How do we best ‘give to the needy’?

On Sunday, we tackled the third of Jesus’ five hardest sayings, Luke 12.32-34, in which Jesus says: ‘Sell your possessions, and give to the needy.’

This is a hard saying to understand and to obey. I’m praying that this word of Jesus will unsettle us in the best possible kind of ways, and make us reflect on how we’re using the wealth God has given every one of us (by world standards, we’re all fabulously rich).

Another area of difficulty comes in applying this saying. Once God has freed us to give generously, how do we give to the poor in a manner that is Christ-like, helpful, sustainable, empowering and not enabling? This is a major, major question. Many good-hearted churches get it wrong – they pour resources into places and actually do more damage than good because of their unwise practices of giving.

For the last two weeks I’ve been reading a fantastic new book that helps answer some of these questions. It is called The Poor Will Be Glad: Joining the Revolution to Lift the World Out of Poverty and it’s written by Peter Greer and Phil Smith. This book is outstanding in every way. It is clear and compelling. It is undergirded by biblical principles. It affirms the importance of local churches in meeting material and spiritual needs. It makes a powerful case for the effectiveness of microfinance (if you don’t know what that is, read the book). It is the best book I know of in terms of thinking through this basic question of how we can most effectively help the poor for the glory of Christ. (Incidentally, Peter Greer’s father Keith is coming to speak at our PCF Leaders’ Training Day this October).

Here’s a positive review of the book from Dennis Hollinger, the president of my alma mater Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary:

“Most Christians recognize the biblical mandate to care for the poor. But ‘doing good’ doesn’t always really help. With biblical insight, economic savvy, realism, and loads of wisdom, Greer and Smith point to a paradigm that can empower ‘the least among us.’ The Poor Will be Glad holds forth a promise that can live up to its title. This is must reading for church mission committees, development workers and anyone who wants to truly make a difference in the face of poverty. Moreover, Greer and Smith rightly believe that physical poverty and spiritual poverty can be addressed together without loosing the integrity of the other.” — Dennis Hollinger, Ph.D., President & Professor of Christian Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

PCF, please take and read!

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Sep 5, 07:28 PM