Top Ten Characteristics of the Lower Class That Disgust The Middle Class

1. Addiction to anything—smoking, overeating, or worse.

2. Foul language, even if God or Jesus are not mentioned.

3. Undiagnosed mental illness—impulsiveness, suicidal thoughts, paranoia, manic behavior.

4. Financial inadequacy—inability to keep a budget, make payments on time, pay off debts; on welfare.

5. Communication weaknesses—constantly interrupting, only talking about oneself, monologuing without a break.

6. Extreme emotion—persistent anger, weeping, even happiness.

7. Work difficulty—working, but not having a job; unable to work at all; able to work only part time; constantly changing jobs.

8. Criminal background—The worse the crime, the higher the wall.

9. Time apathy—Not keeping appointments, impulsiveness, making others wait for personal reasons.

10. Poor hygiene—Smells bad, bad complexion or teeth, dirty.

Poverty Pimps

The toughest thing about conquering injustice is seeing it. Once it is seen, we may have to sacrifice much—even our own lives—to be rid of that injustice. However, the sacrifices pale in comparison with understanding that the system we live with daily, that we take advantage of, that we have learned to succeed in, that we even love and support is fundamentally warped. If we can accomplish this paradigm shift in our minds, then injustice won’t have a chance. Of course, there is getting to that place, achieving that paradigm shift.
In our society today there are many who are poor, as we well know. Children are hungry, families are homeless, men are unemployed, women work in a low-paying service industry. Poverty is there, but it is something we have grown used to. After all, Jesus said, the poor would always be among us, and that which we see daily, we learn to live with the existence of, no matter how wrong it is.
But there are some who not only see poverty, but they also see how that poverty can turn to their profit. There are some that feed off of other people’s need. They are vampires that not only suck out the poor’s life stream, but the very energy of the people who most desperately need assistance. These are what I call poverty pimps.
A poverty pimp is one who gains benefit from perpetuating other’s poverty. Listed below are some who keep the poor in poverty, while making a profit off of it. These listed are not necessarily those who cause poverty—the causes of poverty are complex and difficult to ascertain at times. But they take advantage of the poor, seducing them and then raping them economically, forcing them to remain in the shame and rejection of being economically needy.

Small loan companies
For those on social security or who survive on low wages, if any emergency happens between checks, then there is no economic assistance for them. Should such an emergency happen, they can go to a local loan company, that will give them a hundred dollars or so to help them make it to their next check. While this sounds like a reasonable service to those in economic need, in reality, these loan companies charge from 100 to 200% interest on every loan. In doing this, they perpetuate the economic emergency to last not weeks but months. Those in need then find that they are dependant on the loans, some taking out loans in order to pay off others. While this sounds somewhat similar to credit card companies, these small loan businesses particularly targets the poor. This is now a billion dollar industry, built on the backs of the poor.

Large businesses that pay low wages
There are many employers that treat their employees well. They pay them a livable wage, if not always high, and they do what they can to assist them if they are in need. However, with so many large corporations focusing on profit, they often give their employees the short end of the stick. Many businesses have made it an art to avoid giving their employees benefits such as health care or even paying workman’s comp. Many businesses force their employees to work until exhausted, and then they don’t provide them a wage to care for themselves or their families. Other businesses hire large numbers of employees for part of the year, and then lay them off for months out of the year. Other businesses pay low wages and then constantly change their employees hours, from one shift to another, guaranteeing that they would never have the energy to get a better job, better education or to give their children a better life. Other businesses hire many employees, but only part time, so to have a full wage they have to work more than one job. Other businesses hire employees and then fire them before they need to pay any benefits. Of course, some small businesses must do some of this, if only to survive from year to year. But the large million- or billion-dollar corporations that pay low wages in order to maintain their status as a huge profit-making corporation are making that profit due to their employee’s poverty.

Government lotteries
Gambling has become a national phenomenon, when it used to be illegal except for small pockets of "sin dens". This is due to the need of government to look like they are providing "tax cuts", while still increasing their budgets. One of the many solutions governments are looking to is state lotteries or games which offer money if you are the "lucky winner." Although some states have placed warnings on their ads, "This is for entertainment only, not for investment purposes," the warnings are as effective as cigarette carton labels. The reason is that the ones being taxed are those who have a genetic weakness toward gambling and get rich quick schemes. It has been proven that some have a genetic weakness toward addiction and gambling is one of these weaknesses. And the governments are taxing these individuals who, for the most part, are already struggling with poverty and addiction. The ads stir up their weakness and the fact that the machines are in every store and mall encourages their use. And more machines are being created that make them attractive to addicts—poker machines and some that look like slots. Yes, the governmentally-approved gambling is successful, as governments have more money to spend. But it has economically destroyed addicts and their families.

