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To learn more about making a positive impact in the world through your portfolio, please visit investments.onascent.com or speak with your financial advisor about OneAccent Investments today. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 19, 17. Hi, I'm Rob West. As Christians, we're called to be generous.
But what does that look like when someone asks for money on the street? Should we give? Is there a better way to help? Today, Dr. David W.
Jones joins us to explore the ethics of giving to homeless people and how to show compassion without causing harm. Then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Well, we're honored to have Dr. David W. Jones with us today. He's a senior professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and completed his PhD on Christian financial ethics. He's also the author of several books and articles on moral and theological issues.
David, great to have you on the program today. Thanks, Rob. It's good to be here. David, you recently wrote an article for the upcoming issue of our Faithful Steward magazine on giving to those on the side of the road. It addresses a question many believers wrestle with.
What should we do when someone who is homeless asks for help? It's a situation many of us encounter and one that raises both practical and spiritual questions.
So to begin, would you help us build a biblical foundation? What does God's Word teach about caring for the poor? I think it's important, and I think all Christians would probably agree with us that. As believers, we certainly want to have a concern for the poor. We certainly want to have a heart that desires to help.
And that simply comes from Scripture. I think of Matthew 5:42, which Christ says, Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Or 1 John 3:17, where John writes and says, But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? And so I think scripture is clear that we need to have a concern for the poor. We should want to help the poor.
Really, the devil in the details is, but how do we do that? And that's maybe the harder question. Yeah, that's right. And especially when we get into a situation like we're describing today, specifically being asked for help from someone on the street, we see perhaps they're homeless or appear to be. You know, that may involve a sinful lifestyle, and that brings up a whole host of questions.
So perhaps there are some questions we should ask ourselves when someone approaches us for money. What might those be? I think, you know, first off, when you see somebody on the side of the street, and perhaps you're at a red light, and there's someone there with a sign, you know, that's. asking for help, asking for money. I think the first thing that I like to do personally is sort of check What is my assumption in my heart about that person?
And honestly, Rob, oftentimes where my heart goes is I think, well, the reason why that person is in need, it's because they're lazy, it's because they have a drug habit, it's because they're unwilling to work. And I find myself sort of silently condemning the homeless person and the person who's in need. And what I call that that sort of that heart position. Really, the phrase I've used in the past is being middle class in spirit. Where, what I'm doing is, I'm saying, hey, I have a car, I have a job because I work hard and I have what I have because I've been willing to labor for it.
But of course, we know that Christ called us not to be middle class in spirit, but to be poor in spirit. And matter of fact, that guy on the side of the street, he may be a drug addict, he may be lazy, he may be unwilling to work, he may be, in a sense, unworthy of our help. But that's the very reason why we should desire to help him. Because if we think bigger picture, just I mean, maybe a different question is this: what if God waited until we deserved his love and help in order to help us?
Well, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so, actually, it's because that homeless person actually. Doesn't deserve our help, that's the very reason why we should desire to help them. And so getting that heart in a right position, I find really is the first step, and in some senses, almost the hardest thing to do, because usually our interaction in those settings, you know, we're not necessarily on the top of our game spiritually, and oftentimes we start out in the wrong place. Boy, that is so well said, and I think a great foundation for our discussion today.
The next question then is: how do I help? And we'll get into that just around the corner. Also, what about just this overwhelming feeling that you want to be able to help everyone? And you know, you can't, that and much more. We're talking today with David W.
Jones. He's senior professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Much more on helping the homeless just around the corner. Stay with us. Imagine having biblical financial wisdom delivered to your inbox every week, helping you integrate your faith and financial decisions for the glory of God.
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Soundmindinvesting.org. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance as we tackle a particularly challenging topic. To help guide the conversation, we're joined today by Dr. David W. Jones, Senior Professor of Christian Ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Jones earned his PhD with a focus on Christian financial ethics.
So he is someone that we are really excited about weighing in on these topics. Today, specifically, we're talking about this question we all wrestle with, and that is, should I give money to homeless people? And there are a host of issues there. And David, before the break, you were talking about really how we should posture ourselves, how we look at this through the lens of scripture, some of the perspective that we bring into this. And you said, undoubtedly, we are to give to help those in need.
