Let’s Stop Toy Drives and Really “Rejoice the City”
We’re just past the holidays. I put in a lot of car miles, and passed a lot of churches. Quite a few had signs announcing their annual toy drives for poor kids. Christmas can generate a giving spirit, and for many congregations, that expresses itself in a plethora of programs to help the poor – Angel Trees and turkey baskets and “coats for Christmas.”
Call me Scrooge if you like, but we need to stop this.
Why? Because commodified, short-term, relief-oriented “benevolence” is far too easy for givers and far too inadequate for receivers. It allows givers to remain distant from real need. They get to feel good about giving, without getting their hands dirty or their Daytimers interrupted. Recipients are viewed only in terms of their needs, and never in terms of their assets. And the charity supplied provides just a Band-Aid, no genuine long-term strategy. Our typical benevolence allows us to help the poor, but not to know them. It enables them to manage their poverty a little better, but not to escape it.