Banks
It is almost impossible to cash a paycheck or a government check without a bank account. And many banks offer accounts that are "free" or with a minimal monthly charge that are attractive to the poor with the idea in mind that they can cash their checks with no fee. However, for the poor, the ad of "free checking" is a seductive misnomer. Most of the poor have difficulty keeping track of money and numbers. How much one spends is difficult to gauge, and no matter how careful one is, eventually a slip will be made and one’s account will go into negative numbers. This is especially easy, as banks are making withdrawals easier to do with multiple ways of doing it—through checks, tellers and debit cards. Thus, one can overspend and not know it easily. And then the account-holder discovers that the account is far from free. Going into a negative balance will have a twenty to forty dollar fee. Any outstanding checks that attempt to be cashed against the account will be another twenty to forty dollar fee. And many banks have a policy of charging five dollars every day the account is overdrawn. Thus, before one even knows that the account is overdrawn, it is easy to owe the bank a hundred to a hundred fifty dollars. On top of this, the poor person will usually have to wait a week or two before their next check, by which the fees will have raised to two hundred or more dollars. Some would say, "Then they just need to take better care of their balance." However, most of the poor are not accountants, and, of course, we are all human and make mistakes sometimes. The banks, however, depend on these mistakes and take ultimate advantage of these mistakes as they are able.

Supermarkets
Our society depends on grocery stores and supermarkets. This is where we buy our staples and necessities. And, much to their credit, they often give fair prices to the staples we most need—flour, milk, cheese, chicken and more. But these staples is never what the stores emphasize. They have had studies done which tell them where to place the non-essentials, and how to lower the prices to make them look attractive so that more people would buy them. The poor walk into these stores with enough money to buy the essentials and little else. But when they see the prices of Little Debbie pastries—placed at the end of the aisles where no one can miss them—they decide to take some of their minimal cash and spend it on them. They seem so cheap, they are very tasty and they fill children’s stomachs and keep them from complaining about their hunger. Others will see the prices of ice cream, the sales on sugar cereals or other non-essentials. The grocery stores provide food that is healthy, at very high prices, and they provide the staples—but they push the items that destroy families’ health and increase health care for everyone.

Prosperity churches/ministries
Most churches try to do what is right for the poor, in as much as they know how. This makes sense, since their God tells them in many times and ways that they are to assist the poor. Some churches and ministries have the philosophy that poverty is a spirit that must be defeated, and, they say, it can be. They take passages out of context, and assume that if one wants to obtain money and wealth, that they need to give money to the church. In fact, they claim, that whatever money the poor gives to the church, they will gain ten times as much. What church should they give to? Of course, the church that is making the statement. Thus, the church claims, if you give to us ten dollars, God will give you a hundred. If you give us a hundred, you will get a thousand from God. And so on. Since they claim that they have a route out of poverty, many poor people clamor to the churches. The principle is easy to understand, and simple to implement. However, such a spiritual pyramid scheme is not found in the Bible, nor taught by any theologian of any denomination. Again, it is a simple way for certain churches and ministries to amass their own fortunes by taking advantage of the poor. Does this mean that God does not bless one who tithes? No, but God provides for everyone who surrenders all to Him. And the giving? Again, the giving is not to churches who take from the poor. Rather, according to Jesus, the giving is TO the poor. Such ministries will be judged by God.

Local governments
Governments usually do what people expect them to do—protect, license, legalize—and not much more than that. Of course, to do all of this, it requires money to pay for the workers and to pay for the bureaucracy. The minimum of what most governments do is require those who request a license to pay for it. However, when society requires a sixty plus dollar fee for a license to do what is considered minimal in our society—obtain a license for marriage or for driving a car, for example—it is difficult if not impossible for the poorest in our society to pay for such minimal requirements. If someone was going to try to better their life economically by selling something on the street, they must have a business license, which, if they could afford one they might take a different avenue of commerce. Even having an identification—which is required by law, required to have a job or to do almost anything in our society and which is becoming more and more difficult for the poorest of the poor to obtain—requires more than twenty dollars. But worse than all of that, often certain governments charge people to be helplessly in need. If a person is exhausted because they were unable to sleep the night before, they might be charged with sleeping on a bench waiting for a bus. If a person is unable to pay extra to clean debris from his yard, he is fined. If someone is camping—due to the fact that they have no place to live— out of sight of anyone, if found they are charged with camping illegally and in some places given a large fine. Since the poor and homeless do not have the energy or opportunity to participate in government, they end up being charged to live in the best way they can.

Justice System
Many people who are poor have had to deal with the law. Let’s say for instance that a homeless person was charged with trespassing because he did not know where he was in the dark. If he was close to a person’s house, he would be arrested and jailed until the court was able to make their case—perhaps two weeks. Of course, he would be declared guilty, because it would be his word against the middle class plaintiffs, and even if one of his buddies was with him, a court-appointed defense lawyer wouldn’t have the money to find him, nor would he be listened to by the court. At this point, the judge might want to show "leniency" on the defendant, so he would fine him, say, two hundred dollars, and require him to contact a probation officer once a week. This sentence, however, is no justice at all, for the guilty party would not be able to pay the fine, nor does he have access to a phone to call his p.o. After a few weeks of not hearing from him, the officer sets out a warrant for his arrest. It may take months, but eventually the homeless man will be requested by a police officer to show his identification. At this point, he is arrested again, taken to jail again, brought before the judge who gives him the same sentence as before. This cycle can go on for many years. Those who have places to live might be able to contact their p.o., but unable to pay their fines. These fines can accumulate until they are in the thousands, and as soon as that person gets a job that pays him above the table, the court then takes out more than half of his meager paycheck. So many who are in this situation just never plan on having a job unless they can be paid under the table. This system is even worse among those whom the government has taken away their children. Although they may have done nothing to their children—especially as some victims of child protection agencies have their children taken from them at birth—they still have a running tally of a government bill that they must pay. For most of the poor, they would rather spend a few months—or even years—in jail, rather than having this impossible economic requirement placed on them. And many of them are of the opinion that the jails and prisons purpose to keep them as long as possible in order to gain more money for their services.

