The churches combined efforts to form what has become quite a ’successful’ (I sense a certain ambivalence in the use of the word here) hostel for the homeless in the centre of my local town. Whilst they manage to tap into funding these days, like most of these things they rely heavily on the efforts of volunteers for the day to day running of the place. A friend of mine, a busy young mum, decided she wanted to contribute in some way, so she went along with an established volunteer (a spritely 80 year-old!). After a couple of evenings she decided she didn’t want to go anymore. The reason? A hot meal was provided for all of the residents each evening from whatever was available. She felt angry that, often mature men and women would lovingly prepare the food, only to be met with “A’m norreatin’ that muck”, or something similar from the down and outs who frequented the hostel. She wasn’t prepared for ingratitude from those who have nothing. I certainly wouldn’t judge her in this - in her shoes, I would probably have said/done something in the heat of the moment that I would regret. When I stop long enough to think about it, I wouldn’t blame the homeless person either, whose story I don’t know and who has his/her own reason to kick against anything that is offered by ‘do-gooders’.
But doing the ‘right thing’ is easier said than done. When we do ‘good’ things, the child within us wants some kind of affirmation of how good we are, you know,the warm glow. I suppose (for some of us, anyway) it is an element of enlightened self-interest. Even when we present our grown-up face to the world, we so often feel the disappointment within when we dont get what we regard as the appropriate response. Which probably explains why, beyond buying a copy of the Big Issue from time to time, or contributing the odd tin of soon to expire ‘lobster bisque’ to the homeless mission, I tend to leave the hands-on stuff to others more experienced in and accustomed to this kind of work.
hi carole… the only time i ever detect no sign of mixed motive in me is in an emergency where there is no time to think. as soon as i start thinking, it’s like i’m undoing the good i may do in my head by thinking of how my actions make me look. it’s really hard to be completely singular and pure in motive.
I will polish my altruism ready for whan I meet him.
I personally think that feeling good about doing something doesn’t make you a bad person. There are enough people with low self esteem who can’t see any good in themselves in the world. Convincing yourself that if you can see the things you do in a possitive way isn’t healthy.
(no I’m not saying we should climb up an ivory tower - Lording it over others is verging on Pharaseical (sp?))
This is obscene! What a portrait of Christianity is painted here.
I don’t know if what you’ve done is deliberate, i assume it must be since these two cartoons were done on the same day, but to contrast a graphic on marriage with a graphic on ‘the least’ is most revealing.
Look at the number of comments on marriage (79 when i checked) to the comments on the least (9), this surely says something about what grabs our interest and what we really care about, doesn’t it?
hi andy… to be fair i put this cartoon up many hours later. but i did do it deliberately to see what might happen. some regulars won’t have seen it yet, so it may still get more comments and debate. the regulars on this site are very much switched on and engaged it seems to me.
you’re right though… it is interesting which subjects fire the passions. 307 has so far had more comments than all the others, and i do believe there are many more important problems that we need to engage with… including the issue portrayed in this cartoon and others. thanks for the comment… as you can tell, i’m inclined to agree with you, but i must defend the regular commenters as they have heartily engaged with all kinds of subject matter in a way that makes me feel hopeful.
I’m glad that in recent years (the last 10 maybe) the wider church has woken up to the practical implications of the Gospel.
Works of kindness reveal the true children, as they demonstrate the likeness of the Father.
I often ask groups of Christians to think of what the world would be like if it were full of people like them, like me. And then what it would be like if it were full of people like Jesus. If only…
Matthew 25 and the parable of the sheep and goats is scary, in it we see a judgement that effects eternity that is based not on theological undderstandings, nor on words or confessions, but on concrete actions.
How does the world know you are folling the heavenly Father? not because we tell them, but because they catch a glimpse of him in the smile, the touch the warmth we offer.
Alongside this parable Jon refers to in the cartoon i recommend reading Isaiah 58, in this prophecy we see God’s scorn for the “spiritual” life that is based solely on the observance of ritual and rule. The kind of fasting, the kind of sabbath activity that pleases God is to be intimately involved in the lives of the needy.
Loving the controversial stuff at the moment Jon, thanks for the inspiration and provocation.
