Ask the Pastor 100

What do we do about people who will not help themselves?

In out last article we discussed people who are in need of help and how we can use social services in our country to provide for these people. The problem here is with people who will not help themselves and are living well below the healthy and safe standards of our society. Should they just be left alone, after all, what right do we have to interfere with how someone wants to live, it is a free country? From a biblical perspective, it is a good thing that God did not take that attitude, but rather He chose to interfere with our world and our lives by providing His great salvation. Nevertheless, with the threat of socialism, we are particularly keen on letting people live however they want. But what about people who live in the midst of their own garbage and excrement with mice, rats, roaches and various other animals both living and dead? When people choose to live lives that are self-destructive, either by way of their “independent” life style or their addiction to drugs and alcohol etc., is it Christian or biblical to turn and look the other way while they self-destruct.? If a person is about to jump off of a ten story building, do we let them jump because they are free to do so? Our Lord taught, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew. 19:19) and we read, “Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God” (I John 4:7). We love in the same manner as the Lord God so loved the world, that He interfered with our lives and our freedoms to self-destruct, that we might have both everlasting life and an abundant life in the here and now, which would certainly include a safe and healthy life.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.