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Commentary
When donating to needy, give healthy, hearty food Joseph Yoo, Jan 7, 2009
Joseph Yoo
By Joseph Yoo Special Contributor
My wife’s interfaith shelter recently received two donations of food, one from a church and one from a non-religious organization.
One donation was a bag of food per person. Each bag had a roast beef sandwich, a ham sandwich, two small cans of orange juice, a bag of cookies, a granola cereal bar, condiments, and a Ziploc bag with napkins, plastic gloves and utensils.
Another donation was a box full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. A couple of them were made from the ends of the bread loaves. Care to guess which one came from the church and which one came from the non-religious organization?
My wife said the people at the shelter saw the PB&Js being dropped off for their dinner. One homeless person told her: “Just because we’re homeless, they think they could give us anything, and we should be grateful for it.”
The shelter has a pantry full of food, a refrigerator and freezer full of food. With all that food, it just didn’t seem right to give the PB&J sandwiches for dinner.
I’m not saying all Christians do this, and I’m not saying your church or all churches are doing this, but there are too many of us who just miss the point. As if we think, “Well, they’re in a shelter, and they should be thankful for whatever kind of food they get.” That’s messed-up thinking.
Too many people donate to the homeless a box of stuff that they were going to throw away. While people in need should be grateful you thought of them, a shelter is not a place where you go to drop off your trash.
My wife had to turn away donations from Christians who brought in old socks and pants with holes in them, blankets that are ripped, toys with missing limbs, dolls with missing eyes, and so forth. Mind you, they’re not all from Christians. But many of the homeless people say they feel like an obligation that Christians try to meet half-heartedly.
When we go to heaven, God’s not going to ask us about our beliefs and our stance on issues. God’s not going to ask us whether we voted for or against Prop 8. God’s not going to ask us whether we were pro-life or pro-choice.
But God is going to ask us what we did in His name—how well we loved. God’s going to ask, “What did you do?”
And I would hate for anyone to hear:
“When I was hungry, instead of putting your heart into giving me a decent meal, you made me PB&J sandwiches.
“When I was naked, you gave me socks with holes and pants that you were going to throw away.”
All I’m saying is let’s truly care for and love these people with our actions, our words and our giving. We shouldn’t look at helping the poor as an obligation, but as a ministry that’s full of love, grace and mercy.
And the kind of love that will warm someone’s heart on any cold day.
They are people, too. And they are people with whom Jesus would spend more time than those in the church making those PB&J sandwiches.
Mr. Yoo is a commissioned elder in the California-Pacific Conference who blogs at pressingtoward.wordpress.com, where this column originally appeared.
Joseph Yoo
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My wife had to turn away donations from Christians who brought in old socks and pants with holes in them, blankets that are ripped, toys with missing limbs, dolls with missing eyes, and so forth. Mind you, they’re not all from Christians. But many of the homeless people say they feel like an obligation that Christians try to meet half-heartedly.
