Tags
There is a disastrous message being promoted to churches and people of faith. It is destructive and the exact opposite of what Jesus wants us to do. It is dangerous! The Lupton Center seems to be a part of a non-profit in Atlanta “Focused Community Strategies”. They are relatively small but their founder has a loud megaphone. He writes books and sells them for a living. They have seminars that churches participate in that teach followers of Jesus not to directly help the poor and homeless.
Jesus is weeping. This is wrong and will lead to eternal destruction for participants in this heresy. See what Jesus says below.
It’s founder is a fairly well known author, Robert D. Lupton. His latest book is “Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help”. His premise is that most of our charities, he argues, are giveaway programs — food pantries, shelters, used clothing closets and the like. According to Lupton, these kinds of giveaways create dependency. Good-paying jobs, and not handouts, are the key to overcoming poverty he says. Dr. Lupton is teaching churches not to help the poor and homeless directly. This is not what our churches need to hear and need to do. Of course, these courses aren’t free. Where does the money go?
Here is the oath for compassionate helpers that the Lupton Center wants you to take. This is not compassionate. Please don’t take it. Jesus has a better way.
- I will never do for others what they have the capacity to do for themselves.
- I will limit one-way giving to crises and seek always to find ways for legitimate exchange.
- I will seek ways to empower by hiring, lending, and investing and offer gifts as incentives to celebrate achievements.
- I will put the interests of those experiencing poverty above my own even when it means setting aside my own agenda or the agenda of my organization.
- I will listen carefully, even to not what is being said knowing that unspoken feelings may contain essential clues to healthy engagement.
- And, above all, to the best of my ability, I will do no harm.
The Jesus way stands in contrast.
- Feed the hungry
- Give something to drink to the thirsty
- Welcome strangers into your house and church
- Clothe those who need it
- Visit the sick
- Visit prisoners
Here is the Jesus way from Matthew 25. Not following it will get you into the “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. It is not the Kingdom way.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[f] you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Lupton leads his readers to believe that people living in poverty are poor simply because they aren’t working, and that if we provide these families “handouts,” they will be inclined to stop working. He argues that if someone could just help them learn how to find and keep a job, they could work themselves out of poverty.
None of this addresses the critical problem of the homeless. Their situation is desperate. They need shelter, money, food and clothing now. Jesus says to give. Churches have plenty of room and money to help. We are not. Jesus warns us that is “eternal fire” thinking. That isn’t a good destination for our spiritual goals.
Lupton’s recommendation does not match up with the reality of the working poor in America. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 63 percent of people living in poverty who are able to work (not disabled or elderly) are in fact working. At the same time, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s most recent report, “Out of Reach,” found that the average wage needed to rent a two-bedroom apartment in the United States is $19.35, while the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25. The reality is that many people are working but aren’t making enough to make ends meet. Beyond that, however, what about the 37% who aren’t working? Will simply telling them to get a job help?
Parents don’t take their children to the soup kitchen for dinner because they are lazy; they do it because they are desperate. To say that the family that receives a meal now has to work in the food pantry in order to be fed, as Lupton recommends, may make it impossible for them to receive the essential food assistance they need. In all likelihood, both parents are working, but because wages are depressed, they simply don’t earn enough to pay the rent and electricity, buy clothes for their children, fix the car, pay medical bills, and put a nutritious meal on the table.
Robert Lupton quotes
I think these quotes will give you a flavor this horrible approach.
