Good Intentions VS. Helpful, Beneficial Actions
OPENING PRAYER:
Lord, help me understand what it means to hurt someone when I only mean to help them. Amen
“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”” James 2:14-18 NLT
REFLECT:
Several years ago I taught a class for the church based on a book entitled When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert. It is based on the concept of alleviating poverty without hurting the poor and ourselves. He writes in the book that too often what we do to help the poor, particularly in missions, does more to cause problems than help them. His premise is that we should be doing more to help the individual develop the skills to move out of poverty and sustain personal responsibility and income.
A mission organization Pathway supports, The India Gospel League (IGL), does an excellent job of this. Their primary goal is to reach unreached people groups in India, but they work through Indian nationals to do this. They train “Barefoot Pastors” to start churches in villages and provide them a three-year stipend to get it up and self-supporting. They also have a program for training nationals to become nurses. Other women are taught valuable skills and provided microloans to start their own businesses helping them become self-sufficient. They provide wells for clean water which are located near the newly established churches. They also operate hospitals, schools, Bible camps and other training opportunities. Everything they do is to help the Indian nationals become self-sufficient and reach the unreached.
APPLY:
Brian Fikkert reminds us that while our hearts are in the right place when we reach out to help someone, often we can hurt them more than help them. Many times they become dependent on handouts. Jesus does ask us to serve the poor, but we need to examine if it is the best way to help them. When I make contributions, I try to do it through organizations that have strong accountability such as IGL, Starkey, Union Rescue Mission, The Lord’s Table, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, the Church, etc. Each of these help individuals work through their situations.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, guide me to know the best way to reach out and help the poor and needy. Amen