Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (and How to Reverse It)

Churches and charities have fallen into the bad habit of creating programs to help the poor when in reality the only people they are helping are themselves, creating a toxic charity that needs to be reexamined and fixed.In this groundbreaking book, Lupton shows how good-intentioned people are actually hurting the very people they're trying to help. The poor end up feeling judged, looked down upon, only worthy of charity and handouts that end up making them more dependent instead of learning skills to help themselves. Churches and charitable organizations, though good-intentioned, have missed the mark when it comes to serving the poor, creating a toxic form of charity. Lupton says that a better system would be to treat the poor as business partners, empowering them to start businesses, build houses, plan communities, etc. Lupton offers specific organizations that are following this healthier model of charity and gives practical ideas for how to get involved in service projects that truly help. Together, we can serve our world in a way that actually effects life-altering change.

Robert D. Lupton is founder and president of FCS Urban Ministries (Focused Community Strategies) and the author of Theirs Is the Kingdom; Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life; and the widely circulated "Urban Perspectives." To learn more, visit www.fcsministries.org.