“When we do for those in need what they have the capacity to do for themselves, we disempower them.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“I am reassured to know that the straightness of my grain is not a precondition of usefulness to God. And I am humbled to see that out of the twistedness of my wounds, he designs for me a special place of service.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Theirs Is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America
“Mercy combined with justice creates: • immediate care with a future plan • emergency relief and responsible development • short-term intervention and long-term involvement • heart responses and engaged minds Mercy”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“I can’t stress it enough: business growth is key to moving the poverty needle.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results
“The money spent by one campus ministry to cover the costs of their Central American mission trip to repaint an orphanage would have been sufficient to hire two local painters and two new full-time teachers and purchase new uniforms for every student in the school.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“Food in our society is a chronic poverty need, not a life-threatening one. And when we respond to a chronic need as though it were a crisis, we can predict toxic results: dependency, deception, disempowerment.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“Community transformation is about the quality of neighbors, not the quality of programs.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results
“the only effective charity is the kind that asks more from those being served, rather than less. Asking for more sends an affirming message to the recipient that he or she also has something of value to offer.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results
“Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“Never do for the poor what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“personal involvement offers the best way to determine if our charitable investments are being put to good use.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people. We mean well, our motives are good, but we have neglected to conduct care-full due diligence to determine emotional, economic, and cultural outcomes on the receiving end of our charity. Why do we miss this crucial aspect in evaluating our charitable work? Because, as compassionate people, we have been evaluating our charity by the rewards we receive through service, rather than the benefits received by the served. We have failed to adequately calculate the effects of our service on the lives of those reduced to objects of our pity and patronage.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“corporation (CDC) would have to be formed. It would”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“Because, as compassionate people, we have been evaluating our charity by the rewards we receive through service, rather than the benefits received by the served.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“developing the dependency-free zone is the real challenge.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“• R&D is vital. • Invest in success: sound business principles also are good principles for responsible charitable investing. • Focus on your passions. • Investigate the best practices of those in the field to determine what works. • Create a prototype to test new approaches. • Record the process. • Document the findings. • Tweak the methods. • Replicate successes.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“The downward mobility of the kingdom strikes at the very heart of our earthly strivings.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Theirs Is the Kingdom: Celebrating the Gospel in Urban America
“Why do we persist in giving away food when we know it fosters dependency?” “Because it’s easier!”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“parity is the higher form of charity.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
“American churches are at the forefront of the burgeoning compassion industry, spending billions on dependency-producing food pantries, clothes closets, service projects, and mission trips that serve mainly themselves and inadvertently turn people into beggars.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results
“The strategy of crisis intervention must then shift to a strategy of development.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results
Power of the Holy Spirit 
Reblogged this on Fat Beggars School of Prophets and commented:
Michael W takes it to the next level! Check out this post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lupton says:
“Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people. We mean well, our motives are good, but we have neglected to conduct care-full due diligence to determine emotional, economic, and cultural outcomes on the receiving end of our charity. Why do we miss this crucial aspect in evaluating our charitable work? Because, as compassionate people, we have been evaluating our charity by the rewards we receive through service, rather than the benefits received by the served. We have failed to adequately calculate the effects of our service on the lives of those reduced to objects of our pity and patronage.”
― Robert D. Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
And it sounds so slick, so seductive. He cares that you care. But maybe you are not seeing the benefit you think you should (as what? A good American?), and makes no reference to the words of Jesus or the Bible in in facet of this appeal. And for people who don’t actually value the Word of God as much as they may tell themselves…. this is a potent temptation.
Hmmm…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes it is very seductive. I used to think this way. To the poor who were begging, I would say “Get a job”. Ouch. Jesus wept. Jesus is weeping today.
Thanks for speaking out for truth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I cant get this quote off my mind. It sounds like a quotation printed on the back of the book designed to sell it. I cant get off my mind how good it sounds, how right and wise it sounds.
Of course it doesn’t actually resonate with Scripture, though. It acknowledges that a Bible-believing person would rightly care and be moved to serve, but it so subtly undercuts the very words of Jesus, of Moses, and the Apostles from there on. And it sells this agenda to churches world-wide. Pastors and lay people paying money for these books and seminars, telling their friends about it all, writing book reviews on blogs and getting the word out…. It begins to be its own beast after a while.
And it sounds good… but to who? Who does this sound good to, really? What is the underlying function here?
Here is what I think:
I think that the American church is largely (not entirely, but to a very large and vocal extent) caught up in Right Wing politics. I too am a conservative, and plenty of issues I stand on with conservative people. But the fact is that the conservatives are not ALWAYS right about everything, and the liberals are not ALWAYS wrong about everything, but once you make a commitment to one of the ends of the political spectrum, you feel the pull to champion it and admit no wrong while taking every opportunity to clobber the other end. And the church is in this fray and dealing with this stuff in about this manner.