The question is how?
So, is it ever wrong to give money directly to someone who's homeless? When we're being asked for money on the street? Or is the bigger issue how we give? Unpack that for us. Yeah, you know, getting the heart right that we talked about is maybe the first step, you know, but the second important step: how do I do this?
And certainly we don't want to act in such a way where we end up enabling sin or empowering sin or not even acting in a way that would insulate somebody from the natural consequences of their sin, because oftentimes that's something that's built in that God uses to promote repentance. And so we want to act in a way that shows love for our neighbor. And so Oftentimes, giving money directly to someone on a street corner is not going to be the best course of action. While it might not be inherently wrong, they could take that money and they could use that to finance a drug or alcohol habit or use it in other ways. Sinful ways.
And so I've always encouraged people to make some type of a non-cash gift. And that could be. If you have time, offering to buy them a meal uh at uh a local restaurant or Even I know folks, it's even been my practice to carry some non-perishable food in my car, like a box of granola bars. If someone asks for help, rather than offering them a $10 bill, offering them a granola bar. And so trying to help in a way that, as best as it's possible with my own actions, our own actions.
That we're trying to show love of a neighbor, that we're not purposely putting someone in harm's way. by enabling them to perhaps continue in sin. Yeah. David, how do we process that from an ethics standpoint? You know, we want to help.
Perhaps we feel the leading of the Lord to help. Maybe there's a small child standing next to them. We'd love to be able to give them some cash that they could use to put gas in the car or maybe get a roof over their head, make the rent payment. How do we think about the responsibility we have to protect them, which we can't control? And do we leave that to the Lord?
And is that okay? Or should we bear some of that responsibility that perhaps because of the situation we're in, we should naturally conclude that it would likely be used for things that would be sinful. And therefore, we have some responsibility before the Lord. How do we process that? Yeah, I think it's all about being a good steward and acting wisely.
Now, of course, in a brief encounter on a street corner as we're walking to the office or Again, maybe you're at a stoplight and there's someone there on the side of the road. And before the light turns green or before you get to the next block, you're probably not going to be able to learn a lot about. What's actually the cause of this person's poverty and why are they here? And we're not going to be able to get information in order to discern what they might do with a gift that I give them. And so.
I think the important part is having that desire to help. We're even preparing in advance to help when we have these encounters. And then helping in the best way possible in that given context that we find ourselves in. I think that's really what the Lord is going to hold us responsible for. And that really ought to be the goal that we're aiming for.
Yeah. What about engaging in a deeper way? My sister, for example, you know, repeatedly saw an elderly woman that obviously appeared homeless and very poor at a grocery store over a long period of time. She ended up befriending her. They became very close and journeyed together over years, often meeting.
She, you know, met her at her small apartment. They helped financially. I mean, they, she, my sister and her husband invested in this woman's life. And I think that's a picture, a beautiful picture of how we can help those in need. It does bring up, you know, questions of safety and is that, you know, appropriate and those types of things.
But how do you think about engaging beyond that handout of a granola bar deeper in someone's life? Oh, that's that's a great question. And what a great example by your sister there, Rob. Essentially, there's three broad causes of poverty, and I wouldn't have time to dive into all the depths of this, but the three causes of poverty are personal sin. Natural evil, like think maybe like a hurricane or a tornado, or oppression by others, or essentially other people's sin.
And based upon the cause of poverty, That really shapes and really directs us in how we might seek to address poverty. And there's two broad ways that poverty can be addressed. There is an aid-based model, which is kind of giving out aid indiscriminately. And for example, if someone is homeless because of a natural disaster, well, then we want to give aid pretty much without question and as soon as possible. Yes.
But the second model is a developmental-based model. And that's more, I think, of what you described there with your sister. Where somebody who perhaps is in poverty because of oppression by someone else, or perhaps even by their own poor choices.