This is injustice. It is in the very heart of our system. It is at the heart of our government, our corporations, our churches. Why do we put up with it? The toughest part of conquering injustice is knowing it is there—the second toughest is deciding that we ourselves are going to do something about it. "If you weaken in the day of injustice, you have no real strength. Rescue those who are seduced by the embrace of death—Grab back those who walk blindly into slaughter. If you say, "How were we to know?"—your Judge knows your motives, your every thought. He sees your mind, and He will give to everyone according to what they have done." Proverbs 24:10-12 (paraphrased by Steve Kimes). It is time to us to act upon what we know.

What Are The Needs of the Homeless?

The heart of compassion in the United States sees the plight of the homeless. They know that God hears their cries, and feel that God is calling them to accomplish a work to assist these lowest of low, the poor and needy. What can we do? So many Christians have done so many works among the homeless, but the problem still remains. What can really be done to heal these people?

Who are the Homeless?
Before we can answer this question, we must first understand what homelessness is. Homelessness is not about not having a house. The real question is: what are the reasons the homeless can not obtain regular housing? Housing, of course, is not something one can solve in a short period of time. Housing is to be obtained on a monthly, daily basis—whether one pays rent or a mortgage. And so homelessness is not caused by any particular incident, such as the loss of a job. The basic issue of homelessness is not just poverty or addiction. Rather, it is an overall inability to function in our American economic system.
The requirements of an individual in the Western economic system is complex. One must have a variety of skills, including—multitasking, basic math, functional literacy, listening and communication abilities, control over one’s emotions, quick decision making, obedience to difficult employers and the energy to endure a forty-hour work week. Our ancestors were mostly subsistence farmers, and these skills, while helpful, were unnecessary for success in that agricultural system. However, if a person is born without ability in even one of these areas, that person is economically crippled for the rest of their lives. If someone has two or more of these areas missing in their lives, then they become economically destitute.
These are the homeless. At least one third of all homeless people have some sort of mental illness—whether diagnosed or not. Some are born with a mental illness, others have it developed over time. Many have been crippled from a young age because of experimenting with drugs or alcohol, which damaged not their intelligence, but their social and processing abilities. Many have experienced severe trauma—like child abuse or participation in a war—and so have been socially crippled.
But many have suffered such difficulties and yet pulled through economically. Some born with autism are functioning even on the professional level. Others with post traumatic stress syndrome have succeeded in amazing ways. Others who have abused themselves with drugs or alcohol have pulled through with economic success. Why have the homeless not pulled through to economic normalcy?
There are two other common characteristics of the homeless. One is that they have little or no support network. Their family rejected them, they have no real friends who are economically independent. Thus, when the many weaknesses in the floor of our economic system fell in on them, they had no one to pull them up. Without a social support network, we are all extremely vulnerable, and in some cases, helpless.
The other common characteristic of the homeless is shame. The homeless understand that, whether through their own fault or through some inner weakness, they have failed in their basic responsibility to society—to be productive. In our society, success is measured to what degree one achieved the American Dream—material security and plenty. But many may be considered full citizens without achieving such success. And citizenship—membership in our society—is determined by productivity. Having a full time job is productive. Raising children to adulthood is productive. Even doing volunteer work most of one’s week is productive, although not as productive as "real" work.
But the chronic homeless, due to their inability to function in our economic system, are disrespected. Our culture can approve of pornographers that make enough money to support themselves, but they cannot respect a persons whose only recourse is begging or dumpster diving—no matter how much work such occupations require. These are shamed in every measure possible. Not only are they dependent on others for their survival, they are given unreasonable demands in order to obtain the basics of their survival. They are mocked by the general populace and denigrated to their face by passersby. They are despised by their families and forgotten by their old friends. The more helpless are regularly beaten by suburban teenagers, looking for excitement. The homeless are the recipients of pity or scorn or a handout or apathy. But one thing they never receive is equality.
And so the homeless develop their own culture. A culture, it is true, that supports denial and false honor, but that is simply because they cannot endure more shame. It is a culture which is devoted to eradicating guilt and dishonor. Some chose the route of forgetting their lives and becoming an imaginary person through drugs or alcohol. Some pursue religion in their own individual, eccentric manner. Some bounce from community to community, attempting to find anyone who will accept them for who they are and not place too many demands on them. Some continually make attempts to re-enter the economic forces that they already failed in. Many of them fail again and again, causing their shame to deepen until unbearable. And so they return to their half-destroyed community, ready to escape their shame again, by any means possible.

