I get them often. Requests of some form or another for help…usually, financial help. Some of them are sincere requests from reputable sources. Others? Well, I’m not so sure.
- Help! I’m an African prince that has been cut off from my inheritance. I’ll give you half of my $5,000,000,000,000,000 estate if you’d loan me $500. Just send your credit card information to this email address: imascam@gotcha.com (To be clear: PLEASE DO NOT SEND CREDIT CARD INFORMATION TO THAT ADDRESS!!!)
- Help! We have an over-abundance of puppies! Please adopt one! We’ll even give it to you for free when you qualify! (Note: qualification procedures, adoption fees, shots & vet bills may reach in excess of $5000. Puppies are free. Paperwork and shots will cost you.)
- Help! A movement of God is needed in our country. For four easy payments of $19.95 plus $14.95 shipping and handling you can receive a mini-flag replica that has been anointed by special, purified water. This prayed-over flag replica will do wonders in bringing a work of God over our land. Your help is needed!
We hear them a lot, don’t we? Cries for help. People who are seeking money from us, wanting for us to give financially. Unfortunately, as most of us know, many of these pleas are no more than a scam…someone who is trying to rip us off for a profit with no intentions of using our hard-earned cash for anything worth while.
Whether we hear the pleas through our emails, or through the Postal Service, or on the television set, or in person, the affects can be the same…raise up the defenses! Get the “no” ready. Change the channel, throw the junk away, delete the unwanted email. “There’s no way that they’re going to take advantage of me! They aren’t getting my cash! No way! No how! Help? How’s about help yourself!”
I don’t know if you’ve ever felt this way, but I certainly have many times. It seems like I’m inundated with vast amounts of nefarious requests for help, and they cause me to be defensive about them. This happens so much that sometimes my knee-jerk response to pleas for help in general is “no” without even listening or considering what is being asked of me.
This condition of the “knee-jerk no” is only increased and compounded by the vast amount of legitimate requests for help. Someone might point to a legitimate need, a community that is struggling to find water in Africa, a church camping program that is low on funds, the local YMCA that is not meeting it’s budget and shutting down parts of its operations due to COVID restrictions, churches that are underfunded, people that are hungry, hospital bills that cannot be paid, cancer research that needs done, a university’s scholarship program that is running low, at-risk teens needing an outlet after school, young kids wanting to earn enough to go on a retreat, on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
So many requests for help. Some legitimate, some illegitimate, some uncertain. (How do I know if the guy holding the sign as I exit the shopping plaza is in need or if he is trying to score for his next high?) So, so, so many all of the time, that I’ve conditioned myself to be ready to say no.
Nope. Can’t do that right now. Don’t have the funds. Don’t have the time. Don’t have the passion (sure, I feel bad for the whales that beached themselves, but if I’m honest, I don’t feel bad enough to hop on a plane, head to the beach, and push them back into the ocean). No. No thank you. I’d really like to, but…
I have the “no” on stand-by, ever ready to dish it out to most cries for “help” that come my way.
It’s not that I’m a bad guy (OK…I’m not speaking theologically here…just the common phrasing of being a bad guy.). It’s not that I don’t care, I actually do care about many of these things. It’s not that I have absolutely no abilities or resources. God has blessed me with more than I need.
So, what’s the problem? Jadedness? Callousness? Laziness? Unwilling to be made a fool by someone who took advantage of me?
Probably all of these and more, but like my father-in-law says… “Excuses are like arm pits. We all have them, and they all stink!”
Sometimes, I’m just ready to say no, and I don’t really have any good reason to say no. It’s just “no.” That’s it.
Recently, I noticed myself giving one of these, “knee-jerk no” responses. An organization that we support, Orphan Voice, reached out about doing a special, “Enduring Voices” campaign against sex trafficking in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Once a year a gentleman, who happens to be in ridiculous running shape, runs 114 miles (this year he is doing that non-stop) to raise awareness and funds to fight against an inherently evil, completely repulsive practice of luring and capturing young women and men and selling them as sex slaves. Orphan Voice asked, “Will you be a part of helping?”
My immediate response, “Nope.” After all, we already support them. We even went and worked alongside them in Vietnam for a few months. We can’t run 114 miles. This guy is doing a great job of raising funds already. How could we possibly help?
