Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, with Katie Casselberry. Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence. Moody Publishers, 2015. See here to buy the book.
Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert teach economics at Covenant College
and are involved in the Chalmers Center there. Katie Casselberry was
also instrumental in the development of this book.
This book is a sequel to another book that Corbett and Fikkert wrote, entitled When Helping Hurts. According to Corbett and Fikkert, some churches got the wrong idea from When Helping Hurts,
concluding that they should not give to the poor who come asking them
for help. Actually, Corbett and Fikkert say, they are advocating that
churches provide even more help than financial assistance: that people
in churches develop relationships with low-income people, work with them
to improve their situation, and even offer financial assistance, if
that is determined to be wise. Helping Without Hurting refers to When Helping Hurts, while going into more detail about how to assist the low-income.
This book does come across as patronizing and as assuming that
poverty is a result of character flaws rather than something that
happens to a person. Yet, to its credit, it does make a conscious
effort to avoid and to counter that kind of attitude. It acknowledges
that poverty can be due to a number of factors, some beyond the control
of the low-income person. It presents racism as a real problem that
holds people back. It denies that it is offering a one-size-fits-all
approach, recognizing that each individual situation is different. It
encourages churches to work with the low-income rather than telling the
low-income what to do.
A number of times, I wondered how feasible its approaches are.
Reading this book, one may get the impression that churches have lots of
money, such that they are able to contribute to low-income people’s
bank account, or to pay half of their electric bill. One may also get
the impression that churches have an abundance of experienced people who
are able to teach vocational skills, or that people in churches have
the time to work with low-income people. The book would have been
better had it included more stories of churches actually doing these
things, or perhaps offered guidance on how, say, to establish a
job-training program. To its credit, the book had a number of anecdotes
and case-studies, as well as recommended resources that can hopefully
assist the low-income. Still, something seemed to be missing.
Greater sensitivity to current economic problems may also have
enhanced the book. As the book acknowledges, some areas lack economic
development. There are also the factors of stagnant wages, the decline
of U.S. manufacturing jobs, and robots replacing workers. At the same
time, this book does well to argue that the church should try to muster
whatever resources it has (i.e., people with contacts in the business
community) to work with the low-income and hopefully improve their
situation. What we need in this society are people who care and who try
to help more, not less, and this book does well to promote that.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My review is honest.