What are the needs of the homeless?
In looking to minister to the homeless, one would naturally ask what their needs are. Of course, the best way to discover their needs is to ask them. Too often have ignorant but well-meaning middle class Christians have determined how they are going to "minister to the homeless", or equally ignorant politicians make sounds about "solving" the homeless "problem." However, these lay ministers and politicians don’t have the first idea of what homelessness is really about. They create in their minds an idea of homelessness, fueled by the equally ignorant, judgmental-then-pity-filled media, and then create in their minds the solution to the problem that actually only exists in their minds.
If I had my preference, it would be law that every congressperson, judge, state senator, mayor, principal of any school over elementary, and church leader, before they took their office, would spend a week being homeless, led around by a homeless man, wearing the clothes one receives on the street. It would only be a taste of poverty and lowliness, but it might give them an idea of what the homeless deal with on a day to day basis.
However, since such a law can never be passed in our present system, the next best thing would be to ask and listen to homeless people. What do they say they need? What help do they really look for? Should one spend years interviewing hundreds of homeless folks, one might know what they really are seeking. Below are the results of the responses I received over ten years. It does not replace speaking with and understanding the homeless oneself, but the few insights I have collected are a step in the right direction:
For the first few months, in asking the homeless what they need, we would probably only get an answer about their physical needs. No, these are not their deepest needs, but until one has relationship with the homeless, they cannot trust us with the real answers. They will tell us that they need open access to bathrooms, because most bathrooms are closed to them and in an urban setting urinating in public is illegal. Perhaps they might tell you that in their area they have no access to free clothing. Or perhaps they will tell you that they need food given them before they go to work. Perhaps they will tell you that they have difficulty getting a shower, even once a week. Maybe they will mention how important it is for them to have foot care and that clean socks and healing lotion for their feet are like gold. If it is rainy or cold, they will tell you how hard it is to keep themselves warm and dry out on the street. They may say they need blankets or sleeping bags or tarps or tents. Some will be so bold as to ask for a motel room. All this is true, and necessary. All this we are told by God to provide. But benevolence is insufficient to provide ministry, true spirituality to the homeless. It is an excellent place to begin, and it meets the "felt" needs of the homeless. But there are deeper needs than these.
I have been told that the homeless need an opportunity to work. But their need is not for a forty-hour a week job, nor is it really for a few hours work. Most homeless can work and greatly desire work—this is one way to overcome their shame. However, most homeless also are unable to work every day, or, depending, even every other day. Some can’t do just any job, but their work has to avoid their issues or problems. Some can’t work with other people. Some can’t do heavy labor. Others have difficulty functioning in an office setting. Others cannot endure harsh-sounding commands. It all depends. So the work that would need to be offered is flexible work. Ideally, flexible work that would be available many days of the week, but didn’t actually depend on them to be there every day. This is difficult to achieve, but perhaps we might better understand why the derisive comment, "Just get a job" is so false. One homeless brother thought of a job bank that would request Christians to offer the homeless temporary work and there would be a place with chairs, a phone and a receptionist who might mediate between employers and potential laborers. Somewhat like a flexible day labor service, but the employer pays the laborers directly.
Other homeless expressed the need of a place to stay when ill, even if it’s just a stomach flu. Some homeless will often catch pneumonia or have broken bones, and it is almost impossible to heal on the street, forced to walk miles from meal to meal. If there was a place of rest where the homeless could heal, that would be wonderful
We are still in the arena of standard "homeless ministry"-- benevolence. However, there is a whole realm of things that the homeless value, that they might never express, except to those they consider their true friends. The homeless desperately need honor and respect from those who care for them. They need friendly social interaction. They need people to not treat them as dogs or as projects, but as good human beings. They need to be able to be free to call someone up just to talk, if they want, or to show up at someone’s house and not feel like they are an intrusion. They need to know that someone cares enough to pray for them and to listen to their real hopes and desires and not judge them for it. The homeless need friends, not who will selfishly take advantage of them, nor who will use them to cover up their guilt for being suburban. They need people who show them that they really care. The glue between benevolence and spiritual ministry is encouraging relationship.
Even more than this, the homeless need a community. A community of people who will be there to help when they are in desperate need. A community who will keep them accountable to limits that make sense to them, but will not shame them if they fail. A community that makes them feel like they belong, really belong. People who will be truly happy to see them.
The homeless need a place to worship. They are a truly spiritual people, and some know God better than those who have attended church all their lives. About one third of the homeless truly seek God and see Jesus as an essential part of their lives. They haven’t gone to church, perhaps, because they were outsiders to the church. So they need a place to worship where they don’t feel inadequate because they wear the "wrong" clothes or speak at the wrong time or use the wrong language or smoke out back. They need a Christian community that accepts them as they are, and still loves them enough to assist them when they see that they need to be more. They need a Christian community who will pray for both their felt needs and their real needs. A people of God who will not shame them for their inadequacies, but praise them for their accomplishments, no matter how small.
This is not a job for one person, or one couple. I know. I have been trying for ten years, with many to help serve, but few to offer the community support that was absolutely necessary. Love like this with a group that is so needy, so desperate, will suck you dry if you are on your own. But if there is a group of people who will love without judgement, then they might succeed in bringing two spiritually crippled groups to run in the grace of God’s light and love—both the homeless and the middle class who serve them.
But such a community could only succeed if it is not a greater-to-lesser relationship. If the homeless are not given input on decisions, then the effort will fail. If any leader establishes a new rule for every problem, the effort will fail. If the leadership loses patience with the needy, throws up their hands and say, "Won’t they every get better?" the effort will fail. If some Christians use their own cultural standards to point at other brothers or sisters and say, "They aren’t a good enough Christian," then the effort will fail. If the community fails to listen to the needs of the least, the weakest, of the community, then the effort will fail. If brothers or sisters who fall into sin, but they turn back and repent each time, aren’t forgiven for simply repenting, then the effort will fail. God must have much mercy on such a community.

