“Gentlemen, you give me hope!”
March 27th, 2007 by Steve Sensenig
his past weekend, two of my good friends (Raborn and Tom) and I got together for breakfast at Hardee’s. We try to get together on a weekly basis, but sometimes schedules make that difficult. This particular weekend, we settled on Sunday morning because that was the only time that would work for all three of us.
Our breakfast times together (Raborn and I have been meeting weekly for over 14 months, and Tom just recently started joining us) are often quite interesting times of discussing what the Lord is teaching us, or exploring questions we have about simple church, etc. Normally, we have another “regular” place that we meet, but decided to meet at Hardee’s this particular day.
As we waited in line to order, we commented about the “before church rush”. It was pretty apparent from the clothes being worn by most of the people ahead of us that they were grabbing a bite to eat before heading to their respective church services. Sure enough, by about an hour into our conversation, the place was pretty empty, and we were enjoying lively conversation back in the corner.
I hadn’t even noticed a man who came and sat down a couple of booths over from us. Nor did I even think of how our conversation could easily be heard. We were too busy discussing things to think about it.
This week, our conversation turned to the subject of helping the poor and the homeless who we come across. We were discussing the common objections like, “They’ll just spend the money on alcohol and cigarettes” — I’m sure you know the mindset I’m talking about.
In the course of this conversation, I shared about experiences I had while living in Austin, TX….
There in Austin, the street-corners of busy intersections usually have people holding cardboard signs, looking for food or money or work. For several years of living there, I just ignored them. But they were everywhere.
One day, I was sitting in church listening to a sermon about reaching people. The thrust of the preacher’s sermon was all about inviting people to that church. In fact, he was telling the church about how there were piles of “tracts” available at the front for us to hand out. These tracts contained nothing except a map to the church and a list of service times.
My mind began to wander away from the marketing speech that was being given, and I began to seek the Lord’s direction. I prayed, “Lord, I do long to reach people. How can I do that? What can I do to make a difference in the lives of others?”
You know, it’s funny how sometimes the Lord really does speak quite clearly to us. I say “funny” because a lot of people don’t think that the Lord still speaks. But in this instance, I knew that I was hearing from the Lord.
He said, “You could help the people on the corners of the intersections.” At this time in my life, I had a rather well-paying job, and had surplus to give to others. But I was puzzled by this idea.
I immediately began to think through all the justifications I had held onto as to why I should not give money to “those people”. I had seen a news special one time (when I was living in Philadelphia) about how some of “those people” were making really good money on the streets. I saw them all as scam artists. Or drug users. Or alcoholics. Surely, God didn’t want me to enable that kind of behavior, right?
And that’s when the Lord put something in my heart that I had never considered before. He said, “What they do with your gift is between me and them. But if I want you to give, you should obey me.”
I left that conversation with a far different perspective. And for the rest of my time in Austin, whenever I would pull up to a traffic light and see someone on the corner, I would ask the Lord if I should give to them. The direction often varied. Sometimes it was, “Empty your wallet”. I might have $20 or $40 or more in my wallet, and I would just take it all out and give it to them. Other times it was, “Pull into the next convenience store, buy them a sandwich and something to drink and take it back to them.” And I would do that, circling back around to roll down my window and hand them a meal. Sometimes, the direction was to not give anything at all.
The three of us at breakfast were discussing this way of thinking when the man we had not noticed stood up to leave.
He turned around, walked straight to our booth, and said, “Gentlemen, you give me hope!” And then he went on to say, “I’m not a Christian” but shared how the conversation he had been overhearing gave him hope.
I don’t remember all the precise words he said, but the two statements that I remember word-for-word are, “Gentlemen, you give me hope” and “I’m not a Christian”.
The conversation didn’t last long, and he shook our hands and left. But we remained, praising God that we had been able to sow some seed of hope into his life. The opportunity wasn’t there in the conversation to take it any further, but I believe we did exactly what God wanted us to do. Who knows how that seed will be watered by someone else?
Think about it: We normally don’t meet on Sundays. We normally don’t go to Hardee’s. The “regular church crowd” had already gone. But God used us in that place, at that time, to give someone hope. Praise the Lord!
Until next time,
steve 
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That’s a great story Steve, very encouraging. Thanks for sharing it.
It is interesting how God can sometimes use us when we are least aware of being used by him.
grace, thanks. You are correct. I think that was what I liked most about the experience. I didn’t even know we were being listened to.
Of course, the flip side of that is that it reminds me in a sobering way how I must make sure that I am always speaking in a God-honoring way because I never know who might overhear.