Thanks for taking an honest look at faith and why people just don’t get it. It’s irritating that people would get in an uproar over marriage yet neglect the homeless person on the street. What a way to look honestly at some tough topics.
hiya, this image awakens my sense of powerlessness. I live in inner city Brissol, and walk past people who are begging for cash for a meal and bed in a hostel every day.
sometimes I don’t have any spare cash.
however I do know a few people who’ve found their way back into a warm home and have loving relationships, who had spent nights out on the streets with nothing, though the only reason I know is because they talked about it.
so I’m proud to be able to belong to a welcoming community, who although may not have significant resources, very much have hearts big enough to meet people and welcome them, offering a sense of belonging to a transforming environment.
to me, cash isn’t the only issue here, it’s also about the values of our society - that’s taken survival of the fittest to mean we can value people only according to their economic status, thus it’s ok to find many people discarded by this system.
in a nutshell, whilst I value the work Christians do towards meeting the needs of the marginalised, I think the reason so many people are in this position is due to the idolatry of our culture. (or the myth of the trickle down effect of the free market economy)
Andy Amoss(#10)says “Look at the number of comments on marriage (79 when i checked) to the comments on the least (9), this surely says something about what grabs our interest and what we really care about, doesn’t it?”
That’s possibly true, but it’s also possible that #307 9is far more controversial than #308. The implications and ideas in #307are fiercly debatable. While #308 is challenging it’s not exactly controversial
what is it that is so controversial? is it the showing of relationships and how long they’ve lasted, or is it the juxtaposition of the word ‘marriage’.
In challenging perceptions of marriage and love relationships you are bound to stir the pot. As was seen from the discussion onver #307 Christians have a lot of different ideas and interpretations of scripture as relating to marriage and homosexuality. it’s a complex topic with many shades of grey which is why I’m not surprised to see the high number of posts. My point was that it’s not surprising to see fewer points to #308 since it’s a rare Christian who’d disagree with a challenge to be more active in loving the hurting and broken of the world. We may not live it as we should but I would hope the general reaction to #308 is to question whether we are doing as we should and to what extent.
I think everyone is important at the end of the day, every person is made in God’s image and everything about life is important- sexuality, just living and working, eating.
Re Guantanamo Jon, I did see that and wanted to post but was unable to.
Thank you for doing toons on issues that are so obviously important to you, and, well, everything really.
This is, in my opinion, the gospel, in a nutshell. The judgment described in Matthew 25 has nothing, nada, zilch to say about sexual behavior, and everything to say about this. Thanks jon.
So here’s a question - and it’s an honest one… are “the least of these” always the poor and the homeless, as the Bible expresses God’s heart for social justice? Or are there sometimes a few who are marked by a different sort of poverty who might be considered “the least of these”…?
i believe you’re right, happy. there are a million and one kinds of need. every one from the prisoner, to the sick, to the bereaved, to the lonely, to the injured… the list goes on. social justice is part of a bigger picture. thank you for the reminder.
re #21 Tom C’s comments - i was wondering if a subject like this gets less posts because even though people all agree on it it is also very uncomfortable as we probably do less action around the subject. #307 requires no action therefore we can debate at loudly as we want with no consequence to the outworking of our daily lives.
Absolutely.
Sarah x
Comment by Sarah — December 12, 2007 @ 11:29 pm
easier said than done.
Comment by jonbirch — December 13, 2007 @ 12:52 am
But oh so true - It’s a bit like the stinky person in Church.
Comment by Bruce — December 13, 2007 @ 1:19 am
And that’s why I vote for lefty parties.
Comment by One Salient Oversight — December 13, 2007 @ 1:20 am
Comment by jonbirch — December 13, 2007 @ 2:44 am
The churches combined efforts to form what has become quite a ’successful’ (I sense a certain ambivalence in the use of the word here) hostel for the homeless in the centre of my local town. Whilst they manage to tap into funding these days, like most of these things they rely heavily on the efforts of volunteers for the day to day running of the place. A friend of mine, a busy young mum, decided she wanted to contribute in some way, so she went along with an established volunteer (a spritely 80 year-old!). After a couple of evenings she decided she didn’t want to go anymore. The reason? A hot meal was provided for all of the residents each evening from whatever was available. She felt angry that, often mature men and women would lovingly prepare the food, only to be met with “A’m norreatin’ that muck”, or something similar from the down and outs who frequented the hostel. She wasn’t prepared for ingratitude from those who have nothing. I certainly wouldn’t judge her in this - in her shoes, I would probably have said/done something in the heat of the moment that I would regret. When I stop long enough to think about it, I wouldn’t blame the homeless person either, whose story I don’t know and who has his/her own reason to kick against anything that is offered by ‘do-gooders’.
But doing the ‘right thing’ is easier said than done. When we do ‘good’ things, the child within us wants some kind of affirmation of how good we are, you know,the warm glow. I suppose (for some of us, anyway) it is an element of enlightened self-interest. Even when we present our grown-up face to the world, we so often feel the disappointment within when we dont get what we regard as the appropriate response. Which probably explains why, beyond buying a copy of the Big Issue from time to time, or contributing the odd tin of soon to expire ‘lobster bisque’ to the homeless mission, I tend to leave the hands-on stuff to others more experienced in and accustomed to this kind of work.
