Assignment 2

Tough Love

Assignment 2 Week 2

Reading:  John 6:26, Matthew 10:16

The Wake Up and Smell the Coffee Ministry:

The hard truth is that struggling to survive, many of the poor are faced with physical, emotional and psychological stresses that are varied and overwhelming.  This is reflected not only in their attitudes and behavior but reaches into the depths of every area of their lives.  The characteristics of indigent persons include being desperate, sickly, unemployed, depressed, devoid of sanitation, no dental or medical care, weak, having a criminal history, undernourished, addicted, promiscuous, mentally challenged and/or handicapped, living in abject poverty and most of these persons were born into completely dysfunctional families.  Many do not have an address, a phone number or a vehicle, and as a result obtaining a normal job is almost impossible.  Hence they have no source of income which only gives most of them the option of crime or day labor jobs.  Most day labor jobs provide immediate cash but this is usually not enough to secure food and shelter for the day.  This keeps most indigent persons in their addictions because they have no means to rise above it.   Most of them have no concept of what even comes close to a normal life or lifestyle so one can not expect the normal responses as when dealing with and ministering to these people in a normal church setting.

As a result, these people become very hardened, bitter, angry and sell out to having no conscience when it comes to personal gain and survival.  They become ruthless and truly have an attitude caring for no one but themselves. 

We do not mean to stereo-type the poor as many others are just going through hard times but have had a normal family upbringing with a proper value system.  Many factors enter into the picture when it comes to the poor and indigent and each individual must be accepted as he/she is to bring them unto salvation. 

1.  Read John 6:26.  Jesus knew that many were using him and taking advantage of him as he says to them they were coming to him just for free food.  How would you defend Jesus’ actions to freely feed the poor?  Read Matthew 10:16.  What does this type of wisdom mean to you and explain how to utilize it when dealing with the poor realizing they may take advantage of you?

2.  Let's say you ran a homeless mission which held church services and then fed the poor afterward.  You had set certain guidelines regarding how the homeless should conduct themselves while on your property.  Then let's say they violated one of your rules by coming to one of your services drunk and high, brought alcohol into the mission church in a coffee mug and began disrupting the service during the preaching.  How would you handle this situation and continue with the service from a ministry leadership standpoint?  What method of discipline would you use for long term benefits?  Would you integrate volunteers into the picture?  Your decisions in these matters will set the precedent for future church services you conduct and will serve as an example to how the homeless will respect or disrespect your decisions and conduct themselves at future services.

3.  One of the clients in the Christian men's program was caught viewing a pornographic video and thinks he has done nothing wrong.  What measures would you take for disciplinary action for this client and biblically showing him that he is wrong?  If you discovered that this had been going on for a period of time and found out that another client knew this, what measures of disciplinary action would be taken for this client?

4.  A common-law poor couple has begun attending your mission church.  The man is a known alcoholic and drug user and the woman is a prostitute and he is physically abusing her.  Describe how you would biblically instruct this couple on how to resolve this issue. Or do you think it can be resolved?

5.  How would you go about convincing a handicapped person, who is black, has a terrible inferiority complex, is overweight and cries that your agency is prejudiced every time he does not like something, that he is just as worthy of receiving help from your agency as a person who is a homeowner in a middle class area of town, who drives a nice car and who has a full time job but who has fallen on hard times?

6.  Through your experience and growth as a Christian, define what spiritual maturity means to you in relation to loving the unlovely unto salvation and how you would go about communicating this?