charity to development

This morning, we interviewed four practitioners around the topic of charity vs. transformational development in ministry.

Ninety percent of Americans, whether they follow Christ or have another belief system, are generous in charitable giving and believe it is important to support a cause they believe in. There is a mindset across America that we are blessed in this country and should share some of the abundance that we have with people who have not. There are some problems, though, with this mindset and the behaviors that result from it. A few:

1. The donations of money and material goods often presume that poverty is only the lack of material goods. This is rarely the case. Poverty often stems from broken relationships with God, self, one another, and creation. The definition of success and abundant life does not find itself solely in sharing or redistributing "stuff".

2. In charity, givers will often think, even if it is subconsciously, that they are superior to the receiver...that the person receiving the charity is inferior, incapable, or has little to offer.

3. Charity often makes the receivers dependent and destroys personal initiative. When we do for others what they can do for themselves, we are not only not helping them, we are hurting them....and ourselves as well. Opportunities to build community or to reconcile are often hindered due to charity mindsets and behaviors.

Churches for the most part have been tremendously generous with charity. Though there is a need for charity when tragedies occur, it's really transformational development in which we should spend the bulk of our time and resources. A few characteristics of development work:

1. It's relational. It's meeting people where they are and sharing a vision for what could be through an environment, experiences, and information that will help them discover who they are and who they were made to be in Christ.

2. Development helps a person discover their own capabilities and helps them to own the process as they partner with God to change and grow.

3. Development work nurtures reconciliation and community as people walk together side by side in life.

When I try to think of the differences between charity and development, all I have to do is think about it in terms of raising our children. Our twins are 12 years old. I can see the results of the areas in their lives where we've taught them and expected them to function independently. I've also seen the results of the areas where it just seemed faster and easier to do for them that which they are more than capable to do on their own. This way of "faster and easier"...largely the way of charity...does not produce growth and transformation in the long run! It produces dependent children who resist profusely in their tween years when you suddenly realize that it's time to change up the rules of the game so that development trumps dependency.