Chasten from Savannah, Georgia asks, "Pastor John, should we as Christians give to people begging on the street?" Well that question is not foreign to me. I have wrestled with it for 33 years because that's how long I've lived in this neighborhood. When I lived out in New Brighton, I virtually never faced that.

For the last 33 years, I have faced it almost every day, just to give the listener a taste of where I live. Today, today, I was driving over, no, I was walking over and a man with his little cardboard sheet saying he needs work or needs money was standing at the corner of the exit ramp of, onto 11th Avenue and the street where I live.

So I deal with that person, those people, most often right there, walking by them rather than driving by them. So yeah, it's real and here's my, here's the answer and it's where I am right now, it's what I think is biblical. My answer, should you give to those who ask, say knocking at your door or asking on the street, and my answer is usually yes.

Usually the default should be yes, and here's my reason. Selfishness is so dominant in my heart, I am reflexively hard toward this person. He makes me mad. I want to say get a job. I'm not even interested in his story, I'm not interested in his condition. My reflex is anger, my reflex is get a life, and I think that's a sinful reflex.

I do not think that's godly for me to respond that way, I think that's the old nature creeping up in me, and I think that's the reason Jesus said the radical things he did to me in Matthew 5. You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," but I say to you, don't resist the one who's evil.

If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to the other. You can imagine how hard that is. I hate to be slapped on the cheek, and Jesus says turn the other cheek, because he knows that would be a miracle, that would be a miracle in me if I turned the other cheek and had some sense of compassion for this person.

And then he adds, "If anyone would sue you, take your tunic, let him have your cloak," so we know we're being ripped off. A lot of people say, "Yeah, but he's ripping me off." Well of course you're being ripped off, you know it. In this text you know it.

If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him too. Give to the one who begs from you, do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Now I've got to have some really good reasons to go against that text, so my first answer is default response, generosity.

Be ripped off. Risk being ripped off rather than being shrewd enough to say, "I didn't get ripped off." I have never slept well reminding myself how shrewd I was not being ripped off. I have often slept well thinking, "Okay, I probably got taken advantage of, but my heart was good today.

My heart was right today." Now having said that, I know a lot of veteran urban people are getting on my case right now, having said that, I want to say I don't think that's an absolute. I don't think giving to the one who asks is the only way Jesus means for us to love people.

So here are a few other principles. Love does no harm. Romans 13, 10. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, doesn't harm a neighbor, therefore love fulfills the law. So you do have to ask, "Am I harming him?" Love aims to do good. You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

That means pray for their good, doesn't pray for their harm, and so you want this person's good, and you don't want to just feed their bad habits, and that's the argument that's usually used for why you shouldn't give to them. And then love has real compassion. The parable of the good Samaritan, it closes with what?

Who proved to be neighbor to this man? And the answer is the one who showed compassion, and Jesus said, "Go do that. Go be compassionate." There are ways to measure your love rather than just giving. Whatever you would that others would do to you, do so to them, and would you want others to just feed your bad habits?

So here's what happens. I have a person who's there, and if I don't have time to do anything else, I think I should just give. If I have time to do more, I want to have a conversation. I want to say, "You know, I have found in this neighborhood that just giving money really doesn't help people.

People are not helped. I want to help you. What do you really need?" "Oh, I need a bus trip to get over to St. Paul to see my mom." I said, "Well, look, I'll take you." "No, I don't want you to take me." That's a huge commitment to say, "I'll take you.

Get in the car." I mean, I have gotten in the car at 10 o'clock at night and driven people over to North Minneapolis, and I know that they tell me to let them out, and it's nowhere. It's just nowhere, and I know I've been taken advantage of because they were trying in the car to get what they wanted all the way along, but when I get home, I sleep well.

Instead of saying, "You idiot! It's 10 o'clock at night. Why are you knocking on my door? Get out of here. Come back in the morning." I go back up, and I think, "Well, what was that?" That wasn't--that was pure flesh. That was pure flesh to respond like that. So, I suppose the short answer is default, give, then do more, and in some cases say, "No money, but I'll take and get you the food you need.

I'll get you the diapers you need. I'll get you where you need to go, but I don't think it's wise for me to give you money." It always humbles and convicts me to hear of the ways that you care for the homeless in your neighborhood. Pastor John, thank you, and thank you for listening to this podcast.

Please email your questions to us at AskPastorJohn@DesiringGod.org. At DesiringGod.org, you'll find thousands of other free resources from John Piper. I'm your host, Tony Ranke. Thanks for listening. (SILENCE)