Living Water of Washington DC. A Christian Outreach Ministry.

Greetings from Escondido, California!

Now that Suzy, Abbey and I have settled into our new home in Escondido as I prepare to begin my studies at Westminster Seminary California, I was compelled to share some reflections with you regarding the homeless outreaches , now that I’m not involved on a regular basis.

Above all, one thing is abundantly clear: I miss the homeless outreaches. After thinking and praying through the various reasons for this, there is one reason that comes to the forefront, namely, the homeless in Washington, DC are more receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ than most others whose paths I crossed over the past six or so years in Washington, and receptivity to the Gospel causes my soul to rejoice.

Since I first believed the good news of the Christian Gospel that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered the wrath of God that I deserved so that I might be set free from the otherwise immovable burden of guilt before my Maker, I have treasured it and considered it priceless. Even so, as Christians know, this priceless treasure is trampled underfoot and blasphemed every day by those who refuse to admit their sin and guilt, trusting in themselves, and this hurts us on a daily basis. As the Scripture says, “we groan inwardly” in this life (Romans 8:23). A major reason Christians groan inwardly in this life is because the Lord Jesus Christ is spat upon still. Yet, in the homeless community, there has always seemed to be more who readily admit their sin and guilt and readily listen to good news of salvation through faith in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not that they are any less sinful than those who have homes, but that they are in a better position to see their spiritual poverty and helplessness because of their physical poverty. A vivid picture of the spiritual poverty of all people before salvation is found in the book of Ezekiel:

“On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ ” (Ezekiel 16:4-6)

The homeless are in a better position to understand that spiritually, outside of Jesus Christ, they are kicking about in their blood, despised and rejected, since they don’t have riches and possessions to encourage them in smug self-sufficiency. In fact, over the years, we have met homeless who have literally woken up bloody from being beaten by random thugs or just from drinking themselves into physical harm. The homeless are in a better position to understand that there is something wrong with people in general and themselves in particular. They are in a better position to understand their helplessness to save themselves because they are not fooled into thinking their money can buy them true life and protect them from trouble, even death. “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city” (Proverbs 10:15). Not having riches, the homeless are less likely to be tempted that money will deliver them on the Day of Judgment. “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath” (Proverbs 11:4 ).

I think these principles were behind Christ’s teaching that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23-24). Of course, we see the same principle in Christ’s parable of the sower in which Christ warns of the possibility that the word of God might initially be received by someone but then “the deceitfulness of riches choke the word” (Matthew 13:22).

This is the same principle taught in the Proverbs in which the prophet Agur prayed to God, “Give me neither poverty nor riches—feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, “Who is the Lord?” (30:8-9). This wise man knew that riches beyond what he needed for his daily bread and other necessities like clothing and shelter would only make walking the narrow pathway of eternal life more difficult. Agur knew the simple truth that having more riches than he needed to buy his necessities would put him at risk of trusting the riches rather than the Lord. While the homeless have many problems, they don’t have this problem. Many of the Christian homeless in Washington would give me the same refrain every time I greeted them and asked them how they were doing. They would tell me they thank the Lord they woke up without having been murdered, beaten or mugged during the night. In a way, the homeless seem to be more aware of their mortality and need for daily necessities and such awareness enables them to trust someone or something outside of themselves . Even in the face of want and destitution, faith in the one and only living God is strengthened among the Christian homeless.

There can be no doubt that the love of and service to money is singled out in the Scriptures as a leading cause of apostasy and damnation. Other major culprits are pride and sexual perversion, yet not even pride and sexual perversion attain the spotlight that the love of money receives in 1 Timothy, in which the word of God warns that:

“Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Tim 6:9-10)

This passage highlights the direct link between the desire to be rich and damnation. I don’t deny that there are homeless who desire to be rich and suffer the consequences. I am just suggesting that those who have to beg for their next meal, for clothes for their backs, and for a roof to sleep under, are less prone to set their hearts on riches—they need bread first! The warning in the Psalms against setting our hearts on riches is not given to those without riches; it’s given to those with riches: “If riches increase, do not set your heart on them” (Psalm 62:10).

