Hand-Outs Help in an Oppressive Way
Real ministry to the poor demands ultimately providing a “hand-up” out of a bad situation. This will usually require temporary and wisely chosen “hand-outs” combined with a committed effort to find an actual solution to a person’s problem. An actual solution requires commitment because it will involve struggles, time, effort, and other resources that most are not willing to give.
Designing a ministry to the poor that ignores the hand-up component of working with a person to get out of a problem is usually little help and most likely worse in the long run.
Consider this study quoted by Bethany Stotts in her recent column
Unhealthy Freedoms:
…studies show that reliance on government welfare programs may also contribute to higher levels of depression among Americans. According to the University of Michigan 2001 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), Americans on welfare were more than twice as likely to feel “worthless” or “hopeless.” “Holding constant all of one’s personal characteristics, including whether or not one is employed, we find that receipt of public assistance by itself pushes up the chances of saying you have been inconsolably sad over the past month by about 16 percentage points,” writes American Journal writer Arthur. C. Brooks on the subject. “No other single factor—not income, age, education, or anything else—comes close to predicting this much of one’s unhappiness.”
Helping the physical need while leaving the recipient of our ministry depressed about their situation is not really ministry. It might be help, but it’s likely not even that if viewed from a long term perspective.
Real ministry to the poor should result in the one being ministered to having a growing sense of hope, encouragement and determination to overcome their challenge. And a growing sense of God’s presence and help in the midst of their situation. That comes by getting into the trenches alongside the needy person and working with them, at what ever level it takes, to find and implement a solution.
Easy? Not at all. In fact it is pretty much impossible–without God. But it is God who has called us to minister to the poor and He does equip us to do the job. Usually step-by-step as we gingerly inch our way forward assured only by faith that the end of the process will be found at some point.
Don’t have time or other resources? Well don’t waste what little resources God has provided you with. Be faithful with the ones you have and perhaps He will provide more. Helping a whole bunch of people a little bit is not usually as good as helping a couple of people a whole lot.
Who called you to save the world? If God has called you to that, you have the necessary resources. If not, look around to the one or two that you are equipped to help. If every Christian really ministered to just a couple of people in a meaningful way we would probably be amazed at how much suffering could be overcome.
Furthermore, help to the poor would probably be increased exponentially as those we have helped OUT of a situation become empowered with personal insight and experience to help others.
What if someone doesn’t want a hand-up, only a hand-out? Well, actually, that’s all most people seeking you out want. Jesus saw it in His ministry. Remember to minister to needs, not wants. Real ministry to some requires not helping them cover up their need for a solution by providing what they want today. Give or don’t give a hand-out as the Spirit leads. But save your real resources, effort, and commitment for those who realize they need to find a solution for their problem.
Real ministry to the poor does not add up a list of dependants, it sets people free to become our partners in ministry to other poor people.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
This is the Church’s mission. Jesus himself said in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” Jesus recognized that people of that time were in oppressive situations and needed help to overcome. Two thousand years later people are still in those situations and in need of the same help. That was Jesus’ mission then. And the mission is the same today. The only difference is that now He uses his followers to be the “hand of God” to those in need.
We’re in a time in society right now where, across the board, the population is increasingly becoming poor, where jobs aren’t as secure or available as yesteryear, where fewer people take responsibility for their actions, and true help is not readily available. We live in the greatest country in the world. Yes. But, the government ignores the real problem –the government. The welfare systems that they created and continue to maintain are doing more harm [to the people] than good. They give handouts to every lazy Tom, Dick, and Harry that has the potential and ability to better their situations while the working poor are trodden underfoot.
It’s time for policy reform. Back when said welfare systems were created with Roosevelt’s New Deal, it was greatly needed. The stock market crash of 1929 left the economy more or less bankrupt. Systems were implemented like CCC Boys and WPA: systems where people worked hard for the meager incomes they received. Now these systems are enabling irresponsible people to sit back, devoid of most, if not all, of the responsibility of their actions.
The policy reform must start with individuals. It’s not the government’s place to clean up the messes of its constituents. It’s yours. And it’s mine. People relate to people. People can see the gray areas of someone’s situation the legislative policy can’t see so that those in a real need situation can be provided a “hand up” instead of a “hand out”.