Well, that's going to involve long-term personal involvement in order to address the poverty. And should that become possible by encountering somebody or perhaps getting involved in a group or organization that has a long-term model set up, that can be an incredibly effective and as well as incredibly rewarding way to address poverty. And so it's those two approaches. Whenever we see poverty, we kind of have to process, is immediate sort of indiscriminate aid appropriate in this context or is a developmental kind of long-term thing more appropriate? And so it takes some thought in order to kind of work through various instances that we find ourselves in.
Yeah. We've only got about 90 seconds left. We're going to have to have you back clearly. But what about someone, and we get this question often who's in our listening audience today, David, saying, I'm just overwhelmed by the needs around me, and I want to help everyone. I just don't know where to start.
What a common reaction among so many believers. There's a principle that I've written about and talked about elsewhere. It's called the principle of moral proximity. And what this principle teaches is that we are most morally responsible for those who are closest to us. And this has been helpful to me because it can be easy to be overwhelmed, say, by world hunger.
But in fact of the matter is I probably can't solve world hunger from my living room. But there may be people in my immediate circles, maybe my neighborhood, my church, my town, who I'm going to come across on a weekly basis who I can actually make a meaningful difference in their lives. And if all Christians who are out there addressed first the poverty that was closest to them, well then obviously there's going to be a large kind of scale effect of that. And really, the fact of the matter is, we're most equipped to actually deal with those who are closest to us. And so, indeed, big problems require big solutions.
And God's called us to take care of what's in front of us first. There's no doubt about that. Folks, if you'd like to read his article on this very topic in our upcoming issue of the Faithful Stewart magazine, become a FaithFi partner at $35 a month or $400 a year at faithfi.com/slash give. David, thanks for being with us today. Thanks, Rob.
That's David W. Jones, Senior Professor of Christian Ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Back with your questions after this. Stick around. FaithFi is grateful for support from One Ascent.
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That's chministries.org slash faithfi. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. We're going to get to as many calls as we can here in our final segment today. Let's head to Texas. Dennis, go ahead.
How you doing, um? Uh, I recently got a disbursement check from a personal injury claim that happened a couple of years ago after my wife and I paid off our cars and Pretty much almost all of our debt. We only have two revolving accounts that are interest-free. I think they're each under $1,000. Pretty much our savings and everything we have right now in a high yield savings account is about fifty thousand, give or take.
No kids, we don't have mortgage. I'm forty four, I make about eighty to a hundred a year, cheap banks bubbled. fifty give or take uh I just want to know, is it something that we should put all of it into? Or can we enjoy some of it? Or it'd be nice to have a new truck, but then that's another payment that I really don't want.
What are some good investment options? Yeah, yeah, great.
Well, I mean, with no debt, no mortgage and savings, you're in a strong position. I think the next step depends on your goals and your timeline.
So, for many couples in their 40s and 50s, a smart approach to $50,000 would be: first of all, let's shore up and just set aside that emergency fund of three to six months' expenses. If you've got that separate from this, great. If you don't, let's allocate whatever your total spending is for the month times three, all the way up to as much as six. Let's get that into a high-yield savings account. You don't have any other debt to pay off.
So, now we're looking at getting this invested and preferably in a tax-efficient way. Do you guys have a retirement plan at work, either of you, available to you? She does, I know for sure. I do. It's probably.
minimal, I I think You know, I pulled out. I was in the TSB program for federal government. in the early two thousands and I was young, single bachelor, wanted to move and get out of it, so I took everything out and Just just spin it away, but But I started over here and there, but it's it's pretty minimal, that's why I'm thinking Looking in the future, probably be the best bet. Got it.
Okay. Yeah. So I think that's what's going to be key: you guys starting to get 10 to 15 percent of your income going into long-term retirement savings. You know, a quick way to do that is to go ahead and fully fund a couple of Roth IRAs. You could open those, you know, just at Fidelity or Schwab and use a Robo-Advisor there, Fidelity Go, or the Schwab Intelligent portfolios to get those invested in low-cost index funds that capture the broad moves of the market and just get that growing for you on a tax-free basis.
I would also go ahead and start retirement plans. I would prioritize the retirement plan at either your place of work or hers if there's any matching. Let's take full advantage of that if you've got that available to you. If not, then let's just try to get that 10 to 15 percent going into it. And if that means you've got to subsidize.
