Jamin Bradley

I sat down in my pastor’s office in high school as he listened to the church voicemail. It felt like every single message was from a poor stranger in tears, needing large amounts of money by the end of the day.

I can tell you now that every pastor is familiar with these calls. We feel horrible about them. After all, we’re supposed to be answering the phone on behalf of Jesus Christ, who cared deeply for the poor. We want to help! However, there’s just not enough money or wisdom in our ministries to heal every moment of poverty that comes our way. And unfortunately, our inability to do so can sometimes create some rather tense situations with the very people we want to help.

For example, when I didn’t arrange a bus ticket for a stranger on the phone, he yelled, “Well, then I’m just going to die in this hospital, and when you get to Heaven, you’re going to have to answer for it!” Then he hung up.

Another time, I agreed to pay part of a stranger’s rent, but I needed to know they could find the rest of the money, so their landlord wouldn’t take our limited funds and kick them out anyway. They yelled at me for doubting them and hung up.

And still another time, I could only give someone part of the money they needed out of my family’s own pocket, and they launched into a very long monologue that targeted me and my pastoring.

These are the unusually extreme reactions, not the typical ones. I share them to illustrate a strange kind of dynamic that can come with serving those in poverty. These reactions are not born out of entitlement as much as they are out of fear, anxiety, and stress. You have to remember that many impoverished people are constantly trying to make ends meet. They are stressed out of their minds. When things start getting desperate, they have to weigh all the intense variables before them. 

What if they lose electricity? How will they cook without electricity? Can they even afford food? They know they need to get a job, but does their car work? Can they even afford gas to get to a job if they get the car fixed? And if they go to work, who will watch their kids? Does daycare cost more than their job pays them? Do they have another credit card they can max out for now? Or do they have any friends left who they don’t already owe money to?

The life of an impoverished person is incredibly heavy, and it feels like everything is working against them. When a pastor can’t do anything to help, it’s always possible there will be a natural feeling that God or Christianity has now failed them, too. It’s just one more variable that raises the intensity of the conversation.

Some churches handle phone calls well and have the staff they need to get the job done. That is very difficult for many small churches. Even if the request is doable, there’s a lot of organization required to figure out how to handle it. For example, I once spent hours of my workday driving around town, just trying to figure out how to pay a stranger’s electric bill.

May we do our best to navigate the difficult situations around us as we partner with churches, organizations, and local government to create better outcomes for those in poverty. We do not know stress as they do, and it’s no wonder they sometimes come to us already on edge. May we lovingly represent Christ well in our interactions as we step into our neighbors’ difficulties.