What Would Jesus Do?

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
Mark 1:14, 15

I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.
Luke 4:43

Within the past couple of months, I just finished reading When Helping Hurts: How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor...And Yourself. Here are a couple of the main takeaways I got from the book:

• When we talk about poverty alleviation, what do we mean? Getting medical care to those who are in need? Feeding the hungry? Finding housing for the homeless? This book taught me that my definition of poverty alleviation isn't clear or comprehensive enough. Out of all the things I learned from this book, nothing was more significant for me than coming away with a biblically comprehensive definition of poverty alleviation. This definition is the foundation upon which this book builds and the banner that flies over everything else that the authors write so everything else depends on it. In my own words, to alleviate poverty is to enable men and women to glorify God and enjoy Him forever by working with them to restore in them (and ourselves) four relationships that were destroyed by the Fall: relationship with God, relationship with self, relationship with creation, and relationship with others. Failing to take into account any of these relationships as we attempt to alleviate poverty will inevitably lead to us hurting rather than helping the poor...and ourselves.
• All attempts in poverty alleviation essentially fall into one of three categories: relief, rehabilitation, or development. One of the biggest problems with the way we do poverty alleviation in the West is that the majority of our attempts to alleviate poverty fall into the category of relief. The reason this is a problem is because the majority of the poverty alleviation that the world needs is not relief. Relief should be immediate, temporary, and seldom, usually in response to an emergency or crisis. That means that the majority of our poverty alleviation should be rehabilitation or development. And even when we do engage in poverty alleviation by relief, we should do so developmentally.
• Avoid paternalism. In poverty alleviation, never, never, never do something for others that they can do for themselves because in so doing we treat them as inferior and hinder them from fully embracing and living in the reality that they are created in the image of God. In so doing, we damage rather than restore their their relationship with God, relationship with self, and relationship with us.
• In poverty alleviation, don't begin by asking people what they need. This implies that they are broken and we are not and that we have what they need to fix them, creating that inferiority/superiority dynamic that prevents them from being able to fully walk in being those who are created in the image of God. Instead of beginning by asking what they don't have, begin by asking what they do have to give in order for them to recognize they dignity, abilities, and gifts that they have to offer as men and women who are created in the image of God.
• In all poverty alleviation, the focus is people and processes, not products!
• In poverty alleviation, don't create blueprints to apply to people but take the time to develop processes suitable for them in their contexts and based on their knowledge, though this will definitely take longer than just developing a generalized blueprint for poverty relief that applies to all the poor. This requires time and relationship investment, which is really hard work!

This book is phenomenal. I was challenged page after page as I realized how little I've thought through what it means to love and care for the poor in a holistic sense. And even though this book is written specifically to address poverty alleviation, the theological foundations the authors lay--in defining poverty alleviation as restoring the four key relationships that were broken by the Fall--gave me a deeper grasp of the gospel and has been transforming the way I see the world in general and not just as I think about poverty alleviation. The reality, as the authors state, is that, according to this definition of poverty alleviation, every person in the world is poor and in need of poverty alleviation, though in different ways and in differing degrees as relating to each of the four relationships. Therefore, we don't do poverty alleviation to others or for others, but rather we engage in poverty alleviation alongside with others.

That being said, I believe this book would be tremendously beneficial for anyone to read. It's thoroughly biblical, experiential, and balanced. In a day where the church so often finds itself split with some Christians focused on the here and now of the kingdom and other Christians focused on the yet to come of the kingdom, this book will challenge both sides to pursue the both/and of the gospel of the kingdom in its fullness. Jesus came for nothing less and He calls us to nothing less:

The mission of Jesus was and is to preach the good news of the kingdom of God, to say to one and all, "I am the King of kings and Lord of lords, and I am using My power to fix everything that sin has ruined"...

[Some seek] the King without the kingdom [those focused on the afterlife]...[Others seek] the kingdom without the King [those focused on the here and now]. The church needs a Christ-centered, fully-orbed, kingdom perspective to answer the question: "What would Jesus do?"

--Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How To Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting The Poor...And Yourself, p.32, 38