Another Weighs in About "Helping the Poor May Hurt Them"

For the past few months I've been writing about the obsession of the American evangelcials, especially younger ones, with helping the poor. I've made two basic observations about this. First, the "helping the poor obsession" is replacing the heart of the gospel; the atonement of Jesus Christ. Second, those helping the poor may not be helping them that much. In fact, they might be making things worse. I had reported on one book I found that backed up my assertions and now I've found another one.

Christianity Today magazine, in the November 2011 issue, has a review of a new book entitled, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (and How to Reverse It) by Robert Lupton. The reviewer tells us that the Rev. Lupton (he's a minister) points out that we are creating a dependent group to satisfy Christians' need to feel good about themselves. You bet I am definitely going to get a hold of this book (hopefully through interlibrary loan). When I do, I will give a more detailed report on it. I am espeically interested in the part where he tels how to really help the poor, as I have not found this information in any Christian book (or non-Christian book, for that matter) that I've read or researched. There are certainly books written offering solutions, but they don't work. So, we shall see what the Reverend Lupton suggests.

Why the Social Gospel Alone Won't Work

This is why the soical gospel alone won't work--

From Christianity Today magazine, the November 2011 issue:

"Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real The change is good...Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-cenury global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development wll make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted. And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone, and the machete."

_____Matthew Parris, former Member of the British Parliament

Dependency-Separation-Dependency

I watched an interview with Jay M. Bernstein, professor of philosophy at the New School of Research. He was talking about his thinking about dependency. As I listened to him it triggered something I've kind of known subconsciously but until now, really hadn't put together. Listening to your pastor talk about the church and the church family, it's evident that we need a level of dependency on one another. While I've realized this during my Christian life, what troubled me was the unhealthy dependency I saw, especially in Christian women. But if we are to be dependent on one another, when is that unhealthy and what is the solution? There has to be a second phase, a separation from who or what you are dependent on. OK, I knew that too. But then, how do we get back to healthy dependency? Or is there a healthy dependency? Professor Bernstein supplied the answer for me. Yes, there is a healthy dependency, but we cannot get there until we go through the separation phase. And that is what is wrong in so many churches. Unhealthy dependency is mistaken for healthy because separation hasn't taken place. In other churches, that understand this and talk about it, though, that is where it stops. In other words, the person stays separated and doesn't get to the last stage of another type of dependency--a healthy one.