Book reviews return!

I must be pretty famous. Or I’m very forgetful. Over the past two months, I’ve gotten innumerable emails seeking my help in assisting foreigners navigate bureaucracy as they seek to reclaim their fortunes. And they all claim to have met me and gotten my implicit agreement for assistance. WOW!

I’m bringing back a golden oldie. When I served on Trenton’s City Council I had a daily blog. Among the blog components were some book reviews. Most of these dealt with urban policy—crime intervention, housing, economic development, community organizing, etc. It was interesting stuff and very pertinent at the time. The reading continues, though the subject for the most part has changed.

Let’s start with a book review of…When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor and Yourself by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert. I read this book upon a recommendation this summer and Calvary recently concluded a study of this book as a Sunday School elective and as a Wednesday night offering. The authors argue that most Christian efforts to help those in need are counter-productive and discourage meaningful personal relationships. Most Christian social ministry is geared to relief when more appropriate models of assistance (rehabilitation and development) are needed. Relief as a model promotes dependency on those receiving and an air of superiority on the part of the giver. Long term resentment and “savior complexes” can arise.

This tendency hurts both parties. The recipients lose dignity and opportunities for responsibility. The situation encourages false pride and self-sufficiency on the part of the givers. This cycle reinforces itself and creates a nasty cyclone.

The author provides a great story to illustrate this at the beginning of the book. Everything about the story screams for his intervention, and he does intervene. He goes on to show that his intervention, while providing some relief, had short and long-term consequences and, as importantly, negated an opportunity of the community to take care of itself. It was easy to intervene; it felt like the emotionally acceptable thing to do; it was harmful to the community and to him.

The authors argue that care and compassion and love require more than a quick fix (which isn’t a fix at all). It requires relationships that show the vulnerability and brokenness of all parties and thereby allows Christ to transform.

I recommend the book highly and it has had a great impact on Calvary’s missiology as we move forward. We are getting out of the relief business and focusing all our missional efforts on relationship building.