Can You Measure Spiritual Impact?

My wife and I often visit our friends in Breckenridge, Colorado. We love the beauty of the mountains and enjoy our friends immensely. Their 8-year old son, Nathan, is a terrific source of entertainment. During a recent dinner conversation, Nathan informed us about his Little League baseball season. He rattled off the scores of his team’s last few games. His parents quickly stopped him, interjecting that the league and coaches don’t actually keep track of scores.

Nathan retorted, “We all keep score anyway. We always keep score.”

I smiled, thinking back to my own youth baseball experience when I did the exact same thing. Sure there were no scoreboards, but every single kid on the diamond knew the score.  Why? Because we want to know how we’re doing. It’s more than just winning and losing. We want a tangible measure of our performance. Are we succeeding? Are we catching up? How bad is it? Keeping score answers those questions.

In working with the poor, many times it’s easy to justify not keeping score. After all, we’re trying to help people. Isn’t that enough? I’m not sure it is. I think we need to keep score. It’s not about knowing if we’re winning. Even if the score illuminates we are losing, at least we have a gauge of how we’re doing.

It is particularly challenging to measure spiritual impact. At HOPE, it is straightforward to track financial metrics. We measure repayment rates, savings balances, client retention and a slew of other data points. It is much more challenging to gauge whether our work impacts the spiritual climate of the communities and families we serve. It’s hard and it’s also controversial to suggest we can measure spiritual impact when we know that only God sees the heart.

This month, a conference with a bold title—Spiritual Metrics—is gathering to discuss these issues. I believe it is possible and critical that we measure our spiritual impact. While we can only “see in a mirror dimly,” dimly is better than not at all.

We aren’t perfect in our measurement, but at least we know how many clients have been given a copy of God’s word, how consistently our staff gathers for devotions, and how many churches we actively partner with. It takes creativity, but per the old management axiom, what gets measured gets done. We need to keep score to remain accountable to what we are uniquely positioned to do as Christian organizations. Just like Nathan’s baseball team, we need to keep score.

Confounding the New York Times

The New York Times published a disturbing report. They were clear on the “what” but silent on the “why.” They described an impending disaster, but did not prescribe any solutions. The man is freefalling without a parachute, they figuratively said, but they don’t know why he jumped or how to get him a parachute. They just know he’s falling. Fast.

The disaster is this: Eight million Indian girls were eliminated over the past 30 years because parents preferred boys to girls. Eight million people live in the state of Virginia. Eight million people inhabit Switzerland. Eight million Indian girls never reached their first birthday because they were girls. The fuel for this killing machine? Prosperity.

India’s increasing wealth and improving literacy are apparently contributing to a national crisis of “missing girls,” with the number of sex-selective abortions up sharply among more affluent, educated families during the past two decades, according to a new study…women from higher-income, better-educated families were far more likely than poorer women to abort a girl.

Incomes are increasing dramatically! …and parents can now afford ultrasounds to abort their girls. More Indian parents can read! …and their daughters will never reach kindergarten. People are educated! …and the world will never know the names of eight million girls.

We throw huge concerts to help the poor. We buy fair trade jewelry from global artisans. We petition our lawmakers to preserve foreign aid budgets. We travel to Africa on mission trips. We help the unfortunate to prosper. And for what? For this? Eight million silenced girls? Is this the goal of our attempts to help the vulnerable? To see them prosper and then choose to kill off the babies who lost the gender lottery?

We solve the problems of poverty and introduce the problems of prosperity. The New York Times lacked answers. They broke the news, but the story ends depressingly: “The problem has accelerated.” Apparently, this tragedy is at its genesis.

We need to fill hungry bellies and create jobs. We need to build houses and teach phonics. We are commanded to drill wells and bandage the wounded. However.

Jesus does not want us to stop there. You can own the whole world yet still have nothing, he said. These actions alone are not enough. Apart from the saving grace of Christ, prosperity produces new types of pain. Increased incomes means eight million less Indian girls. You won’t read it in the New York Times, but without Christ, our “giving back” is incomplete. If hearts don’t change; we create new disasters while we solve others.

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The study estimated that 4-12 million girls (I used 8 as an estimate) have been aborted in India over the past 30 years. A different global study estimates that 163 million female babies have been aborted over the past 30 years by parents seeking sons.

