book review: toxic charity

I just finished Robert Lupton's Toxic Charity. This book focuses on Christian charity, its practice and effects. It is in the same vein as When Helping Hurts, arguing that most Christian benevolence fosters bondage, rather than providing liberation. He advocates, correctly in my opinion, that churches need to move from a relief model of charity (meeting immediate needs) to a rehabilitation and development model (partners to build self-sufficiency).

One mild criticism is that the book is filled with too much anecdotal evidence. I like a good story and save many for sermon illustrations. I believe that he could have supplied some economic and sociological data to augment his assertions (assertions I readily agree with even excluding this additional evidence).

Notes from the book are below:

Over last 50 yrs., Africa has received $1 trillion in aid. Dambisa Moyo, African economist and author of Dead Aid, says, “it’s a kind of curse, the disease of which it pretends to be the cure.”

Food Security for Atlanta, builds co-ops that leverage buying power of members, turning $3 to $30 worth of food.

Oath for compassionate service: 1)never do for the poor what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves; 2)limit one-way giving to emergency situations; 3)strive to empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements; 4)sub-ordinate self interests to the needs of those being served; 5)listen closely to those you seek to help, especially to what is not being said—unspoken feelings may contain essential clues to effective service; 6)above all, do no harm.

Jacques Ellul in Money and Power: It is important that giving be truly free. It must never degenerate into charity, in the pejorative sense. Almsgiving is Mammon’s perversion of giving. It affirms the superiority of the giver, who thus gains a point on the recipient, binds him, demands gratitude, humiliates him and reduces him to a lower state than he had before.

Three essential elements to successful microloans: borrower must have 1)an ingrained work ethic; 2)a demonstrated entrepreneurial instinct; 3)a stable support system.

John McKnight, Asset Based Community Development, concludes 1)service systems divert money away from poor people to service providers; 2)programs are based on deficiencies rather than capacities; 3)services displace the ability of people’s organizations to solve problems. He asks: does the proposed activity strengthen the capacity of neighborhood residents to prioritize and address their own issues? Will the proposed activity be wealth-generating or at least self-sustaining for the community? Do the moneys generated for and/or by local residents remain at work in their community? Does the proposed activity have a timetable for training and transferring ownership to indigenous leadership?

Neighborhood ministry asks: is capable, indigenous visionary leadership behind the effort? Is the plan neighborhood-specific and does it focus on one and only one target community? Is the effort comprehensive and the programmatic pieces all have as a primary objective the ultimate self-sufficiency of the neighborhood? Does the plan emanate from local churches and/or people of faith? Does the plan protect against displacement or reconcentration of lower-income residents? Does the plan promote interdependency rather than continued dependency? Does the plan attract, retain, and/or develop indigenous leadership in the community? Does the plan attract new achieving neighbors into the community? Does the plan utilize grants and nonprofits as catalysts for development that can eventually reduce the need for external subsidies? Does the plan lead to economic neighborhood viability, as measured by its ability to attract and harness market forces?