A few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend who has several
years of experience working with a local homelessness charity, and they
commented to me on how ineffective they think churches are. They spoke of how
their charity works with several hundred young people at any time, and has a
clear process for supporting their clients towards improving their life skills
and becoming more independent. And then came their concluding statement: ‘We
would be worried if, after a year, we haven’t helped someone get to the point
of living independently. But churches are full of people who have been
supported with the same issues for years, and who haven’t moved on.’
Discuss.
A similar set of issues is addressed by Robert Lupton in Toxic Charity. The book’s subtitle provides a helpful summary of Lupton’s
argument: ‘How churches and charities hurt those they help.’ In the opening
paragraphs of the book Lupton comments: ‘I have worked with churches,
government agencies, entrepreneurs, and armies of volunteers and know from
firsthand experience the many ways “good intentions” can translate into
ineffective care or even harm’ (ps1-2).
Lupton addresses the problems of charities and aid both at
the levels of local church and international development. At the end of a small
book (only 190 pages of large font, which could be read in a few hours), I was
left frustrated that his argument never seemed to develop beyond the basic assertions
made at the beginning, and also felt this was a work long on diagnosing the
problem and short on offering practical solutions. But I’d still call it
recommended reading, because it’s impossible to escape the difficult questions he
is asking. If churches run activities, year in year out, giving to the same
people but never helping them change, what benefit are we achieving? Is our
service sometimes motivated more by a sense of our self-worth (I do good
things, which must make a good Christian), rather than built around the needs
of those we are seeking to help? As Neil Hudson has recently pointed out in ImagineChurch, do we have a ‘church contract’ which only offers to care for
people, and not disciple them?
One of Lupton’s most helpful suggestions is the following ‘Oath
for Compassionate Service’ which he recommends for all churches seeking to
serve those who are disadvantaged. I wonder how many of our churches’ regular
activities would pass these tests:
- Never do for the poor what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves.
- Limit one way giving to emergency situations.
- Strive to empower the poor through unemployment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements.
- Subordinate self-interests to the needs of those being served.
- Listen closely to those you seek to help, especially to what is not being said - unspoken feelings may contain essential clues to effective service.
- Above all, do no harm (p128).
