A Benevolence Story

Rod O’Neil, in his book “Guide to Benevolence Giving for Church and Family” shares the following story: “One time, an individual came to my church with the sole purpose of looking for money, and I was called out of the service to see if we could and should help him. I asked him several common questions – ‘What is your name?’ ‘Where do you live?’ ‘Where do you go to church?’ ‘What are you asking for?’ ‘Do you have any family nearby?’ ‘May I call them?’ ‘Do you have any proof of identification and can I make a copy of it?’

The only topic he wanted to discuss was his need for money. He needed to buy medication to relieve his misery. I said the church cannot help him since we were unable to prove his situation valid as he was being elusive. He voiced that since we were a church we needed to help him, and it was our obligation to help the poor.

I tried to explain to him we operated differently than what he probably was use to. I stressed we needed to follow biblical principles to help those truly in need and help them in a very meaningful way.

He then added he was dying, so he needed money quickly. Since he told me he was dying that made my job very easy. I told him based on that information I needed to call 911 and have the EMS and police come and give him the help he needs. Well, as I went for the phone he went for the exit door.”

We have the responsibility to be on the lookout to do good to those less fortunate than ourselves, but simply distributing money to try to fix a bad situation could be the worst thing to do to achieve God’s desire for a needy person.

Recall that the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 came to his senses and humbly went home with the right attitude after he realized “nobody gave him anything.” If the Prodigal Son had the resources of a church or a gullible giver nearby he would not have gone home as soon as he did.

To bypass known biblical principles and indiscriminately distribute unearned funds with little, if any, investigation and accountability enables bad behavior, prolongs the needy’s miserable state, and does more harm than good to both the recipient and the giver.