pov·er·ty
[pov-er-tee]
–noun
1. the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor; indigence.
2. deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities,etc.: poverty of the soil.
3. scantiness; insufficiency
Even the dictionary contains a definition of poverty that is smothered in Western culture. In a country that is the richest society of people to ever walk the planet and where identity, power, and influence is wrapped up in work and wealth, it’s no wonder that the first thing that pops into our heads when we hear the word “poverty” is “having little or no money, goods, or means of support.”
Let me offer an alternate definition from the book When Helping Hurts, which I will refer to often:
“Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meaning.” (62)
More specifically:
“Poverty exists when one of more of the four foundational relationships are broken: a relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation.” (57)
This means that poverty can show itself in us as Americans when our inability to set aside our work and invest in our families leads to divorce, strained relationships with our children, and identities that are wrapped up in what we’re able to accomplish and how much money we’re able to earn.
On the flip side, in many parts of the world, poverty can show itself when broken institutions, distorted worldviews and misconceptions about creation lead to a lack of goods or resources.
So while the visible manifestations of poverty might look completely different depending on which part of the world you’re standing in, at the root of both broken homes, failed marriages, and pride - and a lack of food, money, and resources – is one or more of these relationships being out of whack.
This is an important concept to grasp whether you’re a Christian or not. Are you ever going to give money to a charity, try to help a homeless person, build a home for someone, volunteer at a homeless shelter, or give Christmas presents to a family that can’t buy their own? Then it’s essential that you get this idea, or you could end up doing more harm than good.
I could spend several blogs elaborating on these two excerpts and the rest of this book, but that’s not what I want to get at right now. If you want to learn more, I highly recommend checking out the blog of a friend of mine who spent several posts breaking this book down and what it means for his inner-city ministry. (See: http://nowisthedayof.blogspot.com)
There’s constant debate and criticism flying back and forth about the right approach to doing ministry in poverty-stricken areas, and even more generally, what ministry and evangelism should consist of regardless of location.
Good works versus preaching the Word…Building homes versus Bible studies…Providing food versus church leadership training.
Many popular Christian books that have come out lately have pushed the “social gospel” hard. And for good reason. We need to do good works, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, caring for orphans and widows, providing clean wells, and putting an end to HIV/AIDS, showing people the reality that the Kingdom is here and yet there is so much more to come.
But we can’t stop there, or we’ll only further peoples’ poverty. Here’s why:
If light of this new definition of poverty, if we’re to believe that poverty is really caused by these relationships being out of order, ministry and evangelism simply CAN’T be one or the other, but must be both good deeds and the preaching of the Word. This all seems logical so far, but here’s a true story from a talk by Dr. Brian Fikkert, a PhD from Yale in economics and co-author of When Helping Hurts, that helps to illustrate this point.
A Christian organization goes into a very poor farming community in Bolivia where they worship a mythical goddess that they believe will make their harvest plentiful. It is common practice there to buy llama fetuses to bury underneath the crops that they plant, as a sacrifice to their goddess.
The Christian organization wants the village’s income to increase, so they buy the community new high-yield seed. The harvest comes and it’s more plentiful than ever before. So what does the village do? They throw a HUGE party, distilling more alcohol than ever before due to their increased corn harvest, and proceed to worship their “farming goddess” for so richly blessing them with the most corn they’ve ever seen.
The organization had failed to pair their deeds with a proclamation of the Word, and thus, the help they were trying to provide actually led to deeper worship of an idol, drawing them further away from a right relationship with God, and setting them up for failure in the future when the high-yield seeds are gone and all that’s left are their superstitions and broken relationships.
In the same talk I mentioned earlier, Fikkert brings up the St. Francis of Assisi quote, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.”
Fikkert acknowledges that it’s probable St. Francis never actually said this phrase, but his response is this:
“Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words? It’s always necessary.”
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:15-23
Jesus is the King who holds everything together. In Him, through Him, and for Him, all things were created. And it is He that has the power to restore and redeem these broken relationships, institutions, governments, and manifestations of poverty. We can bring His acts of mercy and healing to people, and we can share His words and His Gospel story, but unless both are done in conjunction with one another, we fail to truly teach everything that He has commanded us, and we minimize and dilute his Kingdom and all that He came to do. –CK
*If I could put one book in the hands of every person I know, it might be this book, “When Helping Hurts.” Everyone that’s going to go on a short-term mission trip, give to a charity, do relief work, come across a homeless person, or travel abroad (hopefully this covers everyone) needs to read this book. I truly believe that while this book might not change how poverty is addressed and lead to substantial, visible change in our lifetime, it will change the lives of thousands of individuals that can combat the misconceptions and manifestations of poverty one person at a time. And that’s a step in the right direction.
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