Street Bums Part III: Closing thoughts

In our Capitalist society, the most basic, fundemental way to generate wealth is to sell goods or services. It seems natural to me, then that the first instinctive response to poverty should be to sell whatever goods you don't really need while waiting for an employement oportunity. It's honest, clean, and sensible. Unfortunately, one of the easiest dishonest means of generating wealth is the sale of stolen goods. If you meet a man on the street who is trying to sell you something, how can you tell which situation you're dealing with? I would love to help, commend, and encourage anyone who is looking for a more honest means of income than begging, but do not want to support a theif in his theivery.

Or how about this scenario? I've been approached by someone asking for spare change to help fill out his wife's perscription for medicine that she badly needed (it was a long time ago and I can't remember what details he gave me). While I figure there's a 97% he's lying and is looking to support some additiction (not an actual statistic, just a guess), how do I know that my money couldn't save a life? How do a ballance the likelyhood of feeding his unhealthy addiction and supporting a life-distroying industry with the vague possibility of offering a life-saving blessing to someone in need?

I believe in trying to give people the benefit of the doubt so long as I am able to supply for their need precicely (giving them food, helping them across the street, or directing them to an outreach ministry) but at the same time I try to be very cautious about simply forking over cash that can end up hurting more than helping.

I haven't been able to cover everything that I wanted to in this short little saga, but I hope that I've given you some food for thought. The next time you see someone by the side of the street, remember that they, like you, are a human being created in the image of God, with worries, joys, failures, and triumphs - not merely "another street bum."

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "
-Matthew 25:40

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
-James 1:27