Help the Poor …and Promote Alcoholism

“Moonshine or the Kids?” Nicholas Kristof, writer for the New York Times, stimulated much uneasiness with this question in his recent column on global poverty. He said:

“There’s an ugly secret of global poverty, one rarely acknowledged by aid groups or U.N. reports. It’s a blunt truth that is politically incorrect, heartbreaking, frustrating and ubiquitous: It’s that if the poorest families spent as much money educating their children as they do on wine, cigarettes and prostitutes, their children’s prospects would be transformed. Much suffering is caused not only by low incomes, but also by shortsighted private spending decisions by heads of households.”

Kristof went on to cite some clear data to highlight this disturbing “ugly secret.” At the same time I read this article, I heard a radio report about the rising prices of vodka in Russia. In the report, they interviewed an unemployed man who was frustrated by the rising prices. He said, “I just so desperately need to find a job so I can afford to buy more vodka.” The comment stuck with me. We work in Russia and I wondered if this man had ever attempted to start a business through HOPE to “grow his family’s income.”

It’s easy to romanticize the decision-making of poor people. Of course they’ll choose to send their kids to school over sending for a prostitute. Of course they’ll choose to feed their kids breakfast before feeding their alcohol addiction. But what makes us think that? What makes us wrongly assume that they don’t deal with the same brokenness that we do? This article and radio report made me uncomfortable as I contemplated whether HOPE’s work had ever helped poor Russians buy more vodka.

I’m more convinced than ever that helping people materially is not enough. Helping is enabling. My friend, Dr. Rob Gailey, articulated it more clearly. He said that “economic development is about increasing people’s choices.” If we help an alcoholic poor person – and there is no heart change – we will simply enable him to buy higher qualities and quantities of alcohol. Without heart change, as the BBC reported, helping families in India might actually be enabling them to perform sex-selection abortions, a problem which “prosperity is actually aggravating.”

In a sense, we could be enabling the oppressed to become the oppressors if we do not speak to more than business decisions. True change happens when we promote biblical values, boldly communicating the truth of the Gospel. Income growth is important, but it is only when hearts and minds are transformed that we will we see true change happen. When I hear stories like that of Mama Flores (video below), a salon owner who has trained and employed over 15 orphans through her business success, I am energized that our approach answers the unsettling questions which Kristof asks.

Should I Sponsor a Child?

In a conversation with a friend a few years ago, we began discussing international child sponsorship. We wrestled back-and-forth for some time, discussing both the good and the bad. Since that initial conversation, I have repeated that discussion time-and-again, including a lengthy conversation with a colleague who was himself sponsored as a child in the Dominican Republic. His insights have informed this post significantly. It is a sensitive issue and I pray, even while I write this, that my reflections are gracious and balanced.

Child sponsorship has been a wildly successful in connecting donors with poor children around the world. Billions of dollars are funneled every year to international organizations through child sponsorship programs. Letters are written back-and-forth and funds are given faithfully every month. But, is it doing long-term good? Or could it actually be perpetuating the problems it claims to solve?

I am reminded of Christ’s admonition to us… “Be shrewd as serpents and kind as doves” (Matt 10:16).  In that light, I will highlight both the good and the bad of child sponsorship programs and allow you to disseminate accordingly. First, a few strengths of child sponsorship:

• Jesus had a special place in his heart for children (Matt 19:14). Without exception, children are our world’s most vulnerable demographic. Christians are mandated to defend and protect orphans throughout Scripture.
• The majority of people which enter into a relationship with Christ do so before the age of 18. How can we ignore this important demographic? The data supports this as a strategic age upon which the Church should focus.
• Helping children can change the future. As children are educated, equipped and mentored, we have the opportunity to train the next generation of leaders.
• Many organizations are “doing it right” and I am convinced that Compassion International, to be very specific, does child sponsorship better than anyone else. The centrality of the Gospel in their curriculum, their close partnership with local churches, their laser-focused precision on children, and their grounded and principled operations set them a notch above all others.

