You can be right and still be wrong.
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| Nina Strehl |
WHEN PEOPLE ARE HURTING, it can be difficult to know how to help them.
I read a good book a few years ago called When Helping Hurts that details instances in which charitable contributions actually do more harm than good. Don't misread me, generosity is a great thing. It encapsulates the very heart of God, who is a giver. But gifts that create dependency or are simply Band-Aids for more serious symptoms could actually hurt in the long run.
Money matters aside, how do we help people who are suffering? Many times I think we, not knowing what else to do, toss theology at people when what they really need is a hug or the mere presence of a friend.
Job's friends started off right when they sat with him in silence for seven days. After a week Job spoke up, lamenting his birth. He was in so much anguish he said, "Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? … Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?" (Job 3:11,16).
That's dark.
You've gotta be in a pretty grim frame of mind to utter these kinds of words.
How would you respond?