What can churches do?
Honestly, I must say that such a community is what I have been attempting to establish for seven years. Anawim Christian Community is still ministering by God’s grace. If I were seeking support for my congregation, I would ask for workers who love and serve and listen—which is what I pray to God for. But such a community is not the only way churches can support the homeless. A coalition of churches can also support the homeless in the following ways:

Provide a network of homeless-friendly congregations
Create a list of churches that have an open-door, no shame policy for the homeless. Perhaps a list of Christian recovery groups could also be made. The churches who would be on this list are not just those that have a "homeless ministry." There are many who do benevolent work for the homeless, but the homeless are not welcome to visit their service. Or if the homeless did visit the service, they would be made immediately uncomfortable by the dress (or the gazes) of the congregation. Rather, a list should be made of churches that specifically welcome the homeless and make allowances for them, such as, in Portland, Liberation Street Church and Peace Mennonite Church (not to mention Anawim Christian Community).

Establish prayer/counseling centers for the lower class
Perhaps a center can be developed downtown, or near downtown that offers prayer and counseling for the needy and poor. Some coffee can be offered, and maybe a pot of soup, but the focus of the ministry would be to welcome and to spiritually serve those on the street. It wouldn’t be a shelter, but a quiet place to focus on God and Jesus in the way the needy one can understand.

Outreach to the homeless that do not have centers near them right now
In the Portland area, there are homeless in Troutdale and in Forest Park that do not have ministries assisting them. Creative thinkers could establish small ministries that might assist these folks.

Encourage ministers to the homeless
Perhaps a multi-church coalition could find ways to support the ministers that already are there, giving their all for the needy. Many believers are already at their limit, giving all they can for the homeless, poor and mentally ill. But they have few to encourage them, to be their in their times of need, to understand their daily concerns, to pray for them at all times, to support them in spiritual warfare. A group that would support the ministers of the homeless would be supporting the homeless in a powerful way.

Welcoming the Lower Class to The Middle Class Church

I have a confession to make. I get angry, almost irrational, at times. And this is one of my most common triggers: As a pastor to the homeless and the mentally ill, I find myself working with many different Christian agencies that assist the homeless. What I am constantly met with—by both volunteers and regular staff— is the assumption that if we are working with the homeless, then they need to be "saved." That the homeless need evangelistic messages and altar calls. Of course, the assumption that is made, but not spoken, is that the homeless need it more than the middle class. The middle class is fine with Chuck Swindoll, but the homeless need hard-core salvation messages.
That really ticks me off. In my experience about 30% of the homeless are strong Christians—meaning that they speak about God and Jesus openly and are making serious attempts to change their lives in accordance with what they understand to be the Christian faith. This is a higher percentage than middle class Americans. Yet the stereotype of homeless-as-heathen persists.
Do these Christians who speak this false opinion not know homeless folk? Actually, many of those who see the homeless as spiritually inferior have spoken to many homeless and know how many of them are working on their relationship with God through Jesus. And so why does this opinion persist? I think for two reasons, primarily.
First of all, most middle class Christians believe that if the homeless were truly committed to the faith of Jesus that they would "get better", by which they mean they would stop being homeless and become middle class. Thus, if the homeless are still homeless, then they are not truly following the "faith of Jesus". This is not the gospel of Jesus, but the pervasive attitudes of AmericanDreamism. The idea behind this is that the morally and spiritually superior will obtain the material peace of this world. If this assumption is opened to public scrutiny, however, the illogic of it is obvious. Jesus himself was not middle-class American and the lifestyle he exemplified was a life of poverty and homelessness. This does not mean that the reverse is true—that a middle class person must become homeless to follow Jesus—however, I think that Jesus’ warnings communicate that the middle class must make more changes than the poor (for example, Luke 6:20-26).
The second reason for this Christian judgment of the homeless is because they do not see the homeless in their churches. And if one interviews the majority of homeless Christians, it is true that it would be found that most of them do not have a congregation that they would call "my church". Typical evangelicals do not see the homeless sitting in their pews, singing their hymns or choruses or participating in their Sunday schools. This is a mystery to them. If the homeless were truly Christian, wouldn’t they be attending a church—if not theirs, then another?
This fact seems inarguable. Scripture does speak about "not neglecting to gather together", and church-going seems so significant. And it is significant to the homeless as well. And almost every homeless person serious about following Jesus has attempted to attend church. Yet for most of them, once they attend, they never return to a church again.