That being said, not all child sponsorship programs are as effective. While “helping children” is an amiable aim, we need to examine the long-term impacts. Several important considerations:

• These programs can undermine the role of parents. I had a friend who visited a community in Ghana and an angry mother chased him out of her neighborhood saying, “I can take care of my own children!” She thought my friend was with a child sponsorship organization. An extreme example, but worth considering. God’s design includes parents as providers for their children. Only a small percentage of sponsored children are truly orphaned.
• Child sponsorship can have the same impacts of a bad welfare system. In an email I recently received, a friend shared a story which communicated just that. “My sister is a missionary in Chile…She knows of families that live off the money they get from child sponsorship programs. As one child outgrows the sponsorship program, the parents have another child so they can continue to qualify for the funding.” Yikes.
• These programs can pitch wealthy Americans as the “great heroes” to the poor children in the developing world. Are we sending a message which paints a picture of the donor as the healer and the child as the patient? The nature of this type of relationship can be unhealthy.
• Many of these programs are wrought with fraud.  A friend who worked in Congo shared that one of the Christian child sponsorship program directors wrote (not translated) the kids’ letters to the donors. She would often come to his office and he would have piles of letters which he authored, pretending to be the sponsored children.
• Jealousy is alive and well. My colleague who was sponsored as a child talked about how it stirred up jealousy among his peers. He would receive special gifts (baseball gloves, toys, etc.), a better education, hot meals, and a chance for college scholarships and the un-sponsored children would not.
• Child sponsorship can encourage dependency. Poorly designed charitable aid can put a choke-hold on ingenuity and entrepreneurship. Our goal should always be to help those on the margins stand on their own feet so that continued support is no longer needed. I have met with countless friends working in orphanages and with sponsorship programs who have expressed concerns about kids who graduate from their programs being unable to fend for themselves.

I’ll end with a suggestion from an expert, Jonathan Martin. Jonathan was a missionary in Asia for over ten years and is currently a missions pastor in Portland Oregon. His fantastic book, Giving Wisely?, devotes a chapter specifically to this issue. He ends with a list of four hard questions which he suggests we all ask the agencies through whom we sponsor children:

1. How does this program seek to get the children out of a cycle of dependency?
2. How does it encourage work?
3. How does it keep the responsibility upon the shoulders of the parents and the society to take care of its own?
4. What time frame does the agency have for getting the community to stand on its own feet so sponsorship is no longer needed in a given village?

No intervention or program is perfect (as I’ve written previously) and this is not an indictment of an entire approach, but rather a call to prudence and accountability. Not all child sponsorship is created equal.

A Tale of Two Cities — Reflections

Three months ago I started a journey, in monthly installments, to two fictional cities—Assetsville and Needsville—both cities representative of poor communities in Africa. While the issues, such as education, health care and sanitation, in these cities are identical, the responses to these issues could not be more different—both in philosophy and methodology.

“Is HOPE the solution for global poverty?” It is a question I am asked often, and the question which inspired the past few months’ musings. My answer to this question is a resounding no. I do not believe HOPE is the solution to global poverty. Christ-centered microfinance is wonderfully effective, but it is not a miracle cure. What I do believe is that the principles undergirding HOPE, and the work of the fantastic organizations I highlighted over the past few weeks, are the solution.

Effective service and ministry to poor communities and individuals should affirm:

• Assets trump needs: All individuals, regardless of how great their needs, are created in the image of God and abounding in strengths, skills, and dreams. The doctor-patient approach to poverty (“you have problems – I can cure them”) will never achieve lasting change—it will simply reveal, and even create, more needs and deeper problems. Over time, this perspective will create unhealthy dependency, eroding the autonomy and creativity of communities and individuals.
• Their solutions over our ideas: Regardless of the clout of our graduate degrees, or the breadth of our professional backgrounds, the best solutions to community challenges reside within the members of the communities. We need to unlock ingenuity, not rest on our pedigrees.
• An exit strategy versus an empire strategy: Transitioning to (or starting with) local leadership should be the goal. It is financially—and even philosophically—prohibitive to employ Westerners to permanently staff organizations in communities abroad. All international (non-local) workers should be focused on working themselves out of a job.
• Dignity above desperation in our messaging: It is easy to motivate people to act with shocking images of babies with bloated stomachs and starving moms with flies in their eyes. But, easy is not always best. I believe we need to abandon guilt marketing and communicate the worth and beauty of all people and communities, even those who suffer from seemingly catastrophic material poverty.
• We are all poor: What if we viewed hunger the same way we viewed over-eating? What if we viewed the challenge of living in a shanty as the mirrored challenge of keeping up with the Joneses? What if we viewed the problem of not having enough money as a counter-problem to the addiction to money? Each person and community has issues, though some may be more hidden, more below-the-surface, than others. We need to abandon the “savior complex,” serve with humility, and recognize that we are all broken people in need of help.
• Helping is enabling: If you help a vengeful poor person – and there is no heart change – he will simply become a wealthy tyrant. Helping individuals and communities without speaking to heart issues is like baking a cake with vinegar. The size of the cake, quality of ingredients and intricacy of the decorations are irrelevant if sin is not addressed. We are only enabling the oppressed to become the oppressors if we do not boldly communicate the truth of the Gospel.

