Posted by Mike O on: 05.22.2008 /
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42
One of the underlying principles of Off The Map is the idea that in todays world, nobody pays attention to anyone else. There are people out there that just need someone to notice them. They crave attention, and when you actually pay attention, it’s the same thing as giving a cup of cold water in Jesus’ day.
Yesterday I was in downtown Minneapolis on a job interview, and walking from my car to the interview I saw a man sitting on a bench dressed in fatigues and holding a sign that said something to this effect:
Homeless veteran needs money to get home. No drugs. No alcohol. Can you spare some change? God bless you.
I’m not from the city so I’m not accustomed to seeing that sort of thing. And besides, I had somewhere to be. I passed him, then stopped and checked my wallet - all I had was three $20’s which I needed. So I told him I couldn’t help and walked on.
Then I remembered I had a bunch of change back in my car. I was about 20 minutes early for the interview, and I was ready for it, so I went back (about one city block), got all the change from my car and gave it to him. I asked him where “home” was and he said “St. Louis.” Then I left.
After the interview, about an hour later, he was still there. So I sat down. I asked him again where “home” is, and he said “St. Louis” again (so maybe it’s actually true?). He seemed a bit paranoid that someone was actually talking to him. I asked him if he was in Iraq, and he was. I asked him how he got to Minneapolis, and he told me he was staying here with his aunt until she passed away about a month ago. I said I was sorry. I asked him how much he needed and how long it would take to get the bus ticket. He said he needed $55 and it would probably take him a couple of days to come up with that much.
I asked him what he was going to do once he got to St. Louis and he said he has a buddy there that he can stay with. I noticed that as we talked, he started to let his guard down just a little bit - his answers were getting longer and he was talking more freely.
I had to leave, so I told him I hoped people would be nice to him and that he would get to St. Louis OK, and that I would pray for him this morning, which I did. He said “Thanks,” and I left.
As I walked away, I remembered I forgot to ask one thing.
“What’s your name?”
“Carl”
I don’t know if it was like “a cup of cold water” to him or not - I hope it was. But I do know that it felt like “giving a cup of cold water” to me. It felt really good to pay attention to someone else for 5 minutes.
Leave a Reply
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
1 05/22/08 6:31 AM | Comment Link |Mike, thanks for sharing this. It was kind of you to go back for money then talk to Carl and pay attention to him.
I often read the OA stories (ordinary attempts - that’s what Off The Map calls these small attempts to pay attention to others) posted on our Doable Evangelism blog and it comes up again and again that people say what you said: paying attention to someone else made me feel good.
Not that that’s why they did it - but when it turns out that something is enjoyable, you’re much more likely to do it again.
Comment by: Mike O
2 05/22/08 6:57 AM | Comment Link |I was at the CEC conference last weekend, and one of the speakers was Randy Siever of Doable Evangelism fame.
Randy said that when you do things like this, it changes you. You start to look at people differently and you become less self-absorbed when you start trying to find people to pay attention to.
Comment by: Randy
3 05/22/08 7:25 AM | Comment Link |Way to go, Mike O! (insert HUGE round of applause here) Your story made ME feel good this morning! And for some inexplicable reason, Carl now matters to ME!
Comment by: Mike O
4 05/22/08 8:09 AM | Comment Link |It should make you feel good - you started it by what you taught us (me!) at the CEC!
BTW, you can use it as an OA story if you want.
Comment by: Elizabeth Chapin
5 05/22/08 8:24 AM | Comment Link |Very heartwarming story. I find it interesting that the sign read - no drugs, no alcohol - and that you were early for your appointment. Perhaps some people who begged wouldn’t be so tempted to resort to drugs and alcohol if they had more people treat them like a real person, asking them about their life story instead of people who avoid them or just throw money at them in hopes they will go away. Thanks for the reminder to give a cup of cold water in more ways than one.
Comment by: Randy
6 05/22/08 9:35 AM | Comment Link |Oh, I WANT, dude. Posting on the Doable Evangelism (OA stories) site right now…
Comment by: Doable Evangelism » Mike O’s OA
7 05/22/08 9:40 AM | Comment Link |[...] Olsen (of “Mike O” blogging fame) posted this story over on the eBay atheist blog this morning (he’s one of the guys who run that site). I got to meet Mike and the lovely Mrs. O at [...]
Comment by: Stephan
8 05/22/08 10:18 AM | Comment Link |I work in downtown Minneapolis and homeless people pose a big challenge to me. I know that we are told not to give them money, but sometimes that seems like the only thing to do. I occasionally stop and talk, but I wish there was more I could do. I give to several charities, but that seems too impersonal to really do much good. Does anyone have a better way to handle this?
Comment by: Mike O
9 05/22/08 10:55 AM | Comment Link |Sure … you could move to the country like me so you hardly ever see them. That way, when you do come across a homeless person and you do something nice for them, you can write a gooey story about it online so people pat you on the back :)
Comment by: Karen
10 05/22/08 3:55 PM | Comment Link |I worked downtown years ago and got into the habit of buying gift certificates at the nearby food stands and giving those out to the homeless people I encountered. Obviously, I couldn’t afford to do it every day, but once a week or once every other week at least I knew they had gotten to enjoy a good meal someplace other than the Midnight Mission.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
11 05/22/08 5:45 PM | Comment Link |this works for people with houses as well as those who lack houses
Comment by: Jason
12 05/23/08 2:56 AM | Comment Link |I must applaud you for your consideration of another human being who was in need of assistance. It’s something akin to the actions of the Good Samaritan of legend but without those uncomfortable racist overtones. ;)
I do find the Scripture of Matthew that you quote to be a bit odd though. Let me paraphrase it to modern terms.
