Devastation Disguised As “Blessings”

How your giving is detrimental.

Having lived and worked among the people of Uganda for the past several months, we have seen firsthand how utterly detrimental the giving of gifts (financial or otherwise) under the name of being a “blessing” has been to this country. It is not being a blessing to do something for people who can do it for themselves. It creates dependence, slothfulness, and welfare.  Time and time again we have aided in other’s  “blessing” of Ugandans and witnessed first hand the enabling cycle lead to the destruction and failure of many well-meaning projects, churches, schools, and supporting of families.

Enough is enough! By giving to the people every “need” they present you with you are taking away their dignity and their ownership. You are stripping them of joy from earning and working to provide for themselves. You are taking away their dependence upon the Lord and placing it upon yourself. You are becoming their functional savior – and in the end you will fail them and leave them much much worse than you found them. No matter how pure your heart or well-meaning your motives, freely and constantly giving anything other than the Gospel is creating an unending dependency on you, your organization, etc. and it is costing them everything.

The Real Problem

With that being said, the true problem is sin. We want to cater to all the needs that are real and difficult for these people but we are simply treating the symptoms and not attacking the root issue of sin. In the beginning, God made everything and He declared it to be good.  Then Genesis chapter 3 takes place. Sin enters the world, breaking everything, and as a result we have death, disease, poverty, starvation, greed, lust, allergies, etc. The good news is that God, being the excellent steward and masterful father that He is, promised to send someone to set things right and redeem all things back to Himself for His glory alone. Jesus came, lived perfectly, and died to atone for the sins of all people of all nations. Yes, we are expected to love and care for them well but to love others well would be to attack their root problem of sin and point them to their true savior, Christ, not to make our glory great and become their functional saviors in the name of being “blessings” to them.

This is not to say that there is not a way to give, you need to be strategic. 

A perfect example from our culture would be the rising epidemic of extended adolescence whereby children reach the age of adulthood but have never had to take responsibility or provide for themselves so they continue to use up the resources of mom and dad. This is shown through constantly asking for money and not searching for work to provide for themselves, living at home for as long as possible to avoid providing for themselves, not taking ownership and caring for what they have already been given, etc. Some ways that we can combat this would be to push the little birds out of the nest.

We need to stop treating third world countries as if they are our “little birds”. Stop giving them everything they ask for and start expecting them to take ownership and provide for themselves. The Ugandan projects, schools, churches, and families you are investing in need to take responsibility for their needs and growth. They need to take ownership and initiative to provide for themselves, not sit back and wait on the westerners to cater to their every need.

Things to stop doing:

1. Throwing money at them for everything: Excessive tipping, not bargaining (this is part of their culture- embrace it), wanting to pay for unnecessary things i.e. their rent, salaries, etc. You are creating dependency and the mindset that westerners have money to throw away! It’s not showing them good stewardship, how to take responsibility for themselves, or work ethic. Remember that they do not see the effort you put in to gain your funds to come to them, to give to them, or to pay for other things like clothing, food, your home, etc.  [We have been asked repeatedly if we would give them our money machines – because apparently they believe we carry machines to print money and never have to work.]
2. Promising to give them things that they can work hard and get for themselves.  This includes bicycles, motorcycles, generators, cooking supplies, food, computers, etc. We expect people in America to work for these things if they want them, not just to beg and expect others to give them what they request. Hold them to the same standards!  They will far exceed your expectations if you demand of them to step up and take ownership for themselves. Good stewards think ahead, work hard, plan well, and achieve their goals. What are we teaching these people if we continually give them everything they as of us? Besides, the majority of the well-intended gifts we give them they sell to make money for themselves. At least they are resourceful.

What To Focus On

Give them the Gospel! Honestly, short-term trips do more damage than good from what we’ve seen, especially in regards to the gospel. The first thing Christians should be offering is the opportunity to meet with the creator and sustainer of the world who desires a personal relationship with His creation. Other’s can tell where your focus is based on what you talk about. Are your more concerned with your project, organization, and/or meeting physical needs or are you constantly, unashamedly, and boldly proclaiming the gospel and using that as a funnel to provide for needs to the glory of God and the good of others? If not, what good is actually coming from your efforts? Loving others well involves thinking of them as souls who will exist eternally, not just bodies in the here-and-now. We aren’t saying don’t give or don’t provide well. What we are saying is give strategically, carefully, and with accountability in ways that are not enabling, creating dependency, and doing for them what they can do for themselves.

Ideas for how to give:

1.     Ask them how they can raise their own support and let them.

      If you had never shown up, these people would still be existing and functioning. They would still have the same needs and they most assuredly could figure out another way to provide them than asking for money or gifts. Furthermore, we were created to work and through that to worship the almighty God! Enabling others so that they don’t feel the need to work for themselves takes away one of the gifts of worship for which God created us. Giving prayer and wise counsel is better for them and you than giving financially over and over again. It goes back to giving a man a fish vs. teaching a man to fish.  Would it not be better to provide lifelong skills than temporary items?

