Article July 5, 1999 Issue

More to give than just money

Offer a hand instead of a handout.

By Darrell D. Luce

A few years ago, I was approached by a man with his young daughter in the parking lot of the church I was attending. He told me that he was trying to get to California, which was about three hundred miles away, but that he had only a few dollars and his car was almost out of gas. I sympathized with him, but I felt that I needed to do more than merely give him some money. I wanted to help him have a better sense of himself as spiritual and loved by God.

I was thinking of the time in the Bible when Peter and John were going into the temple and were asked by a lame man for money. Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).

The man did get up, and walked with Peter and John into the temple, giving thanks to God. The disciples had been able to look beyond the concept of a lame man and instead see him as the perfect man God created. This is the kind of healing I wanted for the man who needed to get to California.

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