Here’s my summary encouragement: Ask the hard questions of the ministries and organizations where you are volunteering and giving financially. Examine whether you would be more likely to find their philosophy, theology and methodology in Needsville or Assetsville. Our resources—time, talents and treasure—are finite and precious. We care called to invest them wisely.

On Helping the Poor: Book Recommendations

I often get asked by friends for book recommendations on helping the poor. There are many wonderful texts on this important topic, but here are a few of my favorites, all of which are very reader-friendly:

• Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life, Robert Lupton – Probably the most influential 100 pages I have read on this topic. Lupton’s focus is on his experience in domestic urban ministry, but the principles are broadly relevant. I wrote an entire post about this book last year.
• Giving Wisely or When Helping Hurts, Jonathan Martin or Brian Fikkert/Steve Corbett – I share these two as an either/or because there are such similar themes woven throughout both books (in short: we need to closely examine whether our attempts to “help” internationally are truly helping). Giving Wisely is a must-read for all missions pastors/committees and is oriented towards church programs to help the poor. When Helping Hurts is still a nationwide bestseller, nearly a year after its release, which is indicative of this book’s poignancy.
• Blood River, Tim Butcher – I felt like I was traveling with Tim Butcher in his harrowing cross-country journey through Congo while reading the account of his travels. Weaving in reflections on Africa, Congo, and poverty, this book gives you the taste of what life is like for many of our world’s poorest citizens. If you enjoy reading books in more of a narrative style, this one is for you.
• The Poor Will be Glad, Peter Greer – Full disclosure: Four years ago, I was Peter’s executive assistant at HOPE International, where I still work. After returning from a trip to Afghanistan, Peter handed me a stack of his own wrinkled business cards with small handwritten notes lining both sides. These business cards, the only paper available to Peter as he flew over Afghanistan in a rusty Russian helicopter, were the first draft of this book. Peter asked me to translate the scrawling into a Word document. Fast forward to October, 2009…and the book was published by Zondervan and is on its third printing. I have already identified my personal bias, but, that aside, this is an excellent book, specifically if you want to learn more about Christ-centered microfinance. And it’s loaded with award-winning photography — who doesn’t love a good picture book?

There are a few excellent academic books, which are fantastic if you are looking to dive a bit deeper. These books are not easy reads, but each is loaded with great content:

• Walking with the Poor, Bryant Myers – Great overview of why Christians should be concerned with helping the poor. Myers also outlines the theological underpinnings for how we should help.
• The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier – An examination of what makes poor countries poorer, and on what factors have prevented these poor countries and their citizens, the bottom billion, from entering the global economy.
• Portfolios of the Poor, Stuart Rutherford – How do the poor really live on less than $2 day? This book looks at the financial habits, tools and coping mechanisms the poor use to manage meager incomes.
• The Mystery of Capital, Fernando de Soto – The title is a great summary. De Soto looks at why capitalism has thrived in many parts of the world, but not caught on in others. Focuses heavily on property rights, legal systems and financial inclusion.
• White Man’s Burden by William Easterly or Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo – As you might surmise, these two books illuminate the incredibly low ROI the West has received from the trillions of dollars we have invested in aid in the developing world. Both Easterly and Moyo are scathing in their criticism of aid, but the data is irrefutable. In most cases, there is an inverse relationship in countries between a) the amount of government aid received and b) the prosperity of its citizens.

That should get you started. Have I missed any of your favorites?

 

How Then Shall We Help Part 3

This is part three of a three-part series, “How Then Shall We Help?”

It’s not just about serving and it’s not just about preaching. There’s the eleven word summary of the first two parts of the series. So…what is it about? How then shall we help? As Christians, what is our calling in a world that desperately needs the saving grace of Christ but also needs food, homes, clothing, and access to financial services?

Where better to look than the life of Christ? The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 families is a familiar one. In John 6, we read about how Christ miraculously multiplied just five barley loaves and two fish to feed an expansive crowd. It is interesting to note Jesus’ motivation for this act. “When Jesus went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them” (Matt 6:34). Christ’s act of love and service to the people flowed out of the compassion of his heart.