2.     Have them to raise money to pay for at least half of the funds, or pay you back.

No, this doesn’t sound kind or like a gift, but it is truly one of the greatest gifts you can give – ownership and a sense of worth. When we work for something we take care of it, we protect it; we want to see it flourish. Freely providing for every minute need we are presented with takes all of that away from them and can make them lazy and give them a disregard for what they have already been given. It also feeds the “gimme” mindset: if I want it or need it I am entitled to you giving it to me.

3.     Cultivate their gifts, resources, and talents without rushing them.

These are an extremely gifted people. They are functioning well on their own, but the constant influx of money from 1^st world countries is causing an extreme dependency on the money from the west. It creates corruption in every faucet of Uganda- from the top down. The people are creative and talented. Help to encourage gifts of their own to grow themselves instead of lavishing them with financial gifts. And please don’t expect immediate, westernized results. Effective change takes time.

4.     When you do give, make it for a need that the Holy Spirit has prompted of you, which is saturated in prayer, and they cannot possibly meet on their own. This type of giving should be seldom and temporary. Not long term, not all inclusive to whatever they say they need, and not without checking up to see if the need is true, dire, out of their ability to provide for themselves, and of first priority. Have accountability.

5.     Give to solid christians who are already there long term (2+ years), under godly authority, on the ground, living on mission, and penetrating the population with the Gospel.  These people are not necessarily working on projects but are working among the people. Remember: success is not always measured in buildings, number of converts, or amount of funds raised.  It’s in the forward motion of the Gospel creating disciples (not just converts). How do you know whom to give to? Look for people who are bearing good fruit! For example: we have met a family who has lived and served in Uganda for the last 5 years. They aren’t working on creating buildings or meeting material needs, they are looking at the real problem of sin. They have strapped themselves with the Gospel and are living among the people not to fix the people or their needs but for God to fix the problems in each of them and to ultimately restore all things to Himself. As a result, they have seen nationals come to Christ and its those same nationals who are winning their own country to the Lord, taking initiative, providing for other’s spiritual and physical needs, and creating many more disciples than any mzungu or project could possibly do. Invest in this type of work because it is eternal!

In the end, the brokenness, poverty, and need are all a result of sin and broken relationship with God. We need the Gospel to be penetrating their hearts, not our wallets scratching the surface of their wants.  “Our perspective should be less about how we are going to fix the materially poor and more about how we can walk together, asking God to fix both of us.”  - Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert, “When Helping Hurts”.

A Diagnosis of Self

It is incredible what we are willing to do to make others believe we are faithful followers of Christ – everything except actually following Him faithfully. We wrap ourselves up and boast in our “good” works while our secret sins devour our hearts. So you live by the rules, but what is your motive? If you stop at simply fleeing from sin, you are just religious. It’s fleeing to Jesus that makes a Christian.

“You can run from God either by breaking His rules, or by keeping them. The former says God doesn’t own me. The latter says God owes me.” – Tim Keller

We do nothing to earn the Gospel, but if we do nothing in response to the Gospel, then we never understood the Gospel. Just slapping the title of “Christian” on everything does not automatically make you, your organization, or your efforts righteous or useful to God and His kingdom. This can lead to a place of self-entitlement and self-righteousness whereby you behave and maybe even think to yourself that God is so grateful to have you on His team and at least you are not like all the other people around you.

 Take a moment to look at Luke 18:9-14. Jesus is giving an example to some people who were pretty self-righteous. Two men went to the temple to pray. The first was a Pharisee, the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee boldly approached the presence of God in the temple. His prayer went something along these lines (our paraphrase), ”God, I thank you that I am not like those other people – greedy, unrighteous, sinners, our even this tax-collector. I go above and beyond what everyone else does, I give more, I pray more, I am more righteous”. That’s a whole-lot of I’s .

The tax-collector, didn’t walk close to the presence of God in the temple, but hung his head, and began striking his chest, crying out to God, “God, turn your wrath from me, a sinner!”  Verse 14 reads, “I  [Jesus] tell you, this one [the tax-collector] went down to his house justified rather than the other [pharisee]; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Web MD style, lets look at our hearts and diagnose ourselves according to God’s word.

1.     Ask yourself honestly, what do I think about and talk about, positively or negatively, the most ?

a.     If its yourself- you are an idolater glorifying yourself

b.     If its others – you are an idolater glorifying other people (spouse, children, classmates, boss, etc)

c.      If its your work – you are an idolater glorifying your job, efforts, or your income and standard of living

d.     If it is the life, works, death, and resurrection of Jesus you are not an idolater but a worshiper of the true God

Matthew 12: 34b “ for the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart”.

You always talk about what you love. Check your heart.  Are you an idolator? Repent. Turn to Jesus.

