By Tim Høiland
Cross-posted from tjhoiland.com.
A couple of years ago a book called When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Yourself gained a good deal of traction among Christian do-gooders. It was a bit surprising, at least to me, that a book about unhelpful—and yes, harmful—charity would catch on like that. After all, it’s not about someone who died, went to either heaven or hell, and then came back to tell about it. It’s not about sex. It’s not about the prosperity gospel. And it’s not an Amish romance novel. For all of those reasons, it was surprising to me that it gained the attention it did. Or maybe it just gained traction in my circles, which may not be all that representative of broader Christian culture. But regardless, I’ve seen copies of the book on a somewhat surprising number of bookshelves and coffee tables, and it’s come up in a variety of conversations.
I think the book’s authors, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert from The Chalmers Center, have struck a nerve with so many because as more and more Christians volunteer, donate to, or partner with local and global ministries or participate in short-term mission trips, there are all sorts of unanswered questions about the merits of all of it. I’m guessing you generally know what I mean. I think these questions are good to be asking, and I’m glad experts in the field of development are beginning to provide some good, helpful answers. WHH is a book I often recommend to friends who are church leaders or anyone else seeking to understand how to be both compassionate and wise, whether individually or as a ministry.
I recently read another book along very similar lines. It’s Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It) by urban ministry guru Bob Lupton, who has been working in inner city Atlanta and elsewhere for decades. I first became acquainted with Lupton through a fantastic (and just recently re-released) little book of his we read in grad school called Theirs is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America.
Toxic Charity is vintage Lupton and not a mere WHH spinoff (as the subtitle may understandably lead some to believe), but the two do have a great deal of similarities. And while I’m a big fan of WHH, this new one might become what I start recommending as the preferred introduction to the common pitfalls of ministry to the poor, as well as some of the best practices. Comparing my fresh impressions of TC with my admittedly less-than-fresh recollections of WHH, here’s why I’m leaning towards making TC my go-to recommendation (if I had to choose just one, something I’d prefer not to have to do)….
To read the rest of this post, visit Tim’s website.
I think the book’s authors, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert from The Chalmers Center, have struck a nerve with so many because as more and more Christians volunteer, donate to, or partner with local and global ministries or participate in short-term mission trips, there are all sorts of unanswered questions about the merits of all of it. I’m guessing you generally know what I mean. I think these questions are good to be asking, and I’m glad experts in the field of development are beginning to provide some good, helpful answers. WHH is a book I often recommend to friends who are church leaders or anyone else seeking to understand how to be both compassionate and wise, whether individually or as a ministry.
I recently read another book along very similar lines. It’s Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It) by urban ministry guru Bob Lupton, who has been working in inner city Atlanta and elsewhere for decades. I first became acquainted with Lupton through a fantastic (and just recently re-released) little book of his we read in grad school called Theirs is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America.
Toxic Charity is vintage Lupton and not a mere WHH spinoff (as the subtitle may understandably lead some to believe), but the two do have a great deal of similarities. And while I’m a big fan of WHH, this new one might become what I start recommending as the preferred introduction to the common pitfalls of ministry to the poor, as well as some of the best practices. Comparing my fresh impressions of TC with my admittedly less-than-fresh recollections of WHH, here’s why I’m leaning towards making TC my go-to recommendation (if I had to choose just one, something I’d prefer not to have to do)….
To read the rest of this post, visit Tim’s website.
