I’m re-reading another helpful book that has given me important
insights for our ministry here.
While that was written in the context of social ministry outside
the US, it can teach us something about why our country is in the shape it’s in
now. You see, a lot of unrest is because people who are supposedly being helped
by our secular, government-based social welfare system aren’t involved in the
process; they’re just faceless, nameless, numbered recipients.
That’s one of
the tragic results when we start with the assumption that government is
compassionate, efficient, & flexible enough to do what the church & the
local community have done in the past, & should by all rights be allowed to continue to do.
It’s also the result of another seriously mistaken
assumption – that poverty is the lack of things. If that is so, all that is needed
to alleviate poverty is to provide things. We can see how well that’s working.
Poverty is not a simple thing. But part of the answer to individuals,
families, & communities in poverty includes listening to their perceived needs;
seeing them as whole, integrated persons (with spiritual & emotional parts,
& not just economic consumers); & giving them the dignity of helping
create solutions for their situation.
That’s a big reason why we have a lot of really angry
people on our streets. They will continue to be angry until things change,
& control comes back to our local communities.
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