2.     Ask yourself honestly, what kind of fruit am I producing?

The Bible explains in Matthew 7:17-19 that everyone is producing fruit. We are able to identify those who are of God and those who are not by their fruit. Good trees produce good fruit; bad trees produce bad fruit. The question is, how do you distinguish between what is good fruit and what is bad fruit?  You do so through:

a.     Spending time studying (not just reading) God’s word. As you read it, apply it to your own life, not just mentally diagnosing other people’s sin by the Word of God but looking for your own sin and seeking to put it to death daily. 

b.      Also, spend time in prayer, not just over things that seem overwhelming or because it’s what you are supposed to do, but do so because apart from constant communication with God you cannot possibly produce good fruit! Even fruit that to others looks good will not come from a place of worship to the Creator of the universe if it is not being covered in humble prayer.

c.      What are you doing for others? Are you slandering them, ignoring them, or devoting yourself to prayer with and for them? Are you providing for their physical and spiritual needs? Are you seeking Godly counsel to direct you to Christ, rebuke your sin, and pray regularly and fervently for you? Are you doing that for others? Husbands, are you leading your wives in God’s word and in prayer?  Are you loving them as Christ loves His bride, the church, and encouraging them to grow in Christ as well as in things they enjoy? Are you communicating with them face-to-face? It is not enough to simply provide financially.  Wives, are you submitting to your husbands? Are you being the helper that God made you to be, spurring him on toward Christ? Fathers, are you leading your Children? Are you praying with and for them? Are you opening God’s word with them daily? Are you being real about your struggles now and in the past with them? Do they see you as a loving and fun dad or a perfect model of what they will never be able to live up to? What does your life and relationship with your church, friends, co-workers, spouse, and kids communicate to them about Christ?

3.     Ask yourself honestly, what are my motives for the things I do? It’s fake Christians who give Christianity a bad reputation (2 Tim 2:19). 

a.     Do you do these things so that others will think you are a “good person” and a true believer? If so, you are an idolater. Merely professing faith is not enough and it will be revealed through your words and fruit. Are you seeking short-term fame or eternal glory with Christ? If the idea of eternity is not present, then it is unlikely that humility is present.

b.     Do you do these things out of guilt? You can’t guilt yourself into spiritual growth. Eventually it will burn you out and you will be a lifeless shell of a person seeking righteousness and justification through works and religion rather than Christ.  God lavishes us with grace.  It would be better to do things worshipfully and less often than more often and it be a religious job. That is exhausting!! There is no condemnation for those in Christ.  We have no need to do things out of guilt but we have all the reasons in the world to do things out of joy and grace knowing that He who is working in our lives is continuing the work until He returns! And then we get to spend eternity enjoying Him!! If that is not your motivation or that doesn’t excite you, check your heart!

Righteousness comes through Christ alone! You cannot inherit righteousness. You cannot earn righteousness.  It is a gift that comes only through accepting Christ as the Savior of the world, the author and perfector of your faith, and the only way to become righteous and gain salvation.

You won’t celebrate the righteousness you’ve been given through Christ’s perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection if you are busy polishing the righteousness you think you independently have. Yes, God desires joyful obedience from us. Question is, are we obeying for the joy of it or so God will owe us for it?

Grace is Dangerous

I think that most of us know in our heads that God is self-sufficient; however, in our hearts we believe that He is dependent on us, our successes or failures, our joys or sorrows, or even our decisions. 

God’s glory depends on no man!

James 4:14 humbles my heart when it tells us that we are merely a vapor in the wind that will appear for a little while and then vanish! The entire Bible paints the perfect plan of the Father where He establishes all things and brings back to Himself all the glory and honor that He alone deserves. Since He has established all things, there is nothing we can bring to the table that He does not already possess. Everything we are given, each day and all that comes with it, are all a testament to the Lord’s grace.  Our very existence is His, we owe Him everything. He owes us nothing!

Acts 17:25 reads, “And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else”. He is lacking in nothing and although He doesn’t need us, the greatest mystery to me is that He loves and wants us to come to him in a sanctifying relationship. The Almighty cares about my mundane life! Who am I that the Creator of all things is mindful of me?  

We need to understand the point of Grace. God does not give us grace as a guilt trip. We don’t have to do “good things” for God. He recognizes that we are incapable of perfection. Hence, grace.  Therefore, as sinners saved by grace alone through faith alone, it is a joy to serve the Lord and be under His sovereign authority. It can also seem dangerous! If I were saved by my works then can there be a limit to what God asks of me because I would have put in half of the work. However, since I am a sinner saved simply by God’s grace, by no works of my own, there is nothing He cannot ask of me! This seems dangerous (and it is dangerous to our selfishness and pride), but it is where completeness of joy takes place!

When we come to the realization that God is unimpressed with us and unshaken by our attempts to dethrone Him in our own lives, we will recognize that our main concern should be to glorify His name rather than our own. Only then will we understand that He is self-sufficient. 
His Glory is top priority.