Beyond Charity
Thursday, March 19, 2009
(By John Kim) - I recently read a book entitled “Beyond Charity” by John Perkins, which challenged me deeply – one of those books that make you wonder whether you’re doing this whole Christianity thing correctly or not. Not just at a personal level, but being from The Salvation Army, I had to ask the same question of my church. As historically rooted in the social gospel as The Salvation Army is, and even today with its wide range of social service ministries, is it possible that we are failing to go beyond charity as a whole? An uncomfortable question, to be sure, but eventually I was able to walk away from this book not discouraged, but rather, challenged to action.
The basic point that Perkins drove in for me, going right along with the title of this book, was the utter inadequacy of the charity mentality when it comes to ministering to the urban poor of America: “America’s best intentions, most sincere thoughts, noblest efforts – all of these are useless to the urban poor if they do not connect with our personally defined, deepest felt needs…Overcoming an attitude of charity is a difficult task because it requires givers to demand more of themselves than good will” (p.23). So it seems that in the case of inner city ministry, good intentions and sincere motivations are far from adequate to get the job done. Coming from a relatively wealthy church in a relatively wealthy part of the city, this forced me to honestly evaluate our serious lack of involvement with the poor of our city. Are we doing enough? Hardly. Even the little that we do do could easily be out of sense of guilt, as Perkins painfully points out: “Sometimes our giving is motivated by guilt. When this is the case, we are giving for selfish reasons – to make ourselves feel okay…undisciplined giving can be just as destructive as the poverty it was meant to alleviate” (pp.23-24). Ouch! How many times have I been motivated by guilt, and thus actually acted selfishly, in my giving to the poor? Is it possible that my supposed generosity could’ve actually had a destructive effect on those to whom I gave? Scary thought.
The alternative to the quick-fix mentality, then, begins with a clear identification with the felt needs of the urban poor: “With the transformation of ‘you, them, and theirs’ to ‘we, us, and ours’ we will understand most clearly the real problems facing the poor; then we may begin to look for real solutions” (p.31). One of Perkins’ most challenging points, both through his words and through the example of his life, is the challenge to relocate into the inner city where transformation must take place. It is a model consistent with the Incarnation of Christ when He gave up the luxuries of heaven to come and dwell among us. This is how a community’s needs become our own needs – basic needs for things such as security, education, health care, etc. As clear and courageous as this call for physical relocation was, I was glad that there was also a call for ‘encouragers, investors and volunteers’ for inner city ministry also. For surely there are real spiritual needs in suburban and rural America also, and so the presence of Christians there is no less important in light of the Great Commission. The bottom line, I believe, has to be the specific calling of God on each of our lives.
According to Perkins, the first mark of an authentic church is this: “The authentic church absorbs pain” (p.45). I am burdened to know what this must mean for my local church, and for The Salvation Army as a whole in the 21st century. I pray that we will learn to go beyond charity in all of our outreach and social services, that we will clearly identify with the felt needs of the poor all around us, and that we would courageously follow God’s specific calling on our lives, no matter where that may take us.
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