That salary deferral that's going into the retirement plan by pulling some of that $50,000 while it lasts, then let's do it. Because essentially, you're pulling it out of one pocket by spending it. And putting it into a retirement plan through an increased salary deferral.
Now, ideally, you'd be able to get up to 10-15% salary deferral for the two of you and still just be able to build your budget to live on the rest. That'd be great. But if you can't, that's a way of slowly moving the $50,000 or what's left after you shore up your emergency fund from a taxable environment to a tax-deferred environment by raising your salary deferral and then pulling from that to supplement as long as you can. Does that make sense? Yeah, so we do have programs at work, uh, retirement plans and you're saying, uh, match as best as we can and then start pulling from that.
50 into that plan? Yeah. I mean, are you so you're not putting anything on a systematic basis in either of those plans now, or you are?
Well we are from our uh paychecks. Yeah, do you know what percent? I think I'm at uh three or four. Sh I think she matches at max, probably seven, I think.
Okay, great. Yeah, I mean the goal should be ten to fifteen percent for both of you coming out of your paycheck. And all I'm saying is if if you if it would require you to start pulling from the fifty, if you pushed it up to fifteen percent, Until you exhausted the 50,000, that would be a way through salary deferral of you moving this 50,000 from a taxable environment to a tax-deferred environment to try to accelerate your retirement contributions. Eventually, you'd have to drop it back down to whatever fits within your budget, but raising it for a period of time until you have systematically moved it all into that tax-deferred environment would be one strategy. A second strategy would be you just keep on your current path with your retirement plans, and then we just start funding Roth IRAs out of this money each year, put in the max, and then you've got two Roths growing plus your two retirement plans growing plus your TSP.
I think the other thing to do would be, in addition to shoring up the emergency fund, if you need any of the 50 for that, you know, that's where we get into shorter-term savings goals. And maybe one of those is your car. You know, you just say, listen, you know, we know cars wear out. I mean, my strategy is to drive them till the wheels fall off. I mean, my current car is from 2014, and I don't plan to get rid of it.
It's paid for and it works, and I'm going to drive it as long as I can. But at some point, you're going to need a new car. And so, if you wanted to allocate a portion of this and even make a payment to yourself going forward to be able to buy it with cash, that wouldn't be a bad idea either.
So, it ultimately is going to come down to priorities. And I think savings first in terms of emergency, then other short-term savings goals, and then making sure you're on track to save what you need for retirement, either through Roths or your company-sponsored plan.
So, I hope that helps, Dennis. I appreciate your call today. Lord bless you. Call anytime. Quickly to Miami, Alejandra, we have just about a minute left.
How can I help you? We have a property, an investment property that we paid off, or we have the cash to paid off what we owed already. And we were debating if keeping the property or selling the property and being able to roll it over to a retirement plan if that is Possible or exist because that's all we have for retirement. And we're like 55. Yeah, very good.
No, unfortunately, there's not a way to roll an investment property. Unless you owned it in what's called a self-directed IRA, so it's already in a retirement plan. You can't just roll it into a retirement plan to avoid the taxes because retirement plans, number one, have to have contribution limits. And so, depending on what type of retirement plan it is, you can only contribute up to a certain amount in any given year. And number two, they have to take straight contributions.
It can't be, you know, appreciated assets.
So, the only way you could save on taxes in the sale of this property would be: number one, if you wanted to be charitable with a portion of it, you could give away a portion of the property prior to the sale to like a donor advised fund, but that money would have to be given to a nonprofit. You couldn't use that for yourself. The second way is if you want to stay in real estate, you could use a 1031 exchange and roll the proceeds of property one into another property and then push that down the road. Apart from that, you're going to have to sell it, pay the capital gains, and then you could look at putting. It into an annuity or a retirement plan.
Thanks for your call today. Big thanks to my team today: Taylor Stanrich, Amy Rios, Stan Anderson, plus everybody here at Faith5 that makes this possible. We'll see you next time. God bless you. Faith and Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you.
