When Helping Hurts - Chapter One

WHEN HELPING HURTS

PART 1: FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPTS

CHAPTER 1: WHY DID JESUS COME TO EARTH?

This is my only experience with the authors, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, so I can’t anticipate where they’re going, or whether their presentation of the material will be effective and interesting, or fall short of the mark. In general, I believe the issue of the individual’s role and the Church’s responsibility in the effort to combat poverty deserves high priority. If this book offers intelligent analysis of the many issues and conditions contributing to poverty, it will be a worthwhile experience. On the other hand, if the authors manipulate and misrepresent the issues to advance an agenda, they must be confronted.

The authors begin each chapter with “Initial Thoughts” asking the reader to answer questions germane to the topic of the chapter – and I already feel manipulated.

Why did Jesus come to earth? This is the first question they ask us to answer with one short sentence. Surely, this is one of the most important and complex questions any Christian has to cope with, and, surely, the answer cannot be as simple as one short sentence – unless that sentence supports your agenda.

I have my own beliefs about why Jesus came, but my questioning doesn’t end there. Presumably, God determined the time and place for Jesus. For me, that raises a whole set of “WHY” questions. Why Israel 2000 years ago? Why not France during the plague? Why not America in 1860? Germany in 1939? Why not more than once? Of course, those questions defy answering, but they make me think about the possible reasons for God’s decision to intervene directly and openly in the lives of peasants in Roman occupied territory before widespread literacy, reliable journalism or mass communication. After all, wouldn’t the job of the Church be easier if Jesus had left a bullet-proof historical record of his activities and teaching?

My reasoning on such matters always returns to the concept of free will. God endowed humanity with free will, and wants us to use our free will to make decisions that follow the example of Christ. God could have given us only limited free will, or no free will, and could have been assured that our actions and behaviors would not deviate from the boundaries he set. Instead, he set no built-in boundaries on our range of choices, but gave us moral and ethical standards set out in the Bible and lived out by Jesus.

If that opinion holds sway, it makes sense (in the human concept of “making sense”) that Jesus would appear in a place and time from which historical records are incomplete and contradictory to introduce enough doubt to require the exercise of free will belief, rather than historical certainty that would obviate the need for faith. No one has to have faith that Abraham Lincoln existed, or that he accomplished important things. It takes no free will to believe in Lincoln. In fact, denying the life and accomplishments of Lincoln would be foolish and futile. But for Jesus, each of us must make up our minds about what is true and real. That requires the free will exercise of faith. So, any discussion of why Jesus came to earth should, in my opinion, take into consideration the many other questions all Christians must address by faith.

Okay, so what does this have to do with our chapter for this week? This book was written expressly for a Christian readership. It’s very unlikely that non-Christians will be reading it in any significant numbers. All Christians – even the newly converted – know that we have an obligation to care for the poor. That obligation is well known from scripture, and has been modeled by figures whose names and stories are woven into Christian history and tradition. Instead of using these examples to inspire and encourage us – something that would have been appreciated by even the few non-Christian readers – the authors chose a different approach. They chose to emphasize the language of authority and command.

Beginning at the bottom of page 37 and carrying over to page 38, the authors introduce authoritarian language about “King Jesus” that I find off-putting. Kings are absolute rulers. There is little opportunity for free will in a monarchy. There has never been a historical monarchy ruled with benevolence. Monarchies evolved and continued for a few thousand years to stabilize and control their kingdoms, not to provide their subjects opportunities to make free will decisions and thrive. Continuing onto pages 39 and 40, they focus on God’s commands to the Israelites, and his punishment by “sending” them into exile for failing to follow the law. Are they thinking that by alluding to God as an absolute ruler and recounting the Babylonian exile their readers will be frightened into agreement? Notice that this story is also about free will. The Israelites exercised their free will by not obeying God’s commandments, and their captivity by the Babylonians was the result of those bad choices. To me, it is better characterized as an outcome, or result of their behavior rather than a punishment from God.

The rest of the chapter addresses the problem of superficial devotion characterized by overt piety and adherence to community norms as opposed to actively practicing the tenets of Christianity – another widely known challenge to Christians often referred to as “Walking the walk, not just talking the talk.” Like our duty to help the poor, all Christians have been lectured against superficiality and encouraged to act, hence the slogan “What would Jesus do?”

As you see from this blog post, and those of you who know me from our discussions realize, I read as if I am in an ongoing dialog with the authors, asking questions and raising objections along the way. But I also welcome the opportunity to acknowledge and praise authors who present their material in inspirational ways. As we progress through this book, I hope to find many such opportunities. It must have been difficult to decide how best to open the discussion on the material in this book, and I give them credit for an organized presentation, but, on my scale of “Inspirational to Manipulative” this chapter falls somewhere near the Manipulative zone.

Thank you for your interest, and for reading my thoughts. One of the main objectives of this effort is to provide a platform for the continuation of discussions begun in class, and all such comments are encouraged. This is my first post on this blog, and I know I have a lot to learn. I welcome your comments on the book, especially those that disagree or have observations about matters I have not addressed. I also welcome your comments on my arguments and observations. I’ve been on my faith journey many years, and I’ve learned not to disregard or disrespect the opinions or ideas of others. Even brief comments that look at the material from a different point of view often clear the air or open new channels of communication more effectively than long-winded analysis.

Peace.