Book Review: When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert

When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert  is a book I set my sites on some time ago but thinking it may be a load of tosh I put off reading it. That is, until I received a verbal recommendation from a trusted relative I then decided it was time to dig in. As it turns out it is not a load of rubbish but rather a well thought out analysis of how we as individual Christians, churches, and parachurch organizations have failed, often miserably, at assisting the poor and alleviating poverty and how to address these issues.

From the back cover we learn what we can expect from the book

• Foundation Concepts – Who are the poor?
• Principles – Should we do relief, rehabilitation or development?
• Strategies – How can we help people here and abroad?

And that is the thrust of the work.  These three points are fleshed out by the authors.

The book begins with a short history of how we, primarily North American Christians, got to where we are now. What happened between 1900 and 1930 that changed how we address poverty alleviation and why we are failing miserably at addressing it? Why is a Biblical world view important to the methodology of helping the poor?

Next we find out what the poor think of our efforts to help them. Its entirely possible we fail as we have no clue how other cultures, even sub-cultures within our own culture, think emotionally and politically of their plight. Failure to recognize these distinctions cause our failures in assisting the poor and therefore our evangelism. From our North American point of view are we really helping the poor or just making ourselves feel better by thinking we have? Poverty is rooted in broken relationships, with God and each other, not in financial or material wealth. Only Jesus can fix that.

In chapter 4 we begin to get into the real meat of the work. Help comes in three forms according to the authors: Relief, rehabilitation, and development. Failure to recognize these three and implement them as needed or in correct order can do more harm than good. Many churches and organizations, for example, start and stop with relief. That is, providing immediate help for a need. Though necessary it falls short of providing for the long term needs of the person or persons in need. The authors flesh this out clearly and define what steps, relief, rehabilitation, and development, to take at appropriate times.

Of chapter 7 I took special note. Short term mission trips (STM) have always left me wondering how effective they can be. How can a group of people who blow into town for only a week or two expect to provide any long lasting good? Indeed, they can be helpful as the authors explain however they are often not for several reasons the authors lay out. If only relief is provided the STM is doomed to failure. Development is often what is needed and that can’t be done in a two week STM. In helping the poor we must be in it for the long haul by helping the local churches and organizations in the area as necessary.

The authors continue and conclude with concrete strategies to help the poor in numerous ways and especially spiritually. The issue is often, "Finding armies of people to volunteer one Saturday to paint dilapidated houses is easy. Finding people to love the people who live in those houses is extremely difficult" (pg. 210). We must take the time to walk and love these folks for the long term. Are you ready? Am I ready?   

              

This is a justifiable read. The authors are intelligent and experienced. Expert analysis, true life accounts, and clear strategies are provided. I wholeheartedly commend When Helping Hurts .

Book Review: We Named Her Faith by Tim Orr

We Named Her Faith is a warm hearted story of grace and love and how God in His providence works in the daily lives of His people. This book isn't my normal line of country. I tend to engross myself into deeper works of theology however, the result of that deeper theology should have the outcome we read about in the lives of the Orr family. When it comes to the trials of faith many of us have read of the faith of men like Calvin, Luther, Warfield, Newton and many others that endured incredible hardships and were triumphant at the end of their lives. Most of us just aren't like that. We're average people just trying to make it day by day striving to be obedient and living on God's grace. And so it is for the Orr family.

We Named Her Faith is the story of Tim, Michelle and Faith Orr. Their past and present - how they got to where they are today through life's trials and struggles and how they were happily able to adopt their daughter, Faith who has Down Syndrome. Their story has many twists and turns, happy and sad, losing and winning. But through it all we see God's Providence working behind the scenes for their good and His glory.

Its a wonderful story. As for the book itself, it has its share of positives and negatives. On the negative side, it was difficult to determine the author's beliefs. Often oscillating freely between the terms "providence" (as in God's Providence) and the term "luckily," I was confused. Were their circumstances from God or by coincidence? The author, in his early years was Pentecostal and at some point became a Reformed Baptist but it was difficult to see when and thus could account for the confusion here and at some other points. At times there was too much irrelevant information and at others too little which made the story wordy and somewhat disjointed. On the positive side we see a childless couple reach out in God's love and adopt a child with a disability. We see God moving in their lives from when they were young to the present in many marvelous ways. Life isn't easy but we see God's grace working in the background of their lives to bring about the wonderful conclusion of adoption.

This is a great book for the church library or your home. Its worth a read. A definite 3.5 out of 5.

I received a review copy of "We Named her Faith" to review. No other compensation was received, and the opinions are my own.

Book Review: Luther on the Christian Life: Cross and Freedom by Carl Trueman

UPDATED

There have been many books written about Martin Luther. Many good, some not, but this latest work by Carl Trueman, Martin Luther on the Christian Life, trumps almost all of them.  Luther, a man who was down to earth on many levels and an enigma on many others, is a man worth studying. At least to the degree where we as modern day Christians may have a more complete understanding of what he was striving for, his difficulties of getting there (if and where he did), how his thought progressed over his lifetime and the influence he has right up to today in Christianity. Not a perfect man but a man used by God to change the Christian world.

Not in the too distant past I had read everything available in written form and listened to virtually every sermon and lecture I could on the internet by Trueman. Now, a much sought after conference speaker that is a much more difficult task. Much of what I learned from him was about Luther. It was foundational knowledge for me and I often listened to some of these lectures numerous times. Trueman is a great speaker but listening to him was much more than enjoying a well-spoken lecturer. New doors on Reformation history, specifically on Luther, were opened for me for me that were previously closed. So when this book was first announced I was anxious to get my hands on it (devour it?).

In eight succinct chapters Trueman lays out Luther’s thought and specifically how it relates to the Christian life, not only in the 1500’s but more importantly today.  A brief biography is followed by the development of Luther’s theology. It is important to note that Luther’s thought changed over the years and much of what he wrote and is remembered of him is in the early years before his more full orbed theology blossomed. Though the early years were not unuseful, it does us well to educate ourselves more fully on the later years of his theology for that is where, not always but often, find the true heart of Luther’s theology.  That is where this work is illuminating.

Chapter titles:

1.Martin Luther’s Christian Life

2.Theologians, Priests and Kings

3.The Theology of the Word Preached

4.The Liturgy of the Christian Life

5.Living by the Word

6.Freed from Babylon: Baptism and the Mass

7.Luther and Christian Righteousness

8.Life and Death in This Earthly Realm: Government, Calling, and Family

Conclusion: Life as Tragedy, Life as Comedy

From the above chapter titles we see that all the bases are covered. As we know, no doctrine stands on its own. Every Christian doctrine hinges on others and it was no different for Luther as his life and thought progressed. This book dispels some of the false notions about Luther and reveals many others truths not widely known. Luther didn’t start out to create a revolution in the church, October 31, 1517 was not the start of the Reformation, and he had an incredible sense of humor and was very devoted to his family and his flock. Indeed, what started as what we call the Reformation today was Luther’s concern for his people rather than doctrinal purity. This book unpacks all of this and much more.

It is important to note that Trueman does not dabble in hagiography. Luther wasn’t perfect, far from it. Though Luther is a favorite of Trueman, he has no romantic notions of his character. Trueman brings out these errors, explains them, but makes no excuses for them.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It belongs in every church, pastors and layman’s library and deserves a thorough read and re-read. It’s a keeper.

Crossway has provided a complimentary copy of this book through Beyond the Page. 

Click here to enjoy an author interview at Christ the Center!