Glad to see you here.
Steve,
First of all, I’ll let the “Austin” reference slide this time.
Second, thank you for sharing this story. “You give me hope”… wow… How I would love to hear those words from the mouth of an unbeliever. What are we supposed to bring to the world but hope?
Third, I will have to disagree with you at one point. You said that the church crowd had already gone. I disagree completely. It sounds to me like the church was finally present.
-Alan
Alan, in a rare moment of forward-thinking on my part, I did put “the regular church crowd” in quotes.
On a side note, we have had fun in the past reminding ourselves that we are now “the target audience” of a lot of churches. You know…”the unchurched”?
Steve,
Yes, I saw that. So, I conveniently left out the word “regular” when I quoted you.
I’m wondering when a church will finally start a “ministry” to “the unchurched”…
-Alan
We just never know who, when, where, or what, God will do next do we?
that’s why I appreciate God getting out of my box..
Thanks Steve,
You give me hope.
Steve -
Great post. Brandon has an awesome testimony about this same sort of thing - perhaps he’ll share it later (*hint*hint* Brandon!).
Hearing you guys talk gave this man hope because you were being salt and light … getting outside of the 4 walls and into the world. You made that man thirsty and drew him to Jesus just by being who you are. And I thank you for your testimony!
Blessings!
~Heather
Steve,
Your post made me happy because it wasn’t about a debatable topic. I know that your site is a place to hash out various theologies and many times I want to chime in, but anymore, I feel checked not to do so. I feel like I have no right to voice my opinions about God if I am not acting them out daily.
I wonder what you said that made him take hope? Was it your discussion in a Hardee’s booth or was it your actions back in Austin? If that same person heard you talking about ‘church stuff’ (i.e. the service, worship music, the sermon), would his reation have been the same?
Steve,
Wow. I know for me I have felt a lot of those same thoughts. I’ve also shared some of the same thoughts about the accountability, but I think you’re correct, once we’re obedient, it does truly lie between the recipient and the Lord. I’ve also though gift cretificates might be a good idea…
-marty
PS: I like/appreciate your heart and openness.
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Mike, I’m sorry the controversial stuff keeps you from commenting. You’re welcome here anytime.
I assume your questions at the end of your comment are rhetorical. I don’t know specifically what it was, but I am glad that he felt hope.
Larry, thank you, sir.
Heather, I hope Brandon does share his story here or on his own blog. I would like to hear it.
marty, thanks for your comments, too. Gift certificates can be a great idea, too. Thanks for sharing that thought.
I’ve heard the objection as well: “They’ll just spend it on booze.”
Maybe I should keep it all so I could spend it on myself — lots of dinners out, a faster/newer car, mortgage payments on my (big) house, newer clothes, golf, tix to the Suns, HDTV, artwork, cigars, and some really good scotch. Then I could use this for fellowshipping with my family and friends from church, so that would be good, right?
George, so well put!
I will clarify and say that I was not intending with this post to tell everyone how they should handle giving to the poor and needy. I merely wanted to share my experience and help others think through from other perspectives.
The issue isn’t “Do as I do”, but rather, “Ask God what you should do.”
Having said that, I seriously doubt that God will ever direct one to do all the things you wrote tongue-in-cheek and so cleverly in that paragraph!
Or at least not on a regular basis.
Thanks for contributing.
Perhaps what I wrote was not so well put after all. Didn’t mean to suggest you were dictating to others. Just felt convicted (again) thru the wisdom you expressed.
At least half of the personal expenditures I mentioned are things I do, or contemplate doing. I may attempt to justify them, but I too seriously doubt that God has directed me to do these things.
But maybe my calling is to serve as a bad example, so others can look at what I do and say: Don’t do as he does!
George, my clarification was not meant to be aimed at your comment. It just got me thinking about the need to clarify that particular point. Your comment was quite well-written.
The idea of having a calling to be a bad example made me chuckle. I like your style of humor!
Well done, Steve. Makes me proud. I’ve spent so many years “doing church” (much legitimate, some not so). Now, I’m learning how to be real, treat the people God crosses my path with kindness and dignity and love, not churchianity. Your experience in Hardees is one of a thousand new adventures the Lord is opening up to you, to us all, if we will. Beautiful!
RCM-Steve, thank you. I appreciate the kind remarks.
“Churchianity” can be a dangerous substitute for the real thing. In so many ways, I think it falls into the category of “having a form of godliness, but denying its power”.
And that can happen in any “model” of church, lest some of my readers think that’s a backhanded swipe at the institutional church.
Thanks again for commenting.