It’s getting very cold. As we approach Christmas, I wonder how many churches will think of the need to provide space for homeless families and homeless individuals? I wonder how many have ever used their never-ending ‘Building Fund’ to ‘build’ a homeless facility? How many well-funded “Poor People’s Campaigns” led by wealthy and/or nationally influential preachers have built a homeless facility?I imagine Jesus would be ashamed to know what His church does for the homeless today, especially considering Jesus himself was born homeless as “there was no room in the inn.” And with the aforementioned in mind, it was Jesus who said, “For as much as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it also unto me.”
Today’s church only builds bigger churches and provides extravagant salaries for their cult-leader, as the homeless will possibly be permitted to sleep outside on the church-ground. Many will be found under bridges or hoping to be arrested to get a warm jail cell. Then inside countless churches, upon their plush pews, surrounded by beautifully stained windows, beneath the high ceilings from which the chandeliers hang in the midst of multi-million dollar sanctuaries, they will sing “Oh How I Love Jesus.”
– Curtis E. Gatewood