I first understood the word “dignity” in 2014. I was on the cusp of my freshman year of college and participating in the community service track of a leadership development camp. One of our scheduled service opportunities was working with an organization called A Wider Circle.
A Wider Circle mainly collects donated furniture and redistributes it to families in need. Service there is so fun. Working in the warehouse, you watch moving trucks crammed full of furniture pull up, unload them, and sort it. But if an item is broken or damaged beyond an easy repair, you get to smash it. Literally. I’ve never jumped on more tables, broken more armchairs, or slammed more cabinets than in my afternoon at AWC.
It sounds a little counterintuitive. Why, in building a community up and striving for restoration, would this organization commission volunteers and instruct them to destroy donations?
The reason is that when you walk into the Wider Circle showroom with your family, you’re not walking into a charity. You’re in a furniture store. You have an employee serving you, helping you find just what you’re looking for, and you get to walk around like you own the place. Because while you’ll never have to pay a single dollar to take that couch home, you’re the customer, and the customer is always right.
A Wider Circle will never scoff at a customer. And they will never put something in their showroom that doesn’t look respectable. An overwhelming portion of their donations are just not good enough for their clientele, and there is an incredible emphasis on preserving and cultivating the clients’ dignity. No one wants to be made to feel like a charity case. No one wants to be embarrassed by the fact that they couldn’t afford to go to the furniture outlet down the street. And no one deserves that.
It can be tempting to pat yourself on the back for donating your television set that doesn’t work, or that bedside table that doesn’t stand. The old adage, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” rolls off the tongue quite nicely, especially when you’re not the one receiving the gift. But God doesn’t tell us to look down on those we’re serving. In fact, He tells us to exalt them. The last shall be first. Matthew 20:16.
The word “dignity” came up often for me this month at Love Story. I saw it everywhere: in the ways we learned people’s names, in always serving those who came for a hot meal—never making them come up and beg, in adorning tables with centerpieces while knowing full well that the people eating at them would not be dressed to the nines. There is a list of policies and guidelines hanging in the Love Story common room. About three-quarters of the way down, the list reads, “always acknowledge beggars at stoplights or on street corners.” In other words, don’t act like you’re too good to shoot them a smile.
It reminded me of James 2:
“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?” James 2:1-7
Dignity is not reserved for the upper class. It has nothing to do with whether or not you have a mailing address, or the attire for a four-course meal. Dignity belongs to everyone, and goes great with everything, whether you’re serving samp and beans in Africa or smashing furniture in America. And it’s free, so why not scoop out another helping?
