I realize that I write about beggars a lot. It hopefully says something about how I feel about them; unfortunately, I wish my actions far more often reflected what was in my heart. And perhaps they do because, well, a lot of times I’m good at being like the Church and doing nothing about what the Lord is whispering in my ear. And I’m not saying that the Church doesn’t have heart… okay… maybe in some way I am.
I also recognize that I am not the standard for the Church and I can humbly praise God for that; however, I will speak of the awareness He has put on my heart.
It’s that we haven’t changed much from the people going in and out of the temple courts in Acts.
I find it interesting that they placed this crippled man at the gate of the Temple so he could beg from people going in and out, so he could take his chances at getting something from ‘believers’. And don’t worry, I’m fully aware that a lot went on inside the temple courts for more business than worship (not that worship is business that we take care of), but I still find it intriguing that most believers just passed him by.
It’s the same today. I’m guilty of it even. We, as the Church, walk right on by the lost and the lonely – the ones begging for something better in life. It doesn’t merely anger me; it saddens me. What is even more pathetic in my opinion is that even here in the third-world, nothing is done about it. I see missionaries walk right on by the ‘least of these’.
I just don’t get it.
And it’s no surprise that people in need have stopped running to the Church. The Church has proven to be a place of hopelessness by the neglagence of the hands and feet of Christ’s body: us.
So what are we to do? I think we’re to take after Peter and John’s example. We stop walking by the people that for what seems like generations, the feet of Jesus have treaded past. Instead, we stand in front of them, get to their level, reach out, and speak hope… speak LIFE… into what appears to be a miserable existence.
“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
In my entire life, I’ve never heard words used like that outside of the reading of Scripture. And maybe people aren’t always asking for money – for silver or gold. And perhaps they’re not always crippled physically – maybe it’s something spiritual. Point is: by the authority that Christ has given us, we can speak life into each other. We can bring dancing feet to the crippled places of others’ lives merely by whispering the name of Jesus.
So why do we sit on our hands as a Church? Why do we let the feet of Christ walk by? What’s it going to take for us to change?
