The Pious Priest and the Homeless Drug Addict Are Equal

“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” Luke 6:35-36   

Abba’s compassion is boundless for it succeeds human expectations. I always knew this to be true, but this year challenged me more than any other year to keep that truth in my heart. This blog post touches on a sensitive subject regarding that and might make some readers uncomfortable. I wanted to mention that it contains mature subject matter so readers won’t be blind sighted. If you feel any discomfort, I invite you to wrestle with that feeling because that is something that your gut is telling you. Listen to what your gut is saying with an open heart and open mind…

At first I did not enjoy working at PATH, but ever since I changed outreach teams in January, my perspective on PATH has changed for the better. Gaining knowledge about the homeless epidemic, myself, and what it means to be a child of God is only a fraction of what I learned. I have grown so much, originally I wanted to do a list of what I am able to take away from working at PATH; but I feel like it would be hard to write everything I gained in a short blog. Instead, I decided to write about the main thing I learned this year: to meet people where they are at in life.

In outreach, we are literally meeting people where they are, such as on the streets, an underpass, or in a park; we are coming to people who are homeless rather then them coming to us. When I was asked about this after church, I told that that person, that so many people who are homeless struggle with being able to take that first step into the PATH doors; many people have lost hope that their situation will ever get better. With outreach, we are not forcing anybody to step through our doors but we are building a bridge for them so that they are not intimidated by walking into PATH. I’ve seen many clients start to have hope while working with the outreach or case management team. While doing outreach our goal is not to give our clients hope, but meet them where they are at both mentally and physically.

I like to think that I am able to shine a light of God’s presence when I am able to meet them where they are. For instance, once I meet with this man as well as another teammate. This man started casually using curse words in his conversation because he was familiar with the other teammate. When he noticed me, he apologized for his cursing. I thought that was a nice gesture but I told him, “Don’t apologize. I don’t care. You are free to be you.” Since this event was several months ago I forgot the exact wording of the conversation, but I still remembered the emotions behind the conversation. He thanked me for saying that and I can tell that I brightened up his day when I said that. I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth, but I assume that not that many people who are homeless hear the words, “You are free to be you.” The meaning behind those words are, “I accept you as you are.” As society, we need to remember accepting people who are homeless, is different from accepting homelessness.

Accepting people for who they are is why I choose to follow Christ, to me that is what it means to bring the kingdom of God on Earth. This radical love is much easier said then done, and I admit that I’ve fallen short of this. In order to accept people as they are, regardless of their situation, we must meet them where they are. While PATH is not a faith-based agency, I can see the Holy Spirit working in there. In PATH, meeting people where they are at is a part of a harm reduction model. Harm reduction is what it sounds like, actions taken to reduce the harm for an individual. For example, if a client has an alcohol problem, the case manager would take steps with the client to reduce the harm that the alcohol might cause to the client. A solution based upon the harm reduction model might be reducing the number of drinks that person can have, or require that person to drink water in between drinks. While these solutions do not eliminate the client’s behavior, they reduce the potential for harm.

At first glance, one might wonder, “Well that’s great that the harm of the client is reduced, but why doesn’t the case worker work with the client to eliminate the problematic behavior in the first place?” That’s the thing, we might see it as a problematic behavior, but the client may not. They just see the behavior as part of their daily life. We are never meant to go where the client doesn’t ask us to go. If we do, then we are dehumanizing the client. Harm reduction is a model that not only reduces harm from a certain behavior, but it also empowers the client. But I realize to some, the harm reduction model maybe hard to accept because it brings our biases to the table.

For me, I definitely had a hard time accept this concept because it challenged my biases and values. When we had a speaker come in to talk about this model he gave the example of a female prostitute. I come from a background that was not tolerable of sexual promiscuity; I became friends with a girl in college who strongly advocated ending human and sex trafficking. In my mind, prostitution was taboo; it was an evil sin. However, the man giving the presentation said that the woman did not want to stop her behavior because it gave her a sense of sexual power. To her, prostitution was not a taboo or an evil sin, but part of her life. In order to meet the woman where she was, he gave her condoms without judgment. By giving her condoms, he was engaging in the harm reduction model.

I could not have done that if I was in his shoes, I could not nonjudgmentally give her condoms and allow her to continue in her behavior. To me, prostitution is wrong and I would have encouraged her to stop. His example made me extremely uncomfortable because it was a sensitive subject for me. In essence, I appreciate how non-judgmental and empowering the harm reduction model can be, but when it addresses something that I find immoral, for a lack of terms, I don’t know how to react. In this case, I want to make sure the client is safe and feels self determined, but how am I suppose to just let her engage in this behavior that I consider taboo? On the one hand, I can live into my bias and encourage her to stop her prostitution habit, or on the other hand I can rise above my bias and engage in the harm reduction model? This was a really hard question to answer because I wanted to keep my beliefs that prostitution is wrong, but I also want to engage in a model of self-determination for the client. How do I do both?

Even as I am writing this scenario, I cannot help but feel a bit of disgust. This is why social services can be emotionally draining, it forces us to confront our biases, values and ideals about what is and isn’t acceptable. People in the helping profession have to non-judgmentally and without shame provide services regardless of their personal opinion. When thinking about this scenario, the most important thing worth noting is that I am not the client, I cannot tell her what to do because it is not my life. I have to let make her own decisions regardless of my feelings because I have no right in telling her how to live her life. If I do, I am dehumanizing her and am coming off as self-righteous. I have to support and assist the client regardless of a difference in values. If I allowed myself to act upon my belief that prostitution is wrong, then I am shaming the client and causing more harm then good. I also have to see myself for who I am, otherwise I cannot see others for who they are; this includes being true to my authentic self. I think there is a great maturity in seeing past by biases in order to see a person for who they really are. That doesn’t mean that I change my position on the issue to help the client, but rather draw the appropriate boundaries in order to assist her to the best of my ability. It is not my job to shame her both her behavior or tell her how to act nor is it her job to persuade that prostitution is acceptable.

While I still wrestle with what the speaker said, I was able to take away one thing from the presentation; it is really hard to meet people where they are at in life. It takes strong boundaries, knowledge or personal biases, a bit of humility, and a whole lot of self-care and self-discovery. I truly believe that accepting and meeting people for where they are at is a spiritual and noble act. To gain a Christian perspective on this, it is shown constantly through out the Gospel that Jesus constantly met people where they were, he associated with women, prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors, basically people in ancient Israel who were considered outcasts at the time. Jesus did not see them for outcasts though; he saw them for who they truly were. And Jesus did not have to change who he was in order to do so; he did not have to engage in prostitution in order to hang out with the prostitutes. He associated with different groups of people because he was ministering and illustrating what Peace on Earth looks like. Seeing people for who they are, while still seeing oneself who she/he is, is an act, which I believe, is that we are called to do in order to bring Peace on Earth. It is not for the cowardly or faint of heart, but rather for the bold and daring. Bringing the Kingdom of God on Earth should be an act of courageous love.

 It is going to make people uncomfortable because we all have different interpretations of what that love looks like. We all have different backgrounds and believes, which are going to be challenged while bring the Kingdom to Earth. We are going to question our identity and we are going to question if we are doing right. And while it is A LOT to rap our minds and hearts around, that’s ok. I don’t think the movement to bring Peace to Earth would be a genuine and authentic one if it weren’t radical and brought up the difficult questions. Because unconditionally loving someone is a radical notion.

Saying the Kingdom of God is for everyone is a radical statement.