Desiring God has the second of their 45 minute interviews with author and pastor Tim Keller. This one is stirring, talking about social justice and a Christian obligation to help the poor and reject a middle class mentality.
I listened to this tonight after having a difficult day for multiple reasons, one of which was my grief over the circumstances of a homeless, jobless man I know. I don’t want to pay for one night’s hotel room, because that doesn’t help him stand on his own, but what do you do when a man tells you he has no where to stay and he’s afraid he’ll freeze to death? I called around to ask for help and got a good answer from a friend in my church, but that wasn’t the answer my homeless buddy took.
I hope I don’t hear from him tomorrow, but if I do, I know what I will say. I respect him as a man made in God’s image, and I want to help him overcome his current struggles, but I can’t enable him to live in a twisted type of freedom. There’s another man he needs to go see who will develop him, a man he needs to give another chance.
I need to stop thinking about this. The Lord is far more capable than I have ever been to handle a life of hard knocks.
This is tough. It’s very hard to know what’s the right thing to do, and what feels right may be the worst thing. I think you’re on the right track.
Yes, it’s very hard, and I’m still feeling the weight of it. I give it to God and take it back again. It may be a very good thing that I will be out of town next week.