Episode 65: Homelessness: Myths, Reality, and how Christians can Help
It seems like homelessness in Denver is on the rise. It feels like a growing problem in big cities across the nation. To help us better understand this issue, this episode of All Things features an interview with Ben Sooy, a friend who is entrenched in work with people transitioning out of homeless in Denver at Joshua Station of Mile High Ministries.
Ben helps us unpack the complex issue of homelessness and the many myths surrounding it. He helps us discern the differences between visible and invisible homelessness, as well as how unaffordable housing and social isolation play key roles. The interview is eye opening, as we see how directly homelessness is linked to the social structures that we are born into—in other words, the safety net of friends and family who can offer help whenever we need it.
There’s a hesitancy in the church to help the homeless because there’s a myth that they’re homeless because of their own poor choices. But when we put homelessness under the light of Biblical teaching, we have to deal with the wrong thinking that we should only help those who deserve it.
Ben says, we all sabotage our lives in some way. We all work against our own health and wholeness. The gospel—which is that God loved me before the foundation of the earth, saw all the ways I have sabotaged my own life and pursued me anyway—changes how we view our homeless neighbors. If God treated us the way we treat them we’d all be without hope. We naturally want to take credit for all that we have, but the apostle Paul says, “What do you have that is not from God?” (1 Cor. 4:7).
The gospel takes away our rights to discern who deserves help and who doesn’t. Jesus is very clear that everyone, even the hated enemy, is our neighbor. Ben casts a vision of Christian friendship for us—showing up and sacrificing for others who can’t pay us back. He says we really can move from our segregated social circles and into relationships that look like Acts 2:42-47, if we are willing to obey Jesus. And Jesus says give to the one who ask you (Matt. 5:42), full stop.
This episode is deeply convicting, encouraging, and stirring. Have a listen and be moved to take the words of Christ seriously, to love your neighbor as yourself, and to move toward those who are most on the margin of society.
Denver sweeps of unhoused people often push campers to nearby blocks while continuing a cycle of trauma - The Denverite