In Toxic Charity Bob Lupton argues that much of Americans’ charitable giving “is either wasted or actually harms the people it is targeted to help.” Part of the reason is that there is what he calls a “compassion industry” that is “almost universally accepted as a virtuous and constructive enterprise,” but its “outcomes are almost entirely unexamined.” The hard truth, he argues, is that years of charitable giving at home and abroad have barely made a dent in reducing poverty and often encourage dependency.
Bob Lupton was one of the presenters at CCDA 2012, and he shared some of his thoughts from this book. He is controversial in his views, but I generally think that’s a good thing. It gets people talking.
He proposes a new “Oath for Compassionate Service” for the charity industry to adopt, much as the medical community has adopted the Hippocratic Oath. Lupton’s Oath offers six key guidelines:
(1) Never do for the poor what they can do for themselves
(2) Limit one-way giving to emergencies
(3) Empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements
(4) Subordinate self-interest to the needs of those being served
(5) Listen closely to those you seek to help
(6) Above all, do no harm
Those are his thoughts – what do you think?
I am a lifelong Chicagoan, a pastor at River City Community Church, and an author who writes a lot about resisting and confronting white supremacy from a faith lens.
Our church was founded in January of 2003 in the west Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago, and is centered on the core values of worship, reconciliation, and neighborhood development. We long to see increased spiritual renewal as well as social and economic justice in the Humboldt Park neighborhood and entire city, demonstrating compassion and alleviating poverty as tangible expressions of the Kingdom of God. It is also through the gift of this faith community that I have learned to see the profound historical and spiritual impact of the stronghold of white supremacy, and where I have been challenged to broaden and deepen my understanding of discipleship in the hopes of becoming a serious enough Christ follower who is able to meaningfully participate with those who have risen up in defiance of this evil principality.
The lessons learned in this journey have been captured in a pair of books on race. The first, White Awake, explores the barriers that white people tend to face – white Christians specifically – when we attempt to awaken to and understand white supremacy through a faith lens. I spend a lot of time here addressing the internal defenses that are bound to go off when this journey is taken seriously, and I chart out a path for developing a resilient spirit that steadfastly moves towards truth, justice, and equity. The second, White Lies, further builds out the path for the white Christian who longs to actively participate in the resistance and confrontation of white supremacy. I spend a lot of time here exploring why it is so hard to tell the truth about race, as well as expose the lies that sustain it, within white, Christian, Bible-believing environments. I then propose nine practices that position us for engaging in this task.
On the personal front, my career started in the marketplace, as I was part of three dot.com startups in the 90’s. My vocational path shifted when I joined the staff of Willow Creek Community Church in 1998, and I spent five years working there. I started River City Community Church in January 2003 and have been happily serving here ever since. On the education front, my undergrad was in Business (Purdue University), my graduate degree in theology (Moody Bible Institute), and my doctoral degree in community development (Northern Seminary). On the family front, my wife is a Professor of Psychology, and we have two amazing children (Xander and Gabriella).
drdanielhill.com 
Leave a Reply