I had an interesting conversation the other day with a neighbor. He came over and said something along the lines of:
“I had to come over to your yard 3 times last night to chase off homeless people, just wanted to let you know…so be sure and close your gates and stuff so they can’t get in. We have been working hard to keep the homeless people away, just wanted to let you know.”
I have been thinking about this some. So, here is my question. What happens when “love your neighbor” conflicts with “help the poor”?
I don’t think that this particular situation is so mutually exclusive, but what if there was a situation where you had to choose?
I wonder if one way to reduce the exclusivity here would be to talk to your neighbor about his attitudes and actions toward the homeless…There’s an awkward chat in the making. But I know you guys are in line w/that bit–of awareness for the poor and homeless. Evangelize that in a direct way? I haven’t gotten to that place, yet.
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Tony, for sure. If it comes up again I am resolved to try and talk about it. We will see how that goes (im not much for awkward conversations like that). Apparently there have been some legitimate issues (i guess somebody has been taking stuff from the back porches of some of the apartments around us). So, i don’t want to minimize his concerns. At the same time I don’t have much interest in being part of the neighborhood posse that calls the police every time a homeless guy shows up.
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Ben- this conversation would be tight with your own personal development. See what happens!!
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