An article in the Guardian Newspaper states that it is believed that the longer the homeless spend on the streets, the more difficult it is to encourage them back into society.
St Paul states that, ‘if a man will not work, he will not eat.’ This is clear that he believes that a person has to do something to receive a reward or that if no energy is put into something then, there will be no food. Perhaps he was pointing out that we need to earn our living and being given our living is wrong.
Against
Some Christians may believe that this statement is untrue.
Emergency aid is brought to those in desperate states who are unable to fend for themselves; people who have just been hit by natural disasters or war.
Christian Aid is currently responding to the famine crisis in Ethiopia by supporting the work of partner organisation, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, which is providing supplementary 'famix', a special high energy porridge, to more than 2,000 children aged under five and pregnant and nursing mothers in Bale, southern Oromia. Over 16,000 internally displaced people have moved into the region in search of food, having fled their drought-stricken homeland. This doesn’t make people lazy, as it is energy being provided for them to be able to do their everyday tasks.
Long term aid helps people get back to normal after a crisis, seeds for crops are an example if the has been famine. It doesn’t provide the food straight away but it helps people to work and earn, providing seeds for the following year. Another example is the provision of water pumps, which give a regular safe and long term supply of water for such things as drinking and irrigation. A Chinese proverb, which is often used, is, ‘ give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.’
Conclusion
Although some might say the statement is untrue, I tend to agree with it. This is because if a person is suffering and aid is just handed to them to such an extent that they will be entirely dependent on the charity to help them. If an entire village is being helped then the farming economy can become undercut therefore leading to more people becoming poor and needing aid. But I disagree that charity keeps people lazy. This is because it is help. We in England have a lot more money than many of the third world countries put together. We don’t need all this money therefore it is good to give to others what we don’t need. Our money is then transferred into aid that is needed to get a country back together.