Necessary Cultural Baggage
Most of us, when we think about church, we think of it as a non-cultural phenomenon, as if it is completely ethereal, without influence from the world. Of course, this is completely untrue. It is as if every church were a frozen banana of core doctrine, dipped in a cultural vat and then rolled in distinctives and specific practices unique to that church, until the core could no longer be seen. Those who are offered this frozen banana as a whole are told about the significance of the core—"it’s sweet and it has a lot of potassium" and they don’t understand that when the person rejects it, it isn’t the core that they are rejecting, but possibly the coconut one sprinkled on the outside, or—God forbid—they don’t care for chocolate.
The homeless almost unanimously rejects the church, not the core that the church represents, but the cultural stylings and trappings that become attached to it. And although probably not a one of them would express it in this way, what they really cannot handle is the middle class culture that almost all American churches are infused with. The way the homeless people express it is: "I just didn’t feel comfortable there." "I wasn’t wearing the right clothes." "People avoided me." "The music was weird." "I just couldn’t sit there any longer." "I was asked to leave." These statements are not communicating a rejection of Jesus or the core of what a church stands for. This is the language of cross-cultural breakdown.
Every culture has its own mores and rules by which they judge those within its own culture. They are the standards of "normalcy" by which the standard-bearers of the culture determine what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. In India, it is normal and acceptable to eat with one’s hands even what would be called a "sticky mess" in our culture. While at an American table the standard-bearer would slap a child’s hand for eating curry and rice with his hands, at the Indian table next door the standard-bearer would slap their child’s hand for eating with their left hand. Different standards, but the common practice is that the one who breaks the more is judged and punished.
In our American multi-culture, adults do not usually punish other adults so directly. Of course, the serious cultural standards are enforced by law and infractions are judged by the courts and punished by fines, imprisonment or some form of accountability. But most of the time, social infractions are punished by some form of social estrangement—being ignored, dirty looks, possibly a verbal rebuke.

Who Makes The Laws?
And who determines these standards, who are the standard-bearers? They are the leaders of the middle-class. Not the president, senators, judges, policemen, mayors and pastors of our society—they are but the cheerleaders, who follow what they are given by the dictates of polls, laws and current moral positioning. The heart of our moral society are the leaders of each family unit—the parents, grandparents and economically independent singles. To be significant, to dictate the conscience of the society, one must be economically independent and able to communicate the middle class culture.
This does not mean that there are not other cultures in the U.S. There are sub-cultures that are usually described by their differences from the middle class culture. This includes various kinds of youth culture, ethnic cultures (meaning non-Anglo cultures, which is itself an ethnic culture), and lower-class cultures, of which the homeless are one part.
The middle class culture and the lower class cultures are not at war. Both parties know who is in charge, who has the economic, political and social power in this society. For the most part, most people, even among the lower class, are content with the power structure as it stands, mostly because of the façade that "everyman"—no matter who they are or what kind of dissenting voice they have—actually has a share in the power of the whole. But the lower class accepts that middle class mores rule our society. Middle class mores, as a whole, are what is considered "normal" and every stray from those mores are prodigals. Both the middle and lower classes accept this fact. It is just that many of the lower classes feel no need to become unprodigalized.
So what is the problem? The middle-class standard-bearers determine the mores of society, both the lower and middle classes accept this fact, so why talk about it? To have one segment, one class of society determine the mores of the whole creates cracks in society that are problematic. It encourages stereotypes that create false judgments—"All homeless are lazy and need jobs." "The elderly need nursing care that the family can’t provide." "Multiple offenders can’t be reformed." "The mentally ill are dangerous." "Drug use indicates participation in more violent crimes." These stereotypes encourage separation, which is, in itself, the ultimate judgment. To judge as unfit for society is to displace from society, to find no way back in. To be judged by a stereotype or to be perpetually ignored because of a standard one cannot live up to is to place an unspoken wall of separation that the more-breaker cannot ever scale. Even if one wished to shed the scales of the lower class and become a full-fledged member of the middle class, the way is barred, because the judgment has already been made.
Not only does the "middle-class normalcy" create an American caste system, but it also invades the minds and emotional health of the lower class. Remember, the lower class, to a degree, accepts the mores of the middle class as "normal" and each individual within the lower class holds themselves up against that standard. Some of the lower class revel in their differences, glorying in their abnormality, laughing at the standard-bearers discomfort. Others of the lower-class, however, see themselves as perpetually inadequate, and for them the consequence is self-loathing. They hate who they are and their lives because they somehow, for some reason have missed the mark of "normal" in the society they see themselves a part of. Yes, they are Americans, but they will never be married, never be accomplished, never attain the white-picket-fence American Dream. Because for all of the proclamation of "diversity" (which has as much effect in the real world as the sound of one hand clapping), only certain kinds of diversity are really accepted. The rest are displaced, dishonored, unaccepted. The eternal outsiders. They are the cast-aways of "normal" society, receiving only the dregs of the prosperity the middle class takes for granted, yet the attitude of much of the middle class is, "they should be glad to receive that much."