It means many in the church are not singularly focused on God/Jesus anymore. Of course that is always a problem for any generation, but this is how it plays out in ours – to a large extent. And you think about how many Bible-believing Christians cant quote a passage these days, don’t read their Bible regularly, often, or at all anymore. Just 30 years ago, there was a very different sense of this. We still call ourselves Bible-believing, but we just aren’t in the Word, really. And it shows in our lifestyles. We are getting divorced at the same rate as our non-Christian neighbors, having as many unwanted teen pregnancies, having as many STDs and all that. (BTW, Lubbock, TX is about as both conservative politically and Christianly as a town can get, and yet per capita we lead the nation in STD’s, teen pregnancies, child abuse, and a few other shameful stats! – yes, I said LEAD THE NATION.)
Thus we are double minded.
We see the strength of our agenda in the politics, but that just don’t line up with our Bible – not straight across the board. It doesn’t line up with our lifestyles and not our consumerist whims. And since we aren’t actually reading our Bibles and not REALLY beholding to it (and since the liberals are not calling our bluff on that) we get away with thinking we are still Bible-believing, but we are not.
So… we (and I am speaking of the WE that is a large enough segment of American churches to market books and seminars to) have haunting feelings about the poor. We know Jesus cares about the poor. We know he lived a life among the poor. We know he served the poor. Even if we don’t read this for ourselves, we see it in the movies, the Christmas pageants, the Hallmark cards etc…
How can you watch the Christmas Nativity and not be moved with compassion for the poor. Of course it’s all esoteric so academic, so sterile and thankfully so. Its not like you actually SMELL the poverty. It’s OUT THERE and not in here with us. We don’t even imagine breeching this barrier. Not personally. Something must be done, but not ME actually TOUCHING the untouchable. Not that. That doesn’t even occur to my pea picking brain.
But then I find a book written by a guy who peppers his theses with some Bible passages but who makes a very compelling case that our HELP for the poor actually harms them instead of helping! Oh MY GOD! YES!!! THAT’s it!!! Why didn’t I see it before??? And the beauty is that now I can spend money on caring for the poor while keeping that barrier between them and me hermetically sealed.
It just FEEEEEEEEEEEELS so right! And it coincides with my conservative politics perfectly! It is the perfect blend of Jesus and Right Wing politics!
Now… imagine you are a pastor in this game. Perhaps you know better and are seduced by the leverage it gives you. Perhaps you don’t really know better, after all some of these seminaries are crap, and some pastors just print up their own certificates – its not like they are government-regulated. Go into any prison in this land and find certificates on the cell walls of inmate after inmate with their name next to the letters R E V.
For that matter, Osteen is not trained! And he is wildly popular, rich, and sells books.
Basically, this message SOUNDS good to people with money who are not in contact with either Jesus or the poor. They will pay good money to feel better about themselves while keeping it that way! And that is what this program really achieves. And it makes pastors who support it look good while doing it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually find it disgusting. I know this isn’t Jesus. I’m going to keep doing what I can to get the word out. And I will keep it up to point out the heresy of this message. I don’t know what is worse, the prosperity gospel or this. We need more voices to amplify the message.
Be blessed!
LikeLike
I have not read the materials, but have only seen the FB post and this blog. So, I am only commenting based on this information.
Food pantries, soup kitchens, clothes closets, are all important in meeting the needs of the poor and homeless. If we stop here, we are meeting only surface needs. We need to go beyond these. Perhaps teach life skills, computer training, English as a second language, provide support for GED so that they can break the cycle that they are in. As Christians we are called to care for the person. We need to get to know a person’s story so we can truly provide for the real need.
I knew a single dad who was raising 3 little ones. He made $25 a month too much to qualify for child care assistance or food stamps. He was working a good job, but having difficulty. He was being penalized for working and trying to be a responsible adult. Why should a person work if they a penalized for doing so?
This man would have had an easier life if he had gone on welfare and quit his job. Our system is broken.
In the meantime we are called to do what we can to help those in need.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Quotes, thoughts and musings and commented:
I don’t usually “cross blog”. This is from one of the others I maintain. I think it is an important message so posting here as well.
LikeLike