In fact, it is impossible to serve mammon and God at same time. In other words, it’s impossible to serve mammon and be saved. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Christ even went so far as advising His followers not even to worry about getting their necessities like food, clothing and shelter, and if they had more possessions than they needed to sell them and give the proceeds away.

“Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches or moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” (Luke 12:33-34)

Those without stores of treasure in this life are less prone to have their hearts set on treasures in this life, and more willing to think about treasures in heaven. A poor man—made in the image of God— who sleeps in an alley each night and begs for his next meal, savors a discussion of salvation and eternal glory with God whose loving-kindness reaches to the skies in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Being a lawyer, I spent over six years in legal and professional communities in Washington and my experience with receptivity to the Gospel (let alone any mention of “God”) there pales in comparison to my experience in the streets of Washington. In professional and corporate circles, I am reminded often of the parable of the wedding feast told by Christ and revealed to us in chapter 22 of the gospel of Matthew, in which servants of the King went out into the land to deliver invitations to the kingdom of heaven, “But they [the invitees] made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them” (5-6). It is not a difficult application of this parable to know that those who don’t have businesses and farms to run to are less likely to turn down invitations to the kingdom of heaven with such excuses. At best, the people in the professional circles in which I have worked typically make light of the Lord Jesus Christ. At worst, they react with vehement hatred and blasphemous disrespect. They would rather talk about how to grow their stock portfolio and businesses and certainly don’t want to hear about their true poverty and need for redemption (see also Luke 14:15-24). To be sure, there are false teachers and heretics among the homeless, but even these are not nearly as bold in their expression of contempt for pure Christianity as are so many in more prosperous circles.

Many a week would go by since I started engaging in the homeless ministry when I would be thirsting for fertile ground for the word of God, having passed through a godless and weary land. Into this background would burst dozens of the poor of the streets of Washington each Sunday who would gladly hear me talk at the top of my lungs about the priceless treasure that is found in the pathway from spiritual death to life through the Lord Jesus Christ. Ah! What joy these occasions brought to my soul on a weekly basis! I have a new-found appreciation for James 2:5 these days: “Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?”

As a practical matter, Christ taught that we are to be leery of sharing the priceless treasure of the gospel with those who are prone to trample it under their feet (Matthew 7:6). In my experience, the poor are more willing to listen to the priceless treasure of the gospel of Jesus Christ and less prone to turn and trample it. I miss the weekly opportunities to see this principle at work and be blessed by it.

Yet I know that money itself is not evil and many of the homeless need money to provide for their daily bread (i.e., their necessities). This is why we regularly help the homeless by giving them food and clothing, and why we pray that they are able to obtain employment by which they can earn money to provide for themselves and the necessities of their families and perhaps for the churches, which are all righteous reasons for earning money.

I also know that just as God would gladly have one poor, homeless sinner repent unto faith in Christ, He would gladly have one rich sinner repent unto faith in Christ, for He is no respecter of persons, rich or poor. Indeed, in the same segment of teaching in which Christ taught that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, Christ reminded His disciples, then and now, that “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). My heart’s desire is that the stumbling block of “mammon” be removed from many of my colleagues’ lives so that they might more fully appreciate the Gospel that makes men rich with eternal treasures in heaven where moths and rust don’t destroy.

When asked what I plan to do with my seminary degree, I respond simply that I want to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to any and all who desire to listen. I intend to heed Christ’s warning not to cast the precious pearls of the eternal word of God before those who would trample them under their feet and turn and trample me to pieces (as they have Moses and the Prophets ), and rather to seek and to save those who need a doctor, who know themselves to be unholy sinners before the face of a holy God, no matter the balance in their bank accounts. Somehow, knowing that we will always have the poor among us, and already seeing and hearing of the poverty here in Southern California, I might just end up preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the poor, who are rich in faith.

Ryan George

Originally published in The Living Water Letter, June 2006
by Living Water of Washington DC.

Last revised: June 6, 2006.

For more of Ryan's reflections on homeless outreach, see The Living Water Minute