As we take our next steps to love the least, I am rereading the book "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without hurting the poor ... and yourself." This is an excerpt from the book: Often the North American church finds itself locked into the following equation: Material Definition of Poverty + God Complexes of Materially non-poor + Feelings of inferiority of the Materially poor = Harm to both materially poor and non-poor What can be done to break out of this equation? Changing the first term in this equation requires a revised understanding of the nature of poverty. North American Christians need to overcome the materialism of Western culture and see poverty in more relational terms. Changing the second term in this equation requires ongoing repentance. It requires North American Christians to understand our brokenness and to embrase the message of the cross in deep and profound ways, saying to ourselves every day: "I am not okay; and you are not okay; but Jesus can fix us both" And as we do this, God can use us to change the third term in this equation. By showing low-income people through our words, our actions, and most importantly our ears that they are people with unique gifts and abilities, we can be part of helping them to recover their dignity, even as we recover from our sense of pride.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:30:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015