Comment by Carole — December 13, 2007 @ 9:11 am
Can someone circle which one is the least of them so that I will know what I see them
Comment by Robb — December 13, 2007 @ 10:29 am
hi carole… the only time i ever detect no sign of mixed motive in me is in an emergency where there is no time to think. as soon as i start thinking, it’s like i’m undoing the good i may do in my head by thinking of how my actions make me look. it’s really hard to be completely singular and pure in motive.
robb… it’s the little guy with the grey coat.
Comment by jonbirch — December 13, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
Thanks for clearing that up
I will polish my altruism ready for whan I meet him.
I personally think that feeling good about doing something doesn’t make you a bad person. There are enough people with low self esteem who can’t see any good in themselves in the world. Convincing yourself that if you can see the things you do in a possitive way isn’t healthy.
(no I’m not saying we should climb up an ivory tower - Lording it over others is verging on Pharaseical (sp?))
Comment by Robb — December 13, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
This is obscene! What a portrait of Christianity is painted here.
I don’t know if what you’ve done is deliberate, i assume it must be since these two cartoons were done on the same day, but to contrast a graphic on marriage with a graphic on ‘the least’ is most revealing.
Look at the number of comments on marriage (79 when i checked) to the comments on the least (9), this surely says something about what grabs our interest and what we really care about, doesn’t it?
Comment by andy amoss — December 13, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
hi andy… to be fair i put this cartoon up many hours later. but i did do it deliberately to see what might happen. some regulars won’t have seen it yet, so it may still get more comments and debate. the regulars on this site are very much switched on and engaged it seems to me.
you’re right though… it is interesting which subjects fire the passions. 307 has so far had more comments than all the others, and i do believe there are many more important problems that we need to engage with… including the issue portrayed in this cartoon and others. thanks for the comment… as you can tell, i’m inclined to agree with you, but i must defend the regular commenters as they have heartily engaged with all kinds of subject matter in a way that makes me feel hopeful.
Comment by jonbirch — December 13, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
I’m glad that in recent years (the last 10 maybe) the wider church has woken up to the practical implications of the Gospel.
Works of kindness reveal the true children, as they demonstrate the likeness of the Father.
I often ask groups of Christians to think of what the world would be like if it were full of people like them, like me. And then what it would be like if it were full of people like Jesus. If only…
Matthew 25 and the parable of the sheep and goats is scary, in it we see a judgement that effects eternity that is based not on theological undderstandings, nor on words or confessions, but on concrete actions.
How does the world know you are folling the heavenly Father? not because we tell them, but because they catch a glimpse of him in the smile, the touch the warmth we offer.
Alongside this parable Jon refers to in the cartoon i recommend reading Isaiah 58, in this prophecy we see God’s scorn for the “spiritual” life that is based solely on the observance of ritual and rule. The kind of fasting, the kind of sabbath activity that pleases God is to be intimately involved in the lives of the needy.
Loving the controversial stuff at the moment Jon, thanks for the inspiration and provocation.
Comment by Jonathan — December 13, 2007 @ 2:30 pm
thank you jonathan for your thoughtful engagement. very much appreciated.
Comment by jonbirch — December 13, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
Thanks for taking an honest look at faith and why people just don’t get it. It’s irritating that people would get in an uproar over marriage yet neglect the homeless person on the street. What a way to look honestly at some tough topics.
Comment by Jeremy — December 13, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
thanks jeremy. hopefully this blog is useful to people.
Comment by jonbirch — December 13, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
Thing is we don’t disagree on this lol. I think all of us would agree we need to do more to help the disadvantaged people in our own society.
Comment by Lewis — December 13, 2007 @ 5:19 pm
Currently volunteering at a day care clinic for the homeless and this certainly struck a cord.
Comment by Amy — December 13, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
hiya, this image awakens my sense of powerlessness. I live in inner city Brissol, and walk past people who are begging for cash for a meal and bed in a hostel every day.
sometimes I don’t have any spare cash.
however I do know a few people who’ve found their way back into a warm home and have loving relationships, who had spent nights out on the streets with nothing, though the only reason I know is because they talked about it.
so I’m proud to be able to belong to a welcoming community, who although may not have significant resources, very much have hearts big enough to meet people and welcome them, offering a sense of belonging to a transforming environment.
to me, cash isn’t the only issue here, it’s also about the values of our society - that’s taken survival of the fittest to mean we can value people only according to their economic status, thus it’s ok to find many people discarded by this system.
in a nutshell, whilst I value the work Christians do towards meeting the needs of the marginalised, I think the reason so many people are in this position is due to the idolatry of our culture. (or the myth of the trickle down effect of the free market economy)
Comment by su — December 13, 2007 @ 6:10 pm
Andy Amoss(#10)says “Look at the number of comments on marriage (79 when i checked) to the comments on the least (9), this surely says something about what grabs our interest and what we really care about, doesn’t it?”
