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Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, And How to Reverse It

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Description

Veteran urban activist Robert Lupton reveals the shockingly toxic effects that modern charity has upon the very people meant to benefit from it. Toxic Charity provides proven new models for charitable groups who want to help—not sabotage—those whom they desire to serve. Lupton, the founder of FCS Urban Ministries (Focused Community Strategies) in Atlanta, the voice of the Urban Perspectives newsletter, and the author of Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life, has been at the forefront of urban ministry activism for forty years. Now, in the vein of Jeffrey Sachs’s The End of Poverty, Richard Stearns’s The Hole in Our Gospel, and Gregory Boyle’s Tattoos on the Heart, his groundbreaking Toxic Charity shows us how to start serving needy and impoverished members of our communities in a way that will lead to lasting, real-world change. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne; 1st edition (October 2, 2012)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062076213


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 12


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.47 x 8 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #29,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #3 in Philanthropy & Charity (Books) #12 in Christian Missions & Missionary Work (Books) #124 in Christian Social Issues (Books)


#3 in Philanthropy & Charity (Books):


#12 in Christian Missions & Missionary Work (Books):


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • toxic, charity, churches, charities, help
Informative read.
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2024 by Vannessa
    • very pleased
Excellent book! A must read for anyone who has done or is considering participating in mission work. Author points out how despite our good intentions we often enable others to be dependent rather than letting them use their skills to meet their own needs.
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2024 by S.Smith
    • There can be no charity without there first being justice
Lupton states that by 2010 more charity and charitable works have been given than ever before. Yet, the objects of benevolence are worse off than they were fifty years ago. In the U.S., a permanent underclass has been created and the poor continue to get poorer… while, Lupton did not mention, the rich get richer. Many religious efforts have turned residents of entirely poverty-stricken countries into beggars. Large sums of money are spent on mission trips when more would have been accomplished employing local laborers. Money spent more prudently might provide sustainable economic growth to the country. The author asserts most mission projects weaken those served, foster dishonest relations, erode recipient’s work ethics, and deepen dependency. Most work done by volunteers could be better and more economically done by locals. Evangelical efforts rarely assist the poor in their daily life struggles, often creating w welfare economy in the name of Jesus. In 1981, the author, who had apparently never been poor himself, after witnessing a father’s humiliation when his children’s gifts were provided by the wealthy, finally decided that not all charity was good charity. But, beginning pages 103, the author is befuddled by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet’s intention (2011) to give their vast fortunes away!! Look them up. They are both richer than Midas. Why did not Gates pay his employees better and keep jobs in American and be less rich and why did not Buffet invest in only planet friendly industries. Was it because then they would not be richer than Midas? (In 2013, Gates invested $2.2 million in privatized prisons. In 2014, he railed against raising minimum wage to $15.00 because then college graduates would want to work at Dairy Queen. The gates have pledged $35 million a year for 213-2018 (about $1.05 billion or about 1% of their net worth, less than earnings on their capital or about 9% of his 2013 earnings) to Polio Plus.) Bad examples? You tell me. Transition from betterment to development is suggested as the goal. The final chapter is a tough and thoughtful essay to read and act upon. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2018 by C. Wagner
    • A ministry-changing book
In a well reasoned case based on more than 30 years of experience, Robert Lupton’s book Toxic Charity challenges the good done by charities, especially churches, to state boldly that we most often hurt those we wish to help. Lupton is an Atlanta-based author whose day job is in urban ministry whose has created housing for hundreds of families while initiating a wide range of human services for the community. He is an empassioned advocate for Asset Based Community Development that works with people in need to improve. In his decades of work on the front lines of urban ministry Lupton has found “doing for rather than doing with those in need is the norm” and goes on to write, “Add to it the combination of patronizing pity and unintended superiority, and charity becomes toxic.” Lupton does not simply write against such cherished ministries as short-term mission trips, soup kitchens and clothes closests, but goes on to make a compelling argument for the fundamental problems and how to overcome them. Using not only examples from his own work, but also from the development work of many others, he demonstrates how to break out of an endless flow of one-way giving. This is critical for as he notes, Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people." Lupton works from the twin ideas of mercy and justice which he points out have equal emphasis in scripture. As he writes, “The addict needs both food and treatment. The young woman needs both a safe place to sleep and a way out of her entrapping lifestyle. Street kids need both friendship and jobs.” Most importantly, Lupton writes for the need for ongoing relationships saying, “To effectively impact a life, a relationship must be forged, trust built, accountability established. And this does not happen in long, impersonal lines of strangers.” The ideas he presents for change are very hope filled, but they are not easy. He mostly wants to tap into the unlocked potential within those in need and to find ways to build that capacity. The 191-page book from Harper One is a quick read, but in my experience, it is not a book that leaves readers unchanged. I encourage you to read and reflect on this book with others, whether in a book study at church or with a group of pastors or others. We need to be challenged to move beyond harming those we most wish to help and in this book there is a roadmap for a more better way. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2013 by Frank Logue
    • Solid book to challenge our thinking
I bought this book for my staff to read and study through. We go through alot of benevolence help and at times I think we can hurt the healing process instead of helping. We can enable folks to abuse the system. This book challenged our thinking and helped to gauge our true effectiveness. Great book for everyone. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2024 by Reviewer from the Midwest

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