Teach a Man to Fish...

Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. teach a man to fish and you can absolve your self of any sense of guilt for completely over fishing the ocean and having a huge stock pile of fish you're unwilling to share

This is what cheekily came to mind after reading some comments in my previous The Sheep and the Goats and the Lamas post. I guess I have had problems when I have heard people us the “teach a man to fish” expression as a way of absolving themselves from ever giving any fish. I don’t think the commenters in the The Sheep and the Goats and the Lamas post were implying this.

Of course there is great value in teaching someone to fish or helping someone to help themselves, especially when the alternative is giving someone one off help and there is nothing worse than trying to do for someone what they want and need to do for themselves.

However I still have a niggling suspicion that Jesus would challenge me to more than I am with the homeless people I meet. For example…

Matt 5:40 says

and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well;

not

if someone asks for coat give them sewing lessons.

Luke 6:30 says

Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.

Not

Give to everyone who begs when you are sure that they are morally responsible enough to only spend that money on things that you consider essential to their survival.

Luke 12:33 says

Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

Not

Sell your possessions that you no longer use, give alms, and be prepared to sell everything else if you hear a direct voice from God telling you to do so.

When I think about the homeless people that I have met I think there are two ways of looking at them. One is as a client, the other is as a friend or brother.

The best thing I can do for a client or customer (someone who I can only give a limited amount of time & energy too with in strict boundaries) is going to be very different to how I would treat a brother or a friend.

Could you really imagine fishing alongside your brother or friend and at the end of the night when the fish have stopped biting noticing that while your bucket is full to overflowing his is not only empty but he looks weak from hunger that you could love the person without giving them some of your fish and just by giving them some extra fishing tips?

Walk into any church and I bet that there are a few spare rooms amongst the houses owned by members. There may even be some empty houses there are a million of these in Australia at the moment and they aren’t all holiday homes. Some are just investments that are easier to maintain without tenants. It's not that these people are evil and greedy they like me have grown up in a society where this is considered normal. I genuinely feel that we need to start thinking about a big paradime shift around issues like these.