We talked last night at our community group of some ways we can/should put the words of Jesus into real application and practice. CMS shared this idea today and thought it was a definite great idea for local churches.
It reminds me of a great point Shane Claiborne made in “Jesus for President.” He said that while many Christians will get up in arms against things like abortion, they’re rarely willing to actually put real action into their fight. He said that Mother Theresa (whom Claiborne spent several months with) was strongly against abortion, but rather than condemn a mother for considering it, or even possibly for the actions that conceived the child, she welcomed the mother and child into her home and cared for them specifically. She didn’t just tell an un-wed mother – abortion is sin – now go solve your problem. She said, “abortion is wrong but so is me putting you out on the street expecting you to deal with this issue alone. Let me help you in the midst of your crises.”
From CMS:
A while back, we covered a piece of satire discussing churches as a rotating homeless shelter. One of the most encouraging parts of the post (as the original link was a little discouraging) was the response in the comments. So many people have already been part of something like this or heard of something like this.
If you were to join with some other local churches, you could certainly share the burden of this and become a local network in support of local needs. If you could find ten or fifteen churches, you could give the homeless a roof every night in a month by just donating two or three nights yourself.
It puts minimal strain on church resources to be a homeless shelter for two days a month, yet it gets tons of people in your doors (in the shape of those experiencing homelessness and those looking to serve) who wouldn’t normally attend. From a marketing standpoint, folks will see that you care about people, and everyone wants to be a part of that. Not to mention Jesus was homeless, so you surely get some extra bling on your heavenly mansion for that.
Check out a story of one church that did this for some inspiration. And in the comments, we’d still love to hear stories of churches doing this or thinking of taking the plunge.
Our former Church in Temple is doing this (Housing homeless families ) along with 12-13 other churches.
Our former Church in Temple is doing this (Housing homeless families ) along with 12-13 other churches.