What you call the cops on Jesus?

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1

1still_waters

Guest
#2
The statue depicts Jesus as a vagrant sleeping on a park bench. St. Alban's Episcopal Church installed the homeless Jesus statue on its property in the middle of an upscale neighborhood filled with well-kept townhomes.
Jesus is huddled under a blanket with his face and hands obscured; only the crucifixion wounds on his uncovered feet give him away.
Statue Of A Homeless Jesus Startles A Wealthy Community : NPR

Matthew 25
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them,‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[f] you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him
.

Proverbs 17:5
Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
 
P

psalm6819

Guest
#3
I think the artist/sculptor's purose was served, his art brought about awareness of the plight of the homeless, a reminder that we are responsible to the Lord,that we are His hands that should be outstreched to help not crammed in our pockets.
 

Drett

Senior Member
Feb 16, 2013
1,663
38
48
#4
Jesus led a simple life. His simple life and message attracted the poor. Through the old testament the message always attracted the poor first. Why is it now the message has become so complicated ?
 
Mar 1, 2012
1,353
7
0
#5
Charity is not the cure for poverty, a job is.

Marxist christianity is not generosity, its a perversion of that fruit, to give power in the hands of a few while looking to be helpful.

Your financial status has nothing to do with your spiritual status, rich or poor.

Jesus chose His position on earth, one of humility and service. Jesus was never poor, never in need and of very sound mind and its the marxist christianity myth that says poverty is more holy....its because marxism needs the poor to thrive.

That is the dirty secret here when marxist christians talk. I am not sure they even know it, but marxism has always existed, not for the downtrodden, but for those who write the rules to ''help'' the downtrodden. In fact, in EVERY instance marism has been tried two things happen...

it creates more poverty...

and fewer men in power.

A Holy Spirit indwellt person will exhibit the fruits of the Spirit and one of those is generosity. Generosity is not throwing someone else's money at people. Its called the result of loving someone. Truly helping them....

not making yourself look good by throwing a fiver at a homeless person.
 
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skipp

Senior Member
Mar 6, 2014
654
7
0
#6
Personally I'm going by the Bible here. I could care less about politics. The Bible says to give to the poor so I'll give to the poor. Christianity gets twisted and bogged down when we try to see the gospel through a political lens. I know nothing about Marxism or communism or whatever. I just know what Jesus says.
 

Drett

Senior Member
Feb 16, 2013
1,663
38
48
#8
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Of course money is needed for the person doing the teaching and for fishing rods etc. This is the most constructive of charity. Of course if you are in the middle of a war zone or drought there may not be any fish around you can get.

You will always have people with mental and physical disabilities that will need people to support them. You don't just concentrate on those that can help themselves and see those that can't with some sort of disgust.
 
Mar 21, 2011
1,515
16
0
#9
Charity is not the cure for poverty, a job is.

Marxist christianity is not generosity, its a perversion of that fruit, to give power in the hands of a few while looking to be helpful.

Your financial status has nothing to do with your spiritual status, rich or poor.

Jesus chose His position on earth, one of humility and service. Jesus was never poor, never in need and of very sound mind and its the marxist christianity myth that says poverty is more holy....its because marxism needs the poor to thrive.

That is the dirty secret here when marxist christians talk. I am not sure they even know it, but marxism has always existed, not for the downtrodden, but for those who write the rules to ''help'' the downtrodden. In fact, in EVERY instance marism has been tried two things happen...

it creates more poverty...

and fewer men in power.

A Holy Spirit indwellt person will exhibit the fruits of the Spirit and one of those is generosity. Generosity is not throwing someone else's money at people. Its called the result of loving someone. Truly helping them....

not making yourself look good by throwing a fiver at a homeless person.
This is a Christian website, not one for worshippers of Mammon.
 

crossnote

Senior Member
Nov 24, 2012
30,704
3,649
113
#10
Nice. Apparently brought out the 'best' in peoples attitude toward the homeless.
 
Mar 1, 2012
1,353
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0
#11
To illuminate the evils of marxist christianity, how is that a bad attitude toward homeless people?
 
Mar 1, 2012
1,353
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#12
There are three biblical recipients of charity.

Widows.

Orphans.

The infirm.

The rest need a job
 

crossnote

Senior Member
Nov 24, 2012
30,704
3,649
113
#15
What about working people who cannot make ends meet?
no problem...

And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
(Exo 1:14)

...twice as many bricks with half the straw (I saw it in a movie)
 
K

kayem77

Guest
#16
There are three biblical recipients of charity.

Widows.

Orphans.

The infirm.

The rest need a job
I've seen this trend of ''the poor just need a job'' becoming popular between some evangelicals, and honestly, I'm starting to worry people take it as to mean charity is not a Christian duty anymore. Yes, we are to encourage the idle brother as Paul told us. Yes, we are to work hard for our food and shelter. We are to set an example of hard work and honesty so that no one has anything bad to say about us. But we are to have compassion on strangers, on the immigrant, on our enemies, on our brothers and sisters, and of course, also on the widow on the orphan as most people already know. They are not mutually exclusive. Just because someone is going through a hard time, it doesn't mean that this person is lazy. I've seen the verse of ''if you don't work, don't eat'' taken out of context to neglect the command, yes, command, of helping those in need. That command was for the church, not for outsiders, and even then it's only in those cases where someone really doesn't want to work.

Deuteronomy 15:
If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.
8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill willtoward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart;then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

Proverbs 21:13
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out
and not be answered.

Job 31:
if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment,
20 and his heart did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep, 21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, 22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. 23 For I dreaded destruction from God,and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

We should be careful with what we support so boldly. I'm not for Marxism, but I believe Charity is a beautiful thing. Charity is not the same as enabling, unless you are indeed enabling someone who is really just being lazy.
 
O

oldernotwiser

Guest
#17
are you hiring ?
 
O

oldernotwiser

Guest
#18
I guess I'm not surprised by many of these posts but I am saddened. I have seen the poor from the Bowery of New York in the 70s as a salvation army officer to the dirt roads of northern maine when pastoring congregational churches. II have seen the poor from maine to hong kong doing the hardest, dirtiest, work and still not making enough to live as a "decent evangelical christian." When we talk of "the poor" in these rooms we are usually talking about the homeless. Yes they need jobs, but will you hire them? Most of the homeless in america are the walking wounded of our society. They are on the streets for a lot of reasons but mental health is one of the big ones. Another big one is the collapsing american society and eonomy. There are few jobs and even fewer for someone with mental health issues or a history of homelessness. People do come back from homelessness without help but they are either exceptional people or just plain lucky. I think that the bottom line in this whole discussion is that old Tee shirt cliche ........ WWJD
 
Mar 1, 2012
1,353
7
0
#19
I guess I'm not surprised by many of these posts but I am saddened. I have seen the poor from the Bowery of New York in the 70s as a salvation army officer to the dirt roads of northern maine when pastoring congregational churches. II have seen the poor from maine to hong kong doing the hardest, dirtiest, work and still not making enough to live as a "decent evangelical christian." When we talk of "the poor" in these rooms we are usually talking about the homeless. Yes they need jobs, but will you hire them? Most of the homeless in america are the walking wounded of our society. They are on the streets for a lot of reasons but mental health is one of the big ones. Another big one is the collapsing american society and eonomy. There are few jobs and even fewer for someone with mental health issues or a history of homelessness. People do come back from homelessness without help but they are either exceptional people or just plain lucky. I think that the bottom line in this whole discussion is that old Tee shirt cliche ........ WWJD
Mental illness I would consider an infirmity....

covered.