if you teach a man to fish he will eat for a life. Right? No actually this is not in the Bible, in any translation.

 This is often attributed to Jesus since he was the one who taught us to be “fisher of men” (Matthew 4:19) but this “parable” is not in the Bible. This is where we need to be careful and read the Bible more. I love the saying and I am sure I have attributed it to Jesus more than once, but in reality it’s credited to an “ancient Chinese Proverb” or a 19th century English author. Because this is not in the Bible does that mean we should not help those become self-sufficient? Jesus made lame beggars and mad men useful members of society, so there is some scriptural support for this. We just need to lean into the power of Jesus and follow HIS prompts and quit over analyzing help. Sure sometimes your “pearls” may seem wasted, but God may do a working on that person that we may never see the fruit.