TEN YEARS GONE: When the Left Is Right, We Say So (Revised)

Let Scripture Correct All of Us

First Published Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Revised Friday, August 7, 2026

He will look with favor on the prayer of the homeless; he will not despise their plea.

— Psalm 102:17

One of the healthiest things a Christian can do is admit when someone on the other side of a political argument has found a genuinely biblical point.

That should not threaten us.

In fact, it should humble us.

One criticism often directed toward conservative Christians is that we speak passionately about certain biblical issues while giving less attention to others that Scripture also emphasizes. Care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the homeless is one of those recurring themes.

Psalm 102 leaves very little room for indifference.

"He will look with favor on the prayer of the homeless."

If God pays attention to the homeless, then His people should too.

That much seems beyond debate.

Where sincere Christians often disagree is not over whether the homeless should be helped, but over how that help is best provided. Some place greater confidence in government programs. Others believe churches, charities, families, neighborhoods, and private generosity are better equipped to meet those needs. Those are important conversations, and thoughtful people may arrive at different conclusions.

But none of those debates relieve us of our personal responsibility.

That, I think, is where this Psalm quietly confronts all of us.

It is remarkably easy to have strong opinions about what governments, political parties, churches, or other people ought to be doing. It is much harder to ask a simpler question:

What am I doing?

Who is the homeless person whose name I know?

Whose story have I listened to?

Whom have I fed, encouraged, welcomed, or helped find a safer place to sleep?

The Bible consistently brings us back to that kind of personal engagement. It is one thing to support compassion in theory. It is another to practice it face to face.

So when those outside my own political tribe remind me that Scripture calls God's people to care for the homeless, I hope I have the humility to say, "You're right."

Because whenever the Bible is right, our first loyalty is not to a political movement.

It is to the Word of God.