Last month I wrote about the three main ways poverty work is done. Oftentimes what many intend to be redemptive becomes exploitative. This happens when the mindset is to rescue people from their social class, striving to be the “savior” of the poor and their neighborhoods. I call this the savior’s syndrome. It leads to the behavior of focusing on the deficits of people in the community, ignoring their God-given talents and gifts. Ultimately, it’s narcissistic in nature as the work revolves around the wants and needs of the poverty worker instead of the community.
No one says, “I’m working in a community of poverty to exploit the residents.” Everybody has good intentions, yet those intentions are not enough. Our intent involves mindset, behaviors, and goals. If we have the right mindset, we’ll do the right behaviors and work towards the right goals, and vice versa if we have the wrong mindset. At the heart of the matter is what we believe our ultimate role should be among those who live in the condition of poverty.
I used to do Poverty 101 workshops for suburban volunteers before they would serve in an urban neighborhood. Typically, the volunteers had much more wealth than the clientele they were serving. The average volunteer had very good intentions, which was what drove them to be there. But they also possessed a subtle arrogance that had to be addressed.
The perception was their presence was more valuable to the urban neighborhood than it was. The long history of community works done by long standing urban churches prior to the volunteer’s arrival was not appreciated at the level it should have been. Too many believed the lives of the clientele and the common good of the neighborhood would be transformed because of the few hours a week they served. The reality was the service program was set up to revolve around them without them realizing it. And the service they were asked to perform was not critical to the progress of the mission.
Unfortunately, the subtle arrogance of volunteers thinking they were the most important people in the neighborhood as outsiders, paired with the desire to rescue someone, would be routinely taken advantage of. More times than not I had to console someone who upon hearing a sob story from a neighborhood resident would hand out a few bucks, only to find out later they had been conned.
I once advised a well-intentioned man who had a heart for his neighborhood. His ministry provided food and clothing, and at various times people came in under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. So, he adopted a policy of not giving service to anyone who was drunk or high. The intention was to provide an incentive for people to stay sober to have their physical needs met.
I suggested this might not be the best way to operate. I asked what type of help or resources did he offer to lead those individuals who were struggling towards sobriety? And even if they were drunk or stoned, didn’t their families still need food and clothing? He looked as if he hadn’t thought deeply about the ramifications of his policy.
In my opinion the policy really wasn’t about the good intentions he stated. I’m sure he wanted people off of drugs and alcohol, but the real issue was he felt he was being taken advantage of. The fact that some couldn’t or wouldn’t kick the habit offended him; he took it personally. He felt he worked too hard and sacrificed too much to bless people who didn’t respect his wishes.
Because of our fallen human nature, it cannot be avoided that many of us who desire to perform poverty work will experience savior’s syndrome. The question at hand is will we recover from it?