Anything given to Christians will not prejudice you.
To my barbarian eyes this looks like a call to bribe and pay for indulgences rather than a call to charity. An alternative reading would be to only give charity when you do it in the name of religion. I’m afraid that I don’t agree with either. The sentiment to help others in need is a very human one and doesn’t need the added baggage of religion to make it worthy.
I can understand that local government would want to discourage begging in city centres or population centres. They naturally want to portray a positive appearance that beggars would detract from. Of course such an action necessitates that the beggar remain nameless and dehumanised so that the act of moving them on or ignoring them is sanitised.
The giving of money is of obvious material benefit to Carl. The sharing of time and conversation (even of the promise of prayer) of social benefit but asking his name makes him so much more human, so much more like “us” that it deserves special praise. It is such a simple thing but it turns “beggar” into “person”.
That’s my take on it anyway.
Comment by: Mike O
13 05/23/08 7:44 AM | Comment Link |You’re right, Jason. The verse I used is about people giving to the disciples, not the other way around. I didn’t realize I was misusing that verse.
Nevertheless, the concept of being charitable to the poor, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a good thing.
Not that everything Christians do has to be tied to the Bible, but it helps *me* to have something …
Thanks for making me think this through better! One thing I dislike is when people twist the scripture to make it say what they need it to say. I didn’t realize I had done that here, so thanks for speaking up.
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
14 05/23/08 9:31 AM | Comment Link |The verse in Mike’s post literally says “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of the least of these in the name of a disciple, he/she won’t lose his/her reward”
(Disciple means follower - in this context, a follower of Jesus)
Evidently the translators aren’t sure what “in the name of a disciple” means. Some opted for “If anyone gives because he’s my disciple” and others opt for “if anyone gives to one of my disciples”.
I guess they weren’t happy with going with the literal translation which says you need to give the cup of cold water in the name of Matthew, or James, or whichever disciple’s name you can remember :).
Edited to add: actually the New King James Version bravely goes with the literal translation.
Comment by: Randy
15 05/23/08 9:42 AM | Comment Link |I don’t think we need to get all wrapped up in the motivation for giving a cup of cold water. It is a really good thing to do, and also a rather similar act to those Jesus describes in Matt. 25 (which Mike quotes in his comment above), all done “for the least of these”. The people who did these small things for others apparently didn’t know they were doing these things for/to Jesus, but it still “counted” as if they did (and got them the ultimate grand prize).
The startling thing is that Jesus seems to count these small acts of compassion as quite HUGE.
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
16 05/23/08 12:22 PM | Comment Link |Randy, I like Matthew 25 for that reason (amongst others) - because people who did kind things and didn’t seem to know they were doing them for Jesus were rewarded anyway.
Comment by: Jason
17 05/23/08 1:45 PM | Comment Link |Mike, I think it fair to say that you know your Scripture better than a cynical old atheist like me. :)
Helping others really is it’s own reward. I was reading The Art of Happiness the other day and the Dalai Lama was saying just that. Helping someone makes the helper and the helpee appreciate life and improves the happiness of both. You feel good about yourself for sparing a little time and effort and Carl feels better for precisely the same reason. Everybody wins.
I didn’t mention it earlier but you said you got some change after realising that you could easily help with very little effort on your part. You didn’t mention thinking that this was a “What Would Jesus Do?” moment so I’m assuming that your act of charity was motivated by simply human compassion and it was only later that you made the connection to Scripture?
I don’t think that this diminishes your act at all, quite the reverse actually. Do you think that you:
a) just saw someone in need that you could help and decided to act?
or
b) thought it was your duty as a Christian to help someone in need whenever you are able?
Sorry for questioning your motives, I’m not trying to make it seem as if you were out to convert or gain something. I’m just interested in whether you, as a Christian, feel that your religious beliefs had a significant influence on your altruism.
Comment by: Mike O
18 05/24/08 8:00 AM | Comment Link |I don’t mind at all. To be perfectly honest, I probably woudln’t have done it if I hadn’t just been to a seminar on that very topic two days before. It reminded me to look harder for ways to notice others.
I do think Christians should help someone in need (”duty?” I don’t know) but I’ve been quite self-absorbed with my own situation lately - I like to think I would have helped even if I hadn’t just been reminded at that seminar. But I likely wouldn’t have helped Carl. I may have - I don’t know.
Like Stephan alluded to earlier, I don’t feel like I need to give to every needy person I see, but sometimes I just feel like I have to. If I were talking to a Christian, I would say I “felt led” to help Carl. To non-C’s, I’ll just say when I saw *this* needy person, I wanted to help.
So, I guess it’s A and B, but for the B part, it’s not a duty - just something I think Jesus wants people to do. Kind of like if you have more than one child, and one picks up the toys of the other. It’s not their “duty,” but it sure makes dad feel good to see it.
Comment by: Jason
19 05/25/08 1:42 PM | Comment Link |Maybe your act of charity will remind someone else in a day or month or a year to do the same. In that it really isn’t important why you did it, just that you did. Which sort of makes my question irrelevant as well.
Oh well.