Compassion Is Not Enabling
Since I started working at FMS, I’ve heard the question many times: “Why help the homeless? Aren’t you just enabling them?” It’s a sentiment that comes up often, whether I’m talking to people in the community or even some of my own friends. Their idea is that providing food, clothing, or shelter to people experiencing homelessness—many of whom struggle with addiction, mental health issues, or poor decision making—is just making their problems worse.
I understand the thought. To some extent, we all apply the same logic in other areas of our lives. Parents, for example, giving in to their child’s wants during a tantrum would be enabling or encouraging that negative behavior, whereas withholding what the child wants in the moment would teach them the behavior is unacceptable. Where I believe the concept has gone too far is to suggest we should withhold kindness, dignity or basic necessities from anyone, even if they are suffering due to their own poor choices.
As a Christian, I can’t accept that ideology. It runs counter to everything I know about God’s love, grace, and the way Jesus calls us to treat one another. The Bible is filled with examples of God’s compassion for the sinful, the lost, the poor, the suffering, and the outcast. Helping those in need isn’t enabling; it’s living out the gospel.
Jesus and the Poor
In Jesus’ own ministry, He didn’t avoid the poor or look down on those who were struggling. Instead, He walked among them, healed them, and loved them. In Matthew 25:35-40, Jesus makes it clear how we are to treat those in need:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
When we serve a meal to someone who hasn’t eaten all day or give them a coat when it’s freezing outside, we’re not “enabling” them. We’re responding to Jesus’ call to love and care for “the least of these.”
Compassion Over Judgment
Another argument I often hear is that people experiencing homelessness have brought it on themselves through bad choices. Maybe they’ve struggled with addiction, committed crimes, or mismanaged their money. While that is true for some, it’s not for us to judge whether someone is worthy of being treated the way Jesus commands us. Regardless of their shortcomings, we are no more deserving of anything than anyone else is. None of us are without sin or mistakes. Romans 3:23 reminds us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
If His ultimate sacrifice for our sins wasn’t example enough of the extent to which we should show forgiveness and grace, all throughout His ministry Jesus showed compassion even to those suffering the consequences of their own sins. Think of the woman caught in adultery in John 8. The crowd wanted to stone her, but Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). One by one, the crowd dispersed, and Jesus told her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11).
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
One of the most powerful examples of compassion in the Bible is the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). In the story, a man is beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest and a Levite—both religious leaders—see him but pass by on the other side.
It’s the Samaritan, a man from a group despised by the Jews, who stops to help. He bandages the man’s wounds, takes him to an inn, and pays for his care.
The Samaritan didn’t stop to ask how the man ended up in his predicament or whether he “deserved” help. He simply acted out of compassion. Jesus tells us to “go and do likewise.”
We don’t ask why someone is homeless or whether they’ve made mistakes before we decide whether they deserve help. We show them the kind of love that God has shown to us.
Faith in Action
As a Christian, seeing a need means doing what we can to provide for the need, not just wishing it gets solved while we do nothing. James 2:15-16 says:
“Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”
Faith calls us to act, even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable. Helping the poor or homeless isn’t a question of enabling—it’s living out our faith and showing God’s love in tangible ways.
A Call to Compassion
It may seem like helping those experiencing poverty and homelessness while they continue to make poor choices doesn’t solve the root problem, but it actually is a step toward breaking the cycles of poverty, addiction and depression. I’ve seen it. People who feel hopeless and unloved are less likely to believe they can change or are even worthy of change. But when we show them they matter, we give them a reason to hope.
What would Jesus do? Would He turn His back, or would He extend His hand?
As Christians, we’re called to love our neighbors, including those who are struggling. That love isn’t always easy, but it’s what God asks of us.
Jesus’ teaching and His own example show us that judgment doesn’t bring transformation—love does.
