Jesus was a Panhandler... and homeless too!

Jesus was a Panhandler… and homeless too!

I wore a t-shirt to Manna House Tuesday that says, “Jesus was a Panhandler.” One of the guests who saw my shirt said, “And he was homeless, too.” Then he quoted the scripture in which Jesus said, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

I was wearing this t-shirt because as of July 1, 2015 a more aggressive policing policy is in effect regarding panhandling. Because of this law, panhandlers are now more likely to be arrested.

When I give talks at churches about Manna House I’m often asked whether or not to give money to panhandlers. My response, “Yes, if you want to. No, if you don’t want to. But whatever you do or don’t do, treat the person with respect. And remember, you’re giving a gift and gifts don’t have strings attached.” I had a guest at Manna House who was a regular panhandler tell me, “I’m not upset with people if they don’t give. That’s their call. Just don’t be mean.”

I suppose for Christians, panhandling presents something of a moral dilemma. Jesus said, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42), and he identified with people in need (Matthew 25:31-46). But then downtown merchants, political leaders, and even a few clergy say, “If you give to panhandlers you’re just enabling drug abuse or alcoholism or laziness.” The new law certainly presumes panhandlers are bad people who should be arrested. It is quite detailed in all of the ways panhandlers can violate the law.

I think most people’s discomfort around panhandlers is that panhandlers are visible and sometimes verbal reminders that our society is messed up. If I’m making a quick trip to the grocery store or drug store, I don’t want to be confronted by some poor person asking me for money. If I’m downtown enjoying myself, going out for dinner and drinks, I don’t want to feel like I am that well dressed and well fed rich guy in the Bible who went to hell because poor Lazarus didn’t even get the scraps from my table (Luke 16:19-31).

This is why Overton Square has no panhandling signs up, and why the downtown area is basically a “no panhandling zone.” Poverty is a real downer when you’re trying to party. Bums asking for money are a buzz kill.

I get that some panhandlers are more than just a reminder of poverty. Some are unpleasant people. And some might just be poor and not homeless. Some certainly tell tall tales when they make their “ask.” I get that panhandling is not a solution to homelessness. What I don’t get is the stupidity of people who say you can make a good living panhandling. If someone really believes this, they should try doing it for a living and see how that goes.

 I also don’t get that anti-panhandling laws are a solution to homelessness. It is important to keep in mind the origin of anti-panhandling laws. They go back to the “black codes” following the end of Reconstruction. All sorts of anti-vagrancy laws were passed to reassert white control over blacks. “Slavery by another name” was facilitated by the arresting of black men and sentencing them to hard labor. Today race still plays a role in the enforcement of these laws. Who is more likely to be deemed “threatening” to white people, a black man panhandling or a white man panhandling?

These anti-panhandling laws are a poor response to poverty and homelessness. In the absence of housing or even shelter, we pass laws stigmatizing those who stand and ask for money. Anti-panhandling laws do exactly nothing to help end homelessness or poverty.

When I wear my “Jesus was a panhandler” t-shirt, I want to remind myself (and others) to evaluate all public policy from the perspective of those in poverty. I also want to express some solidarity with panhandlers, even the unpleasant ones. Their very unpleasantness might just be my salvation. As Paul reminds me, God chose to be and to speak through Someone who wasn’t exactly respectable. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28). If that rich guy who couldn’t be bothered by Lazarus had thought of this, he might not have gone to that gated community where there are no panhandlers called “Hell.”