Practicing What Was Preached
The worst difficulty is how this standard effects the Christian church. The Christian church is supposed to hold to the standard of Jesus, establishing the ethic of God above the mores of the world. But if there is an almost universally accepted (in our corner of the world) standard of "normalcy", then how can the church separate itself from the norm? There is no other standard to compare it to. But more importantly than that, how can the church be open to the sub-cultures that define themselves as being apart from the norm? How can the church be open to the lower class sub-cultures, when she is the embodiment of the standard culture? Perhaps the more open-minded churches wouldn’t openly rebuke a man with an unkempt beard, wearing filthy, wrinkled clothes and with a smell that could kill a canary at twenty paces. But these churches also wouldn’t be the place where he would feel comfortable and at home with their business suits, perfume and monologues. He wouldn’t be experiencing God. He would be choking on the middle class standards stuffed down his throat from the time he walked in the door. Perhaps he could endure the patronizing tones and misplaced sympathies. However, the sidelong glances and avoidance by others simply places the final brick in the wall of separation.
The church is to be a place where anyone of the family of God in Jesus should be a part of the family. The church should be the back door welcoming those who have been rejected by society as a whole. The church should have a single standard—the yoke of Jesus Christ—and let all else pass aside. But this isn’t the reality. Churches are primarily middle-class and uphold middle-class values. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. But these middle-class values are unintentionally blocking out the very ones that the Spirit of Jesus commanded us to accept.
Jesus—"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven…. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort."
"For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea."
Paul—"Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly."
"On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect"
James—"The brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position."
"Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man."
Writer of Hebrews—"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body."
It is so easy to be disgusted by the different, the abnormal. And when we have people before us displaying actions or attitudes that our parents punished us for, it is easy to disregard them or consider them below par. Yet it is exactly this voice in our heads we need to smother. When we are looking for God’s people, we need to look for the poor in spirit, the mourning, those thirsting for justice, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted for Jesus’ sake. But if all we see before us is a Smoker, and this one aspect of their behavior disgusts us, we cannot see the virtues Jesus said we should be looking for. No where does Jesus say, "Woe to the sex offender, for they shall be excluded from God’s people," yet this is the Scripture we seem to be paying attention to rather than "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

What Must We Do To Be Saved?
Brothers and sisters, how far we have strayed! Yet the circumstances seem so difficult to overcome. What are we to do? How can a middle class church truly be welcoming to those of the lower class?
In determining a solution, I want to first of all dissent from my brothers and sisters who have been approaching the Middle Class Anglo Male monolith from a racial or feminist angle with hammers and chisels. While I agree that the whole structure of society has been, until very recently (and in many cases still is), bent toward the white-anglo-middle-class-male, I believe that it is a wrong approach for Christians to break open the power structure in order to obtain some of the power themselves. Power is in the hands of God, and He, in His own time, will raise up the humble and grant them great power, while the high and lofty—those who obtain power by their own will and determination— will come crashing down. From a Christian perspective, power is denied the revolutionarily resistant, but granted to the humble cross-bearing.
With this, I would plead to the middle class Christians to be more humble and more cross-bearing toward the lower class, as well as to others who have been socially weakened by the structure and mores of "normal" society. To be humble to the lower class is not just a matter of good form, but an essential of salvation. Jesus said that to be "raised" one must first be "humbled." Part of this humility is taking the lower place and allowing others lower than you to be socially honored above you. In other words, we need to honor those dishonored by the social mores we live in, when it dissents from God’s.
Below are a handful of ideas, any of which might make one’s church more open to the lower class, and so obtain the salvation of the middle class who rule the church.

Be aware of cultural standards which are not God’s standards
We desperately need to separate our culture from our spiritual life. This does not mean that our spirituality should not have cultural expression—it would be impossible and undesirable to separate that! But we need to look at what we consider to be the mores and standards that God desires for us and determine what really comes from God and what is our cultural context. For instance, it is a given that if a Christian adult does not have a "full-time" job, then they are in sin, for it says in Scripture, "If you do not work, you do not eat." But it is our cultural standard that equates "job"—meaning work under an employer—with "work." Scripture does not qualify the work with our modern concepts. Thus, if a person is dumpster diving three to four hours a day, who are we to say that they are not "working"? Even so, Scripture does not speak about smoking, card playing and the statements concerning dancing and drinking are unlike the modern middle class mores. So let’s not make determinations of someone’s spiritual and moral status until we have investigated to see what God has really said.