That’s possibly true, but it’s also possible that #307 9is far more controversial than #308. The implications and ideas in #307are fiercly debatable. While #308 is challenging it’s not exactly controversial
Comment by Tom C — December 13, 2007 @ 7:40 pm
what is it that is so controversial? is it the showing of relationships and how long they’ve lasted, or is it the juxtaposition of the word ‘marriage’.
Comment by jonbirch — December 13, 2007 @ 9:00 pm
In challenging perceptions of marriage and love relationships you are bound to stir the pot. As was seen from the discussion onver #307 Christians have a lot of different ideas and interpretations of scripture as relating to marriage and homosexuality. it’s a complex topic with many shades of grey which is why I’m not surprised to see the high number of posts. My point was that it’s not surprising to see fewer points to #308 since it’s a rare Christian who’d disagree with a challenge to be more active in loving the hurting and broken of the world. We may not live it as we should but I would hope the general reaction to #308 is to question whether we are doing as we should and to what extent.
Comment by Tom C — December 13, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
agreed.
Comment by jonbirch — December 13, 2007 @ 9:19 pm
muchos comments - I’m passing this one to the guy setting up our new night shelter. Really good.
Comment by Sarah B — December 13, 2007 @ 9:37 pm
Hi Everyone x
Nice comments, I’m glad Amy is volunteering.
I think everyone is important at the end of the day, every person is made in God’s image and everything about life is important- sexuality, just living and working, eating.
Re Guantanamo Jon, I did see that and wanted to post but was unable to.
Thank you for doing toons on issues that are so obviously important to you, and, well, everything really.
Keep it up.
Sarah xxx
Comment by Sarah — December 13, 2007 @ 11:07 pm
Back to this, just a kind word-if you have no money, just a kind word and a look in the face helps them to know they’re worth something.
Sas
Comment by Sarah — December 13, 2007 @ 11:12 pm
absolutely, sas.
thank you, sarah.
Comment by jonbirch — December 14, 2007 @ 12:38 am
respect.
Comment by su — December 14, 2007 @ 8:37 am
Hi Jon,
I take it you know that me Sas and me Sarah are the same Girl…
Respect back to you Su, and to you Jon.
Sas x
Comment by Sarah — December 14, 2007 @ 9:17 am
have to say, always been a tad confused… but i’m easily confused! love your input, you often make me smile.
Comment by jonbirch — December 14, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
This is, in my opinion, the gospel, in a nutshell. The judgment described in Matthew 25 has nothing, nada, zilch to say about sexual behavior, and everything to say about this. Thanks jon.
Comment by Cecilia — December 14, 2007 @ 2:18 pm
So here’s a question - and it’s an honest one… are “the least of these” always the poor and the homeless, as the Bible expresses God’s heart for social justice? Or are there sometimes a few who are marked by a different sort of poverty who might be considered “the least of these”…?
Comment by Happy — December 15, 2007 @ 4:06 am
i believe you’re right, happy. there are a million and one kinds of need. every one from the prisoner, to the sick, to the bereaved, to the lonely, to the injured… the list goes on. social justice is part of a bigger picture. thank you for the reminder.
Comment by jonbirch — December 15, 2007 @ 10:43 am
re #21 Tom C’s comments - i was wondering if a subject like this gets less posts because even though people all agree on it it is also very uncomfortable as we probably do less action around the subject. #307 requires no action therefore we can debate at loudly as we want with no consequence to the outworking of our daily lives.
Comment by will — December 18, 2007 @ 8:03 am
Happy possibly those born into money who fell uncomfortable with it longing to find love that does not come from wealth could land in that category?
Comment by will — December 18, 2007 @ 8:05 am
indeed.
Comment by jonbirch — December 18, 2007 @ 9:52 am
Good point Happy (31)
I think every person is “the least of these” at some level.
This verse isn’t about money or social standing i don’t think.
Comment by Laura — December 19, 2007 @ 6:13 am
Happy, I think this manages to highlite some of the “least of these” without providing an exhaustive list.
Comment by Robb — December 19, 2007 @ 11:29 am