How Did Doing Good Get Such A Bad Name? June 8, 2015
Christiansare often wary of trying to help the poor. Citizens are frequentlydisgusted with their government’s efforts to help the poor. Internationalefforts to help the poor are often expensive disasters. We’ve seenwell-meant, well-funded efforts not only fail, but seemingly actively hurt therecipients.
Yethistory shows that Bible preaching churches in most eras were heavily involvedin efforts to help the poor. Regardless of what churches in our day mayhave failed to do or done unwisely, historical efforts by faithful churches tohelp the poor have often been successful and good. Consider “SundaySchools,” which were established to teach children how to read and gain aneducation to escape the grinding poverty and overwork of their Monday toSaturday existence. Readingand understanding the Bible led to conversions, growth, and leadership. Consider the successful efforts to help slaves gain freedom andself-sufficiency.
Aspeople made in the image of God, when we see others also made in God’s imagesuffering, we naturally and rightly long to help those sufferers. Why,when, and how can we provide such help, given that history has shown bothdramatic failure and dramatic success?
Godrepeatedly shows in the Bible that he cares for the poor and insists that hispeople take action on their behalf. So, what does love for the poor looklike? From the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, Jesus shows usthat love brings relief and rehabilitation. The Good Samaritan beginswith actions to save the sufferer’s life and is then able to move to actionsthat will bring the man back to his prior state of health. It’s essentialto see the distinction between these things. Many individuals, churches,and relief agencies have failed because they don’t make any difference betweenthese two activities. Well-intentioned, massive gifts of clothing to Africa have destroyed local textile industries, sincethey couldn’t compete with “free.”
Iplan to write more specifically in the future, but wanted to start with ourapproach: Our era is well supplied with relief efforts, and they oftenhave value, but that’s probably not where we need to spend most of our time. Our outreach can usually be more profitably spent in rehabilitation—restoringbroken relationships to self, others, surroundings, and creation.