Helping Without Hurting: The Bible and the PoorSample

Looking Intently

And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us.” (Acts 3:4)

Needs. Not one of us is far from someone who is poor. Perhaps you stopped at a traffic light only to see a man with a hand-printed cardboard sign: "Need Help." Though you had reservations, you cracked the window and thrust a few dollars in his welcoming hand. The light changes. You drive on. The questions linger. Or maybe it is an email from Grace, an African woman you met on a short-term mission trip. She needs medical attention. Can you wire funds? The next morning, with a few clicks on a Money-gram web page, you send $50, a small amount for you, but a fortune for Grace. You go to work with your conscience eased.

See. On entering the temple, Peter and John passed by a lame man placed at the entrance by his friends to beg for money. Many people averted their gaze, passing by. Others guiltily gave a few coins as commended by Jewish law. But Peter and John did something different. Peter "directed his gaze at him," or, as another translation says, "looked intently at him." The sense of the language suggests that the apostles, by looking intently, understood the man's deeper need for healing and recognized his dignity as a person. When Peter commanded him to "rise up and walk," the man jumped up to a new life of both spiritual and physical wholeness.

Go Deep. When you are confronted by the spoken or apparent need of someone who is poor, stop and look. Seek to understand the person’s context and story, recognizing not just the apparent needs, but also the person’s potential and dignity as someone who bears the image of God. Pray. Consider how you—or local churches and ministries—might be able to develop a long-term relationship with this person, pointing him or her to Christ’s reconciling work and creating a context where lasting change can happen.

Father, when I encounter people who are poor, give me patience and understanding as to how I can affirm their dignity and support real change in their lives. Forgive me when I have either ignored the needs around me or acted merely to ease my conscience. Give me wisdom to discern the most helpful response.