Sponsored, In Part, By . . .

     I attended a wonderful ladies retreat this weekend and deeply enjoyed the intimate fellowship with other women from my church. I love reading books but find, when people open up, their stories are far more fascinating than anything I have found between the covers of a book. After all, life stories are written by God. But what I have been thinking about today, is something that the speaker shared briefly about helping the poor, like the ones you see standing next to the road with a cardboard sign. She said she often gives them a gift card to a fast food restaurant along with a tract. I have considered that. I take feeding people very seriously. If Kim Jong Un came to my door asking for food, I would probably feed him--especially if he had fatal food allergies or I had rat poison on hand.
    But Family Week at Rimrock reinforced that addicts can sell anything to fuel their addictions. In one example, a mother would visit her daughter, buy her bags of groceries so there would be something in the house to eat, and as soon as her mother left, the daughter would sell the groceries to buy drugs and alcohol. Even though I have no control over what someone does with a fast food gift card, giving them one would essentially be aiding and abetting their addiction--sponsoring their sin.
     But how about the poor that are not addicts? (Although, almost all are if you count smoking.) The problem I have with those is that, from the street corners where they are holding "Anything Helps" signs, in every direction you look there are businesses displaying "Help Wanted" signs. From outward appearances, many of those begging for a living are perfectly capable of working for a living. Most have all their limbs and the ability to stand for long periods of time, even in inclement weather. And although I often see mentally ill people on the streets, they are seldom the ones begging. Some of these are capable of performing jobs, but not getting or keeping them because they lack the social skills necessary for the workplace. Thankfully, there are community resources available in our county. And some mentally ill, as well as an increasing number of physically disabled people, are working the fast food jobs so many healthy young people are unwilling to. These job opportunities are one positive benefit of millennial malingering.
     One of our friends has a neighbor who was an electrician. When he became unemployed during the financial collapse of '08, he tried his hand at pan handling. It was so much easier and more lucrative than working, he took it up as a career. He even commuted to Missoula in his nice pickup, because the "free thinkers" there were more generous toward "free drinkers". So, even if giving to beggars is not sponsoring their sin of addiction, it is sponsoring their sin of laziness. Working to support yourself is not just God's command to Christians, it is His expectation for all people. I will have enough of my own laziness to answer to God for, without adding strangers to the list. And I certainly don't want the back of those, "Anything Helps" signs to read, "Sponsored, in part, by Connie Lamb".