The word “compassion” is used many times to describe Jesus’ ministry. We read later in Matthew that “Jesus had compassion on the crowds and healed their sick” (Matt 9:36). Literally, the Greek word used in these passages means “to be moved by compassion.” There is greater richness in this word than can be gleaned at first glance. Charles Spurgeon describes it this way:

The original word is a very remarkable one…It is expressive of the deepest emotion; a striving of the bowels—a yearning of the innermost nature with pity…I suppose that when our Savior looked upon certain sights, those who watched him closely perceived that his internal agitation was very great, his emotions were very deep, and then his face betrayed it, his eyes gushed like founts with tears, and you saw that his big heart was ready to burst with pity for the sorrow upon which his eyes were gazing. He was moved with compassion.

Christ exhibited in this story a “yearning of the innermost nature.” When is the last time you had that sort of deep emotional churning deep in your gut? Jesus felt it often. He looked out over crowds of people—the sick, the hungry, the beaten-down—and was moved with compassion. We read in this specific story that Jesus went on to feed the crowds of hungry people. But, Jesus’ ministry did not end there.

Later in the day, Jesus left with his disciples and sailed to the other side of the sea. The crowds followed him. When they found him, Jesus offered these poignant words (John 6:25-27, 35). “You are seeking me…because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life…I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” First, we met Jesus the social worker. Now, Jesus the evangelist. He fed the crowds…and shared the Gospel. Matthew 24:19 described Jesus as “a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word.”

And there we have it. In this brief snapshot of Jesus’ life in John 6, we have our answer. As Christians, we are called to give bread and to proclaim the Bread of Life. It should never be separated. Jesus fed the five thousand, healed the sick, spoke against racism, and defended the cause of the outcasts in society. Moved by compassion, he provided bread. And, he demonstrated the absolute necessity for heart change. I am the bread of life.

Theologian Christopher Wright says it beautifully: “It is not a matter of engaging in both the gospel and social action, as if Christian social action was something separate from the gospel itself…Biblically, the gospel includes the totality of all that is good news from God for all that is bad news in human life—in every sphere..” It is not an either/or. It is a both/and. Not one without the other. Word and deed. Evangelism and service. Bible-translation and microfinance. Clean water and church plants. Hospitals and seminaries. Adoption and Christian youth camps. The seen and the unseen. Bread and bread of life.

Sounding the Alarm for Haiti

Those of you who know me well know that I am not an alarmist. I think non-profit organizations often ride the “horse of emergency” all too often in trying to raise money and get people to give. Motivating Americans through guilt-laden campaigns featuring pictures of bloated babies causes more long-term harm than good.

But, the recent happenings in Haiti are reason enough for me to “sound the alarm.” Friends, the situation in Haiti is dire. And I’m honestly concerned the worst is still to come. In the midst of all the confusion and unanswered questions about what is happening there, here is what I know:

1. The situation in Haiti is absolutely devastating.
2. We serve an all-powerful God.
3. Generosity exudes from the transformed hearts of Christians.

My encouragement on how to help:

1. Fast and pray on behalf of the people of Haiti and the courageous people who are traveling to Haiti to help from the Dominican Republic, elsewhere in Haiti and around the world. To guide your prayers, perhaps view this slideshow.
2. Give generously, effectively* & quickly. This is a situation where I believe we all should consider giving “above and beyond” our normal charitable giving.  Here are a few organizations I recommend as I know they will bring both “clean water and the Living Water” to the people of Haiti:

• • World Relief
  • World Concern
  • Food for the Hungry
  • Lifeline
  • HOPE International

*There are many wonderful Christian organizations which need funds for food, medical supplies, clean water, shelter and the rebuilding process throughout Haiti. It’s easy to just give to whoever asks first. I would encourage you to think strategically about where to give. Please comment below if you support organizations you know to be ministering in “word and deed” and in ways which promote dignity among the people of Haiti.

How Then Shall We Help Part 2

This is part two of a three-part series, “How Then Shall We Help?”

Last month I stated that decreased suffering does not necessarily follow increased prosperity. In many cases, increased prosperity simply leads to new kinds of suffering. Helping our neighbors materially is not enough. It would be easy to assume from those reflections that the answer to the question, “How then shall we help?” would be this: Plant churches, hold evangelistic crusades, distribute Bibles, and get people saved. As Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matt 16:26) Why, then, does HOPE waste its time doing economic development when it could be focusing solely on the real work of preaching the Good News? The core issue here is whether our efforts should focus unilaterally on the spiritual condition of humanity.