I almost followed the knee-jerk no with the next step, throwing the letter in the trash, but for some reason I decided to show it to Christa.
Her response? “Absolutely. Let’s help!” She immediately went about planning her own, half-marathon walk, partnered with a couple of other ladies to join her, and proceeded to fundraise. To this date, the walk is scheduled, some of you have donated (thank you very much!), and we are working towards giving a nice donation to Orphan Voice that will help this cause.
Fortunately, her immediate willingness to help was all that I needed. I was on board the second she brought it up and have been working alongside her to offer more help to this cause, but I admit, I did need that prompting. I needed her “yes” to get me out of my immediate “no.” I needed her willingness to help to bump me into a willingness of my own, and I am very grateful that she did. I’m grateful for her response, for her initiative, for her “yes”, and for the ways that we are able to give more as she extended the offer to others to partner with her in this endeavor. I’m grateful that my knee-jerk no was overturned by her caring yes.
It does make me wonder…according to the Lord, is my “knee-jerk no” a good response?
A plethora of Scriptures flood to mind, but I want to mention a couple.
Jonah…and the whale.
Let’s summarize. God tells Jonah, “Go to Nineveh. Tell the people that I am going to destroy them. Help.”
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. (Jonah 1:3)
Jonah had an immediate response of “no” to God asking for help. The remainder of the story sees a big storm, Jonah being pitched off of a boat, being swallowed by a big fish, headed to Nineveh anyway, and the people receiving the help that God desired. “No” to the request for help in this situation was not the right response.
The Good Samaritan
Let’s summarize. An Israelite was beaten up and robbed by some bad dudes who left him for dead. Two people who should have helped (A priest & a Levite) walked by and left him there on the road. The Samaritan? The one who was supposed to be against Israel, the one who was considered wicked just because of his nationality?
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
~Matthew 10:34-35
As I think about it, and pray about it, I wonder if more of us are prone to giving a “knee-jerk no”. I’m wondering if for those of us who are prone to this type of response if we should instead be more open to “yes.” Perhaps, we should even pray about erring towards a “knee-jerk yes.”
“Can you help?” “Sure. Let me see how I can best assist you.” “Can you help?” “Absolutely. Let’s get at it.”
Maybe the word that should be on the tip of my tongue, and those who struggle with a constant “no” should be “yes”. It’s a possibility.
But what about being duped? What about being tricked? What about the fact that you can’t help everyone?
Well, I thought about that too. After all, Jesus says this to his disciples:
“Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)
God does want us to exercise wisdom. The Lord does not wish for us to give our life savings to that “African Prince.” Additionally, we are people with limited time and resources. Saying “yes” to every opportunity that presents itself might result in burn-out, overworking, and in saying “no” to something of even greater importance (think about the person that says “yes” to every cry for help at work but never has any time for family, friends or church).
Here’s where I am landing for today.
As I read through Scriptures, I see a God who helps. I see a God who helps the lost, the broken, the hurt, the oppressed, the widow, the orphan, the downtrodden, the disadvantaged, the sinner, etc., etc., etc.
As I read through Scriptures, I see people who follow after God and help as God helps. The Good Samaritan, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Silas, etc., etc., etc.
As I read through Scriptures, I see occasions where Jesus and his followers help people in ways that aren’t asked. A beggar asks for money, he receives the ability to walk. (Acts 3). People ask for bread, they receive the Bread of Life (John 6:35).
Overall, I see a God who helps and who calls His people to do the same. This should be our knee-jerk reaction. “How can I help? How can I display the love of Christ in this situation?”
Sometimes, “help” doesn’t mean doing exactly what is being asked. Helping the African Prince does not take place by giving money or even by responding to the email, but what if we took a couple of seconds as we threw away the junk to say, “Lord reach the person who is doing this. Work in their life. Change their heart. Help them find treasure in you.” Wouldn’t that be helping?
Friends, we are called to help. Not just an automatic “no” or “yes” to every ask, but a call to help. My hope is that we are sensitive to the Spirit of God, and that we would be used to help others, to love others as God has loved us.
~ Pastor Chris
