What goes through your mind when you see someone in need—the person begging at the robot, the guy hanging around outside the fast-food outlet, the lady handing out her contact number in the hope of landing a job?
Imagine we were able to see through God’s eyes: to see beyond the obvious, surface-level part of a person … beyond the immediate (and I want to add “apparent”) need to all that they could and were created to be. Imagine we served with that in mind and made our goal empowering people to be all that God intended them to be.
Bagley’s study on homelessness and poverty in Phoenix, Arizona[1] presented seven biblical principles that govern helping those in need:
- Allocating a portion of the tithe to the welfare of specific groups.
- Addressing injustice, combating oppression, and upholding justice.
- Compassionate ministry to all people, based on their intrinsic value.
- Appointing individuals to oversee the ministry to the poor.
- Expressing love and extending care to individuals outside the faith community.
- Encouraging personal responsibility by discouraging provision of food to those unwilling to work.
- Activating grace through prayer.
The study also emphasized the need to move from transactional to transformative ministry. I had to read and ponder that a couple of times because the difference isn’t always immediately apparent. I would have thought that all outreach is transformative, isn’t it?
Some authors[2] describe three broad categories of assistance—relief, rehabilitation, and development—and discuss relief work versus development work; I found these insights helpful since they tie into principles 2, 3, 6, and 7 above:
Relief vs Rehabilitation vs Development
While describing how their Community Development Corporation (CDC) was conceived,[3] Watermark Community Church explains that there are three broad categories of assistance:
- Rescue and relief: This type of assistance is given during a crisis and meets basic needs to save human life.
- Recovery, rehabilitation, and repair: This assistance is given after a crisis to get people back to where they were before the crisis.
- Development: This is where those living below the poverty line—those struggling just to get by—are given an opportunity instead of a handout.
An example close to home is the George Building Collapse that occurred in South Africa in May 2024, where a five-story building still under construction collapsed with the construction workers inside. The rescue and relief phase comprised saving those who could be saved; supporting and communicating with the families of those unaccounted for; and keeping the rescue teams fed and hydrated. The rehabilitation phase involved physical rehabilitation and counselling for the victims; continued support of the victims’ families; and cleaning up the site. Development, in a case like this, might include facilitating training or further study for those unable to return to their previous vocation.
Relief vs Development
There’s a time for relief work, absolutely! As a search and rescue volunteer, I have seen firsthand how people and communities in crisis need the basics; but rescue and relief shouldn’t be the norm. It’s temporary, it’s often one-way, and there’s no relationship-building.
We need to move beyond meeting the immediate need to building capacity and facilitating opportunities. I like how McConaghy[4] puts it when he says, “It is not a handout, but a hand up.” A “hand-up” has a much more lasting effect than a handout, and most of the issues we face are chronic; they are not crises.
Jesus set the example for us many times: he didn’t meet a need only to leave people lying right where he’d found them. He helped them up, in both the literal and the figurative sense.
Think of the boy tormented by demons and epilepsy—Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up (Mark 9:27). When Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, he took her by the hand, lifted her up, then the fever left her (Mark 1:31). And at the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus healed the man who had been an invalid for 28 years. Although the man spoke about the immediate need of getting to the pool, Jesus went one step further saying, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8 NIV). And he did. Jesus didn’t simply help the man to the pool; he made a lasting impact by curing the man of his disability.
What Does Development Work Look Like?
The beauty of developmental work is that it can take many shapes and forms and can be tailored to the circumstances. Watermark’s CDC lists financial education, matched savings, business coaching, job placement, and access to resources as some of the ways the program empowers those in need. Assistance like this helps people to help themselves and is the lasting “hand-up” that addresses the chronic instead of the crisis.
Development is God’s Work
Finally, something we should never lose sight of—whether we are involved in relief, rehabilitation, or development work—is that it is God who works in us and through us to touch the lives of others. Since he is the one with the ultimate complete knowledge of a person and all he intended them to be, we need to remain humble and prayerful in our approach, seeking his guidance and asking for his grace for all those we are hoping to help.
Concluding Thoughts
I admit that my response to those in need differs: sometimes I wish I could take away all the pain, suffering, and hunger of those who cross my path; sometimes I work hard to serve in ways that I hope make a lasting difference; and sometimes I feel spent and my heart bruised. When the latter was weighing heavily on me, I found John Eldredge’s reminder helpful: “You can’t save the world. You can’t even carry it.”[5]
Let’s continue to be coworkers in God’s kingdom, seek his guidance, pray for his grace, and remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. Let’s look at those in need like Jesus would have, consider how we can effect lasting change, and provide the hand-up that empowers them to become all that God intended them to be.
- Read a related SATS blog article about looking beyond the surface or appearance of a person.
- Contact SATS to find out more about studying God’s word.
- Find Glen Bagley’s full thesis in the SATS library.
Works Cited:
[1] Bagley, Glen. 2023. “Homelessness and Poverty in Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States of America, and a Theology of Hope: Rethinking the Church.” In SATS PhD Compendium: A Collection of Doctoral Thesis Summaries Vol. 4, edited by Robert Falconer, 79–102. Sandton: The South African Theological Seminary.
[2] Bagley McConaghy, Kevin. 2023. “How the Church Can Help Alleviate Poverty.” Watermark Community Church. Accessed 15/02/2025. https://www.watermark.org/blog/how-the-church-can-help-alleviate-poverty; Ward, Jeff. 2015. “Relief or Development: What Do You Believe about Solving Poverty?” Watermark Community Church. Accessed 15/02/2025. https://www.watermark.org/blog/relief-or-development-what-do-you-believe-about-solving-poverty.
[3] McConaghy, Kevin. 2023. “How the Church Can Help Alleviate Poverty.” Watermark Community Church. Accessed 15/02/2025. https://www.watermark.org/blog/how-the-church-can-help-alleviate-poverty.
[4] McConaghy, Kevin. 2023. “How the Church Can Help Alleviate Poverty.” Watermark Community Church. Accessed 15/02/2025. https://www.watermark.org/blog/how-the-church-can-help-alleviate-poverty.
[5] Eldredge, John. 2020. Get Your Life Back. Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Books, p. 23.