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Some are honest. Some are sad. Some are just plain funny. But each, in its own way, speaks to the desperation and creative lengths people are willing to go to in order to survive.

In many ways, the apostle Paul is a professional beggar. Much of his ministry involves raising money for the poor of Jerusalem. But one of the things I’ve learned about begging is that there’s often much more going on than the message on that cardboard sign.

It’s not uncommon, for example, for homeless neighbors to band together to raise the money they need to get through the day. When you see someone holding up a sign, there are usually two or three others waiting in the distance to take their shift. This isn’t a Ponzi scheme. It’s just what human beings do in a shared situation when they have few choices.

I have often seen this same group pool the day’s money so that everyone who helped could cram into a hotel room. Yes, the day’s collection can also feed bad habits, but begging is much more often a matter of survival than a quick way to get food.

Whether it is carried by a beggar, displayed on a billboard, or is part of our experiences, it is our interpretation of a sign that dictates our response.

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul holds up a variety of signs within the communities he interacts with, as a way to prompt people to look into their hearts and wallets for the good of the whole.

Comparing the church in Macedonia to the church in Corinth, Paul could say, “The way you show grace is a test.” The church in Macedonia, he points out, is very poor and oppressed; yet it gives abundantly. Meanwhile, the church in Corinth, much more abundant, cannot seem to find the resources it needs to take care of itself. “You already overflow in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in fervor, and in love,” Paul writes to them. “What would it be like to overflow with grace?”

Each Sunday when I gather with current and former homeless neighbors for Street Church, I am often amazed by the $50 to $100 we collect in the offering basket. Last year, our offerings totaled over $5,000. The grace it takes for a community overcoming homelessness to give of what little it has, has supported our community members in their time of need, allowing us to help an international mission that has inspired and discipled our neighbors here at home.

Paul’s second sign might be, “Are you empty?” With this, he exhorts us to follow the ultimate example: a Christ who became poor so that others might be rich. Through Christ, we have learned that God has no place in our lives unless we empty ourselves of material things.

Third sign: “Are you contagious?” Often when I go to the Italian station in downtown Fredericksburg, the nice lady behind the counter says, “That’s for me today.” When I shared this experience at Street Church recently, many heads in the room nodded. I benefited, as do many of our homeless neighbors who find themselves displaced downtown.

The Italian Station has become so contagious in its generosity that many customers “pay it forward,” as they say, paying more than the cost of their own order so that someone else can receive a blessing that day. When we see others give even the smallest thing, it inspires others to give more. Are we willing to give as much as we can? No matter how small, that is the joy God desires in that giving.

Last but not least, Paul asks, “How do you share?” He who had much did not have too much, and he who had little did not have too little, he writes. In her book Five Loaves, Two Fishes, Twelve Volunteers, Elizabeth Magill offers an interesting interpretation of the miracle of feeding 5,000 people after a long day of listening to Jesus on a hilltop. It wasn’t that Jesus miraculously multiplied the food brought by one little boy that day, she says. It was that when one person began to share, everyone else took what they had too; and there was enough for everyone.

Perhaps the reason people don’t like begging is that it makes them uncomfortable. In that sense, Paul’s words to the Corinthians and the sign of an ordinary beggar have something in common. If, even for a moment, it doesn’t matter what we think of the person holding the sign, it provokes a hint of introspection.

What if we were a world where we didn’t need a sign to share who we are and everything we have with each other?