by Richard Robuck
City Church Elder
Houston is a complicated place. Downtown Houston is even more so. You have all spectrums of people walking down the same streets, from the extreme one percenters to the extreme ninety-nine percenters. What do they have in common? They have a great need for mercy from the Lord. What does that mean practically? It means that at times those worlds collide and at other times those worlds are repelled, and you can guess who is usually doing the repelling.
Mercy is also complicated, and I have no good answer for how to properly interact with the people I meet downtown. While I have resolved to help via supporting places like Star of Hope, the Houston Food Bank, Magnificat, and other places providing food and material needs, that doesn’t necessarily “solve” the pull that I have towards finding those who are really in need and helping them. My point in writing this was to just admit that mercy is hard to navigate. I bet it was just as hard back when Jesus lived, but I don’t want to ignore Jesus’ words just because it isn’t easy or because I sometimes think I have found an efficient solution to checking this box.
I experience this challenge personally on a regular basis. I walk outside to and from my parking lot, which is across from House of Blues, to get to my office building everyday. Most of the time, I elect to avoid people that could ask me for something or that might just yell at me. For example, one time after church on the way to the same parking lot, a man decided to loudly let me know that I was not Luke Skywalker. I was afraid for my family, and I was later saddened for him. Yet, I had no mercy to give.
Another event right after I returned to the office post the lockdown can’t escape my mind. I saw through a window a man across the street, and I proactively pulled out money to give to him. When our paths finally crossed, he asked and I gave. A few words passed between us, and as I headed off, he said abruptly, “are you my enemy?” I was stunned, but I also assumed that he was struggling with so much given everything going on at that time. I said that I was not and that I was only at that moment reaching out to help another man. He quickly pivoted and our conversation ended, but I continue to remember his question to me.
Years ago, I encountered a man who said he needed money to get to Dallas for various reasons. I decided to give him all of the money in my wallet, which I think was about $70. He was so thankful, and the next thing I knew we were hugging in the middle of the street. If I remember correctly, I said that I would give him the money if he promised that I would not meet him anytime soon on the Houston streets. A few weeks later, he was asking me for money again, with a new story and a new name.
As followers of Christ, we are asked to be merciful. And yet we know that there is not one right answer on how to be merciful in our fallen world. From a practical view, I try to be intentional about helping regardless of the known outcome. And from a heart view, I ask the Lord as David does in Psalms 51 to search my heart and reveal to me how I need to change.