What About The Hungry? Part 2.

January 16th:
Jesus said…
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

So, what do we do about Phil? (Not his real name.) What do we do with the people I call “professional users?” Phil has been in and out of the court system for 20 years. He is a registered sex offender (convicted twice of misdemeanor sexual assault.) He’s not a rapist. He’s not a child molester. He’s been arrested for domestic abuse; he’s been sued for not paying his rent. Phil has spent most of the last 20 years hitting up anyone he can for a free meal or a few nights in a flophouse motel. It’s not his fault. He explains that to anyone who will listen.

What do we do with Phil? He is not easy to deal with. To say that his social skills need work would be an understatement. Phil has learned to use guilt like a tool. Truth has little meaning for him. He believes that God should fix his problems. What do we do with Phil?

Part of me thinks that Phil needs consequences. If he has to spend a night out in the cold maybe he will put some of his energy into changing his life. It should make a difference. Except Phil is a hard case. He has been dealing with consequences for the last 20 years. What consequences have taught Phil is that he has to work even harder trying to “button hole” someone new.

Part of me thinks that Phil needs compassion. If he just understood that someone really cared about him then maybe he would respond to that love and turn away from his empty life. But, Phil has learned to see compassion as a weakness that can be exploited. For Phil compassionate people are a resource.

All of me thinks that Phil needs Jesus. Jesus is the one who can transform even Phil’s broken and diseased heart. Jesus can change the way Phil sees his life and point him away from his slavery. Jesus can do this kind of work in Phil’s life, but Phil has learned to not listen to this message of hope. He’s been too busy surviving.

Having said all of this the question remains, “What do we do with Phil?” Does his dysfunctional past and our continual ineffectiveness mean that we don’t have to care about him anymore? Does the fact that he makes caring hard mean that we stop trying? I don’t think so. I don’t think that we’ve been given that option. Our resources are often limited, but our calling is clear.

We are called to love. How people respond to that love is not for us to decide. We can’t let the Philips in the world determine how we live out our relationship with the living Jesus. We can’t let those who will not hear keep us from speaking. We cannot let those who will not be changed keep us from offering the opportunity.

When it comes to Phil I have to admit that I don’t have answers. I cannot change him, but I can still determine to be faithful; to love and give and take on the hard cases. Sometimes being faithful is all we can do.