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When Helping Hurts Corbett, Ficker, & Platt
Poverty is much more than simply a lack of material resources, and it takes much more than donations and handouts to solve it. When Helping Hurts shows how some alleviation efforts, failing to consider the complexities of poverty, have actually (and unintentionally) done more harm than good.
But it looks ahead. It encourages us to see the dignity in everyone, to empower the materially poor, and to know that we are all uniquely needy—and that God in the gospel is reconciling all things to himself.
Focusing on both North American and Majority World contexts, When Helping Hurts provides proven strategies for effective poverty alleviation, catalyzing the idea that sustainable change comes not from the outside in, but from the inside out.
But it looks ahead. It encourages us to see the dignity in everyone, to empower the materially poor, and to know that we are all uniquely needy—and that God in the gospel is reconciling all things to himself.
Focusing on both North American and Majority World contexts, When Helping Hurts provides proven strategies for effective poverty alleviation, catalyzing the idea that sustainable change comes not from the outside in, but from the inside out.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 24, 2014
118 people are currently reading
384 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 12, 2024
I liked the central argument. Essentially, the author warns against adopting a gnostic view of Christ's kingship, where Christ reigns in people’s hearts, but their physical needs are ignored. I appreciated the eloquence with which he presented the alternative biblical perspective. It was a great read in that regard. I also valued his warning about working with poor people to alleviate their poverty without falling into paternalism, which can undermine their sense of dignity. He advocates for long-term developmental relationships rather than short-term efforts that often serve the interests of the church mission group more than those they seek to help.
However, I did cringe at some of his language. It felt like reading a TGC article from a decade ago. He acknowledges concepts like systemic oppression without defining or qualifying it. Some parts also seem influenced by the pragmatism prevalent in evangelical circles nearly two decades ago. Formally and stylistically, the material hasn’t aged well. This isn't necessarily a flaw of the author; a lot has happened in the last decade, adding new baggage to specific terms. We also know more about the people cited positively in the book. I think readers should be aware of this before diving in.
Overall, I consider most of the material helpful. It has given me valuable insights into how to help those in need more effectively.
However, I did cringe at some of his language. It felt like reading a TGC article from a decade ago. He acknowledges concepts like systemic oppression without defining or qualifying it. Some parts also seem influenced by the pragmatism prevalent in evangelical circles nearly two decades ago. Formally and stylistically, the material hasn’t aged well. This isn't necessarily a flaw of the author; a lot has happened in the last decade, adding new baggage to specific terms. We also know more about the people cited positively in the book. I think readers should be aware of this before diving in.
Overall, I consider most of the material helpful. It has given me valuable insights into how to help those in need more effectively.
December 2, 2024
The audience for this book is churches, mission groups, charities, and organizations that want to help the poor. Their foundational teachings are that poverty comes from broken relationships with God, self, others, and the environment/system, and that all of us are poor in some ways. One of their concerns is that western Christians or charitable organizations often apply western timeframes to "fixing" the poor instead of utilizing the poor's assets and skills to help them help themselves and one another out of poverty.
This book does not fit my situation well, and I have some concerns in the application of the idea of poverty that I don't recognize in the Bible. The book seems thoughtfully written and thought-provoking. They raised some good points that deserve consideration, but some of their approach made me uneasy. I have read nothing else along this line, so my opinion may not be useful to others.
This book does not fit my situation well, and I have some concerns in the application of the idea of poverty that I don't recognize in the Bible. The book seems thoughtfully written and thought-provoking. They raised some good points that deserve consideration, but some of their approach made me uneasy. I have read nothing else along this line, so my opinion may not be useful to others.
June 5, 2025
A necessary read and no doubt one that gives me lots to ponder as I continue to be an active church member and ponder the ministries in which my money is stewarded for the kingdom of God. A couple main takeaways:
-brokenness of materially poor + god-complexes of materially rich = hurt to both material poor and materially rich
-All parties involved in a poverty alleviation effort have been tainted by sin and are