Thursday, February 19, 2009

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Chill, and let my Father do his job.

So this morning I read this headline:
Octuplets foreclosure threat
Angela Suleman is months behind on payments for the home she shares with her daughter.

And the first thing I thought was, "they don't deserve any special treatment just because they have lots of kids." Then I immediately thought, "hopefully someone will help them I mean with all the media coverage they are getting someone is bound to help them." Then I thought, "If someone helps them are they fueling the irresponsibility of this family?" Then finally after wrestling with a few more conflicting thoughts I came to this conclusion, Jesus would help them. Wouldn't he?

Yes, maybe this family has some issues and maybe it's "unfair" for them to receive special treatment. But really, what family doesn't have "issues" and when has life ever been "fair"? I don't know all the details surround this specific situation but I'm starting to understand that Jesus doesn't care about the situation we're in even if it is self induced. When did we, especially Christians start to deny people help for any reason. Jesus didn't say, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, but only to those that prove to be worthy and you will have treasure in heaven." (Mt 19:21)

Example: One man spends his whole life working hard, spending his money wisely and saving for the future. Another man works just enough to get by, squanders his money and saves nothing. Both men suddenly lose all the have and are sitting side by side, homeless on the side of the road. One day a rich entrepreneur comes along and sees both men sitting beside the road and has pity on them. He doesn't know their stories and doesn't care how they got there but he helps both men. He clothes them, gives them a place to stay, employees them, and asks for nothing except that they do the same for others.

I think this is how Jesus would want us to react as evident in scripture. (Mt 25: 34-40)

Of course there are people that will argue "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth." (Proverbs 10:4). But I don't think the following verse says, "...therefore don't help the poor because they brought it on themselves." Actually, the previous verse says, "The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked." (Prov 10:3) To my understanding that means, he'll take care of it. Simply put our job is to give to the poor, not judge them.

In the words of Salt 'N' Pepa:
"
So the moral of this story is: Who are you to judge?
There's only one true judge, and that's God
So chill, and let my Father do His job"

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey. Not to worry because I just read this article too http://www.tmz.com/2009/02/19/octomom-house-million-dollar/

rice! said...

i love that you quote salt'n'pepa. makes me happy.

Jillian aka mommy said...

Seriously? How can you defend giving more help to a women who has created this situation for herself and her helpless children. The women receives more welfare and disability (before she had the octuplets) then Nathan makes working 50-60 hours a week. She is a huge burden to the tax payer and now those hard earned dollars that she has to do nothing to get will help her buy a 1.2 million dollar house? Manicure's, pedicure's and shopping at the mall? What would Jesus do? Well He wouldn't have put 8 babies in this woman's belly at one time to begin with! Besides where do you draw the line with personnel responsibility and consequence to one's actions? The reason that we are in this mess as a country is because we have failed in this area. We can't "play" God and not expect a bad outcome, we aren't God (contrary to popular belief)!

Andrea said...

Good post Jess! I totally agree that we tend to put conditions on how we treat people in need. 'Oh they'll just waste my hard earned money...etc" I think the point is true, that it isn't up to us to decide who deserves help because NONE of us do! I have been rescued plenty of times in spite of my bad judgment that got me there in the first place and I thank God for His mercy!

Jillian aka mommy said...

I am not saying that we all don't need help at different times in our lives, I know this very well as dh has been out of work for 6 months. We have been blessed immensely by people during this time, not government! This women is not "poor" or in "need" by today's standards and should not be receiving tax payer's money to bail her out of her home mortgage (which by the way isn't even her home, it's her grandmother's). She is exploiting her children for money and that in my book is child abuse. There has to be checks and balances somewhere or else we have an out of control government, unfortunately we are seeing the effects of that right now in America.

Jessica said...

I didn't really write this post to comment on the Oct. mom specifically, it was merely an issue that brought up some personal thoughts for me to wrestle with. But as I evaluate the situation (to be honest I don't know all the details just that she has 14 kids) Just think how cool would it be if a local church came to help this woman. Give her financial, emotional and spiritual guidance... what an awesome display of Christ's love. Especially if she came to know Christ as a result of Christians responding appropriately, not just a physical need but most importantly a spiritual need. That's what I truly desire.

Jillian said...

That I agree with. Unfortunately she has some major metal issues that need to be dealt with and possibly cured if she can truly know God. The sad thing about this case is the children and the suffering that they will endure because of their mother's very poor judgment.

Jillian said...

meant to say mental issues

The Land of Luke & Ella said...

you know.... i am searching my heart and Gods heart on the whole topic of what it means to help the poor. i am having a hard time figuring out when you are enabling certain people and stunting their growth and when you are really helping. i just don't know. i don't see how Jesus went to ceasar and reasoned with him that the government needed to take care of the poor and hungry. i really see how this is his command to the church. unfortunatly we don't see this enough and i imagine if we did...poverty would not be the issue it is today. what is that verse...a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands and poverty will come on you like a theif in the night. we have a lot to learn about what prosperity really is. but yeah, we should take care of the poor, the widow, the orphan. i am just struggling to see who the poor really are. (of course this excludes the obvious) good thought provoking post though!

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