Protestant homeless shelters

[Telos]

(Edit: Sorry if this is rather jumbled. There are many details I didn't want to leave out, but I had to nonetheless).

I recently spent time at an Evangelical homeless shelter. Long story, but I came away from it very disturbed, confused, and partially enlightened to a fundamental problem facing the progress of humanity.

Briefly, I'm very close to concluding that the Evangelical ethos is a stain on humanity and an obstacle to progress.

Before I go any further, let me say that I am not affiliated with any political party and don't harbor any prejudice against the Evangelical community. It should be mentioned that I was raised Catholic, however, I was never exposed to any discord with Protestantism and, like any other child product of Catholic schooling, I've been largely skeptical of my education.

I originally felt that the homeless were the way they were mostly because of simple economic disadvantages. The jobs available to them weren't enough to rent an apartment, or there simply weren't any jobs available, that sort of thing. In the worst cases, they were suffering from hopelessness or an undiagnosed mental or physical disorder.

Imagine my surprise when I found the tenants of this particular shelter upbeat, and even casually so. Even though the population was overwhelmingly black, and I'm white, I was still greeted and welcome just the same. The people were so amiable, I freely had open and friendly discussions with a good number of them. Why were these people homeless?

The question would eventually be asked of me, "are you a newcomer?"

"Yes," I would say. "How long have you been here?"

"Three years," one said. "Six years," another said. "Four years," another said. As I overheard conversations, I decided to stop asking. I had the distinct impression that the majority of the men had been there for much longer than what it would take to find a job and get out. Many were just plain old and grouchy and wouldn't talk to anyone, especially a young brat like me. I wouldn't try to guess how long they had been there.

We were herded into a chapel. The fellow I sat next to looked over me and simply asked, "you run away from home?" I nodded. He just laughed and shook his head. "Why, is that funny?" I asked. "No, of course not," he said very respectively. He asked me about my story and I told him about my parents and all that. "Do you believe in Jesus?" he said. "Yeah sort of," I meant it in the way that it depends on what you mean by "believe in" and "Jesus." He said, "that's not enough, you gotta believe all the way." He gave me plenty of info on the happenings of the shelter, as it was my first night. By my impression, he was a good man.

Everyone is required to attend a Protestant service before getting a bed. If I had ever been to a Protestant service before in my life, I certainly wasn't paying attention. This time, however, I was definitely paying attention.

The main message that was reverberated over and over, vehemently and sometimes joyously, was that Jesus was the one who saves you, and if you don't accept Jesus into your heart by the time of armageddon (which could be any second), then, boy, are you damned. But that's all you had to do, accept Jesus honestly into your heart, and let him take care of you. Congratulations! You're saved! Or, more precisely, you will be granted paradise when the time comes for Jesus to return.

The service was given by frail white people, visitors from out of town and the accent to prove it, and were noticeably shaken by being in a room filled to the brim with boisterous black men. (It was a men's shelter, btw). Among them was a guest speaker, a very normal looking plaid-wearing heavyset bearded country guy, who was going to talk about his life "before Jesus" and "after Jesus."

"Before Jesus," he said, "I was like any other normal member of my community and well-behaved member of my family. I went to mass," at this word groans were audible in the congregation, "took the eucharist every Sunday, and talked to my priest regularly. Now you know what background I come from."

He was Catholic.

People were shaking their heads, "damn shame," I heard someone nearby say. He proceeded to, very sensitively and emotionally, recount problems with his marriage and his life - that is, until he found Jesus. After that, he was saved, and could rest easy knowing that, when the time comes, he will be opened the doors to paradise. When he looks back at his problems with Catholicism, he notices that when the priests give homilies (another groan at this word), they just sort of stop and never talks about God's plan for salvation.

Later on in the service, we were asked to close our eyes and bow our heads and respond, "I do," to certain affirmations. Catholics do this every now and then to strengthen their baptismal promises. Everything the preacher was saying seemed fine and not at all contradictory with Catholicism, including the famous, "Do you accept Jesus into your heart?" And I nodded, absolutely, he's always been welcome. Then the preacher demanded, "all those who honestly meant what they just said, come down here in front of everyone!" I looked around. The fellow I had been talking to about my troubled Catholic parents motioned, "go on! get up there.." and so I did, like this was some big event.

"Welcome these new members into our faith!" For a second, I had the feeling I was going to hell, and involved myself in a dangerous cult. What have I done? Well, it was only for a second. They had us all sign a sheet of paper so that everyone would pray for us. Nothing wrong with that...

The fellow I sat next to said, "see, your family was Catholic, and look how that turned out. You gotta find a different religion," meaning a Protestant one.

I'll skip the rest of my experiences with the shelter. While noteworthy, they don't have anything to do with Protestantism and the problem of homelessness.

I found the prevailing attitude towards spirituality and personal growth, as given by the service, to be stunted, deluded, and counterproductive. Saving yourself, embracing Jesus, and taking stock into a divine plan for salvation is just fine. But what about in the meantime? What about the time before armageddon, and before death? What about the now?

There was absolutely no discussion about the healing power of work. Nothing about the joy of growth, independence, learning. It was almost discouraged - none of that stuff will get you to heaven. No paradise. It won't make you happy. All you need is Jesus.

It was clear that the majority of the members of the shelter stayed there because they had all they needed... a community of peers, free food, and a bed. There was no limit to how long you could stay - Jesus' arms are open to everybody all the time (before armageddon). There were plenty of respectable jobs available on a bulletin board and in a continuously updated workbook that required no education, not even a high school diploma. The shelter also had some rudimentary job training programs. But was anyone taking advantage of them? Not very many, it seemed.


If humanity is going to build a great society, one that we're proud of and happy to live in, everyone has to work at it.

It isn't enough just to work, of course. Much work in modern society is detrimental - because it lacks personal dream. It takes a dream and work in order to build a good life. There's no reason why all can't work together at it.

Except if you erroneously believe that you can't be happy on Earth and that you're built and designed to sin, thereby relying on a totally unseen force to save you.  

[soma-sight]

I enjoyed your story.

We are called to "work" by the Gospel.

James 2:14 (New International Version)
   
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

The message of redemption is great but you are right, works are the "fruit" of a True relationship with the Lord.

God Bless.

[Gandalf]

I think that's the problems with a lot of these religious dogmas.. they *can* encourage you to ditch the 'here and now' in favour of a paradise in the hereafter (if it is preached that way).

This can't be helpful to humanity... its the opposite end of the scale from being 100% focused on now and having no regard for the past or future.. Its all about moderation and balance in my opinion.. any extreme is bad... the situation you describe in the shelter most certainly an extreme case.. the rancid sectarianism is quite openly stated for example..

I find this does seem to be a problem in the US.. For example in books and movies, if ever they want to have a film which is critical of the church in some way, they always play it safe and go for the catholic church.. the da Vince code for example..
At first i thought.. 'wow they are being really bold in the US by critisising the church (even if it was incorrect!), but once i realised that it was all about the 'evils' of the catholic church, and nothing about any other,, the book now just comes across to me as a sectarian rant.

Doug