Generosity toward the poor

A post last week by Christian financial planner Jason Topp at the Redeeming Riches blog asks the always difficult question: "Should you give money to a homeless person?"

All of us can think of reasons why giving money to the homeless might not be a good idea. It might be frittered away on alcohol or drugs, for example. Still, I recall what my longtime boss Larry Burkett used to say: "As Christians, if we are going to err, we should err on the side of compassion."

Indeed, compassion (literally "suffering with") will likely require more than just giving money. It will require something of us relationally, not just financially.

I haven't checked them all out, but according to Christian poverty fighter Amy L. Sherman, Scripture has more than 400 verses that call us to imitate God's compassion for the poor and vulnerable. He "suffered with" when He "became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14).

Far too often, our genuine desire to be generous manifests itself in transactional benevolence when what truly is needed is transformational ministry. Amy Sherman puts it bluntly:

[C]ommodified, short-term, relief-oriented "benevolence" is far too easy for givers and far too inadequate for receivers. It allows givers to remain distant from real need. They get to feel good about giving, without getting their hands dirty or their Daytimers interrupted. Recipients are viewed only in terms of their needs, and never in terms of their assets. And the charity supplied provides just a Band-Aid, no genuine long-term strategy.

Our typical benevolence allows us to help the poor, but not to know them. It enables them to manage their poverty a little better, but not to escape it.

Ouch.

There are no quick-and-easy answers here. But the difficulty of the questions shouldn't keep us from wrestling with them.

I was glad to learn today, via a book review in WORLD magazine, that Moody Publishers has just released a book on this topic. The authors, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, jointly head the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Georgia's Covenant College.

The book's title is, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor - and Yourself. Here's an excerpt:

[North American Christians] are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth. Period. Yet, most of us live as though there is nothing terribly wrong in the world. We attend our kids' soccer games, pursue our careers, and take beach vacations while 40 percent of the world's inhabitants struggle just to eat every day. And in our own backyards, the homeless, those residing in ghettos, and a wave of immigrants live in a world outside the economic and social mainstream of North America.

We do not necessarily need to feel guilty about our wealth. But we do need to get up every morning with a deep sense that something is terribly wrong with the world and yearn and strive to do something about it.

That yearning and striving needs to be (and can be) channeled into productive ministry that actually moves toward alleviating poverty, say Corbett and Fikkert.

I encourage you to read When Helping Hurts - and ask the Lord how to put its principles into practice in your own church and community. I will.

Also, if you live in the Richmond, Virginia area, you may want to go hear Amy Sherman. She will be speaking later this month (along with Ken Myers of the Mars Hill Audio Journal) at the Richmond Center for Christian Study.

Should you give money to a homeless person? Maybe. Maybe not. Just don't ignore him.

We'd love to hear your comments about ministry to the poor. Give us your feedback below.

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Joseph Slife is a contributing author and editor for SMI. Visit www.soundmindinvesting.com to learn more.