Ask questions of those who are different from you
The workers of the Missionaries of Charity in San Diego among the homeless and the poor have made the observation that the poor of the United States are not as physically needy as those in the third world, but they are socially destitute. The reason this whole impasse between the middle-class church and the lower class exists is because the two classes do not actually communicate. If the church wishes to welcome the lower class, they must understand the lower class and to understand, there must be communication. Not the communication of preaching—of telling others what they "need" to hear—but of listening. When my wife and I first began our ministry to the homeless, we spent two years welcoming the homeless into our apartment for dinner as guests, listening to their stories, trying to understand their life. This did not lead to the numbers our evangelical friends so desperately wanted to hear ("How many people got saved in your ministry?" "How many people did you help to get off of the street?"), but it did mean that our ministry would be directed to the real needs of our homeless friends, instead of our imagined ideas of their needs. Ministry begins with understanding, not assumptions.

Meet the needs of the lowly with love
Once we know what the needs of the lowly are, we will be ready to make an attempt to meet these needs. We have done this by offering free meals, providing showers, giving away new pairs of socks, a clothes exchange—"Clean clothes for dirty"—and more. Creatively approach the needs that you understand the people that you know have. So often, though, a "ministry to the needy" is nothing more than a social service. Helping meet physical needs is wonderful and often sacrificial, but giving to the poor, in and of itself, is not being Jesus to them. Paul said, "If I sell everything I have and give to the poor but I do not have love, then I have gained nothing from God." So often benevolent ministries fizzle out in churches because there isn’t a "spiritual" element that they can see. The glue that holds the spiritual ministry and the benevolent ministry is the social. No one can feel love unless there is relationship. Thus, to meet the needs of the lowly—to have any ministry at all—one must relate and love those whom we minister to.

Take opportunity to honor the socially lowly
In a society that offers honor with great reluctance, we are honor-starved. Respect is a basic need we all have, and the poor throughout the world are less impoverished in food as they are in honor. The lower class is even more desperate for honor, for they have done little that our society sees as honorable. Doing your job for a paycheck isn’t considered honorable, unless there is exceptional work, or they pursue a profession filled with honor—such as doctor or pastor. But the janitor of the church, the guy who mows the lawn, the single gal who cleans the bathrooms are ignored and so dishonored. We should look for ways to give extra respect to those who are lowly. Make much of them in a service. Give out certificates. Offer sincere gratitude. Go out of your way to make their work easier. Find a way, create a way to honor the lowly.

Give the lowly their own space to be culturally unique
Again, the lower class often just doesn’t feel comfortable in middle-class churches. And much of that discomfort isn’t the fault of the middle class. After all, if the middle class wants to wear suits and nice dresses to church, what is wrong with that? If they greet people with a loud, "Hello! How are you!" and a hug, there is nothing to blame there. But it does create discomfort for many. So perhaps the sub-culture of lower class your church is working with should have their own space to be their own culture. This is actually what the church has already done for the youth over the last century. Beginning with the Sunday school movement, the churches have realized that different sub-groups of their church has different needs. And so there are places for each age group, each ethnic group as well as other groups. But the lower class has been left out. Each splinter is just a sub-group of the middle class. Go ahead, be bold—have a "homeless" Sunday school, meeting where they want to meet. What about a single mothers small group? A "fast food employee" Bible study? Don’t laugh—the title may be funny, but everyone needs a space to be who they are, and to talk about their needs and what God has done to meet those needs.

Provide the opportunity to offer input to the power structure
Why is the church middle class? The main reason is because all of the leadership is middle class. It is the leadership in our churches that create the structure, the atmosphere and determine the cultural standards by which the church functions. It is good to have the middle class in leadership, because there is much that our society requires of legal organizations that the lower class might have difficulty providing—balanced account sheets, for one. However, there is a hole in the ministry to our society when the lower class is left out of leadership. Any church, conference, or denomination is only ministry to a portion of their community when the perspective of the lower class is left out. And to obtain the input of the lower class requires extra effort. Perhaps the church needs to pay for some of the lower class to attend regional or national conferences. Perhaps our churches need to look at people we otherwise would deem to be inadequate for leadership. But we must not lose out on the blessing that the lower class can give to our leadership.

Work to encourage the workers of the lowly
There is a huge opportunity to minister to the lowly. Ministers to the mentally ill are burning out. Ministers to the homeless move on to more "successful" ministries. Most trained seminary graduates have never even thought about giving themselves to low-paying, low-prestige position of minister to the lowly. Yet Jesus tells us to "Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest." There is a harvest here, among the lower class. An unbelievably huge harvest in desperate need of culturally-relevant discipleship and service. Let us do all we can to send the ministers where they are needed most. Let Bible schools and seminaries have seminars and classes for ministering to the lowly. Let denominations offer scholarships for youth who will work among the lowly for at least two years. Get the ministers to the lowly out to speak to Christian schools of all kinds. And let us pray. Pray for the lowly, the special needs that they have and for workers to be sent among them. And if God decides to answer our prayer by sending us, then so be it.