The truth is this: We cannot ignore our clear call to generously give to the poor—and not just because it amplifies our words. Throughout Scripture (over 2,000 biblical passages) we are called to help the poor in tangible, material ways. Humans are not simply spiritual beings which happen to exist in a physical state. The needs of the present must be met while we seek to address the needs of the eternal. Why?

• The Bible says our faith is void without it. “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” – James (James 2). Viewing compassion and justice as a “means to an end” (to get people saved) illustrates a troubling disconnect between body and soul. Our concern for the poor should be a natural and generous outpouring of our hearts, which have been transformed by Christ. As James said, if we ignore suffering, of all types, in our communities here and abroad, even if we share an encouraging word, “What good is that?”

• The historical Christian Church has embodied it.”Nothing has contributed to the progress of the superstition of the Christians as their charity to strangers…they provide not only for their own poor, but for ours as well.” –Julian. As the anti-Christian leader of the Roman Empire, Julian made this comment in 360 A.D. History indicates that the early Church saw people as more than spiritual beings. It was that radical generosity which provided fuel to the message of Christ. Early Christians, it seems, as Tim Keller describes, “were promiscuous with their charity” and it showed in the Church’s rapid growth in that time.

• Jesus taught and practiced it. “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” – Jesus, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus, as Creator and Almighty God, chose to come and live among us, the poor. His Incarnation alone speaks to His concern for more than just our souls. He came from heaven to live among us on earth. While on earth, he healed the sick, befriended street-dwellers and prostitutes, and cared for the poor. In response to Jesus’ question above, someone in the crowd answered, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus replied to him, and to us, “You go, and do likewise.”

There is a problem if we view our sole purpose as Christians to proclaim the Gospel verbally. It illustrates a severe disconnect if we overlook the physical, emotional and social condition of our neighbors in our attempts to introduce them to Jesus. Further, our acts of service must not be viewed as a “means to an end.” Certainly, radical generosity opens doors to proclaim the Gospel. But, the Good Samaritan was not heralded because his mercy led to a conversion. He was heralded because countercultural compassion is the only appropriate response from a person whose heart has been transformed by the love of Christ. Thankfully, this is not an either/or proposition.

Next month, final reflections in the series, “How Then Shall We Help?”

How Then Shall We Help?

This is part one of a three-part series, “How Then Shall We Help?”

“It was an amazing mission trip. I can’t tell you how happy and content all the people were despite how little they had.”

Have you heard comments like this before? Have you said this before? I have said it several times. It’s a recurrent reflection after trips to poor countries because it is compelling to see joy in the faces of children, parents and grandparents despite their modest means. I specifically remember a joyful little boy from my last trip to the Dominican Republic who was running around wearing nothing but a ratty, tattered t-shirt. His face was dirty, he had few possessions, but, in the midst, he was content.

I have been thinking a lot about this the past few months. Christians in this country, I think, recognize we are called to help the poor. Biblically, there is almost no book in scripture devoid of God’s commands to care for the less fortunate. And, even in our secular culture, it is in vogue to care about “social justice.” It is hip to care about Africa and to buy fair trade coffee. My concern is in the outcome of this groundswell of excitement in “giving back.” I believe the end-game for Christians, often, is supporting any program, project or initiative which increases the prosperity of the poor.

The line of reasoning goes like this: Increased prosperity leads to decreased suffering.

At first glance, I agree with this statement. There are poor people in this world. As Christians, we are called to help them out. We help them by providing education, medical care, housing, language training, business loans, savings accounts, and clean water—all to help them increase their prosperity. As a result, this line of reasoning states, their suffering decreases. Increased prosperity leads to decreased suffering, right?

What if, however, when we help those poor, happy, underprivileged families by providing them with things, they develop some of the same issues our over-privileged children have? Entitlement, jealousy, materialism, obesity, greed. What if, in our attempts to help, rather than decreasing it, suffering just takes on a new identity? I believe most American Christians would agree that increased financial prosperity does not lead to increased fulfillment. We do not have to look beyond our own families and friends to know that material wealth has very little influence on personal joy, satisfaction or success. But, it seems to me that reality has little bearing or influence on our attempts to help the poor.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I work for an organization which helps the poor. I absolutely believe we are to sacrificially serve and “give back” to those in our communities and to those around the world. But, just helping people increase their prosperity cannot be our end-game. In fact, helping the poor does not always decrease their suffering. Next month I will continue to explore these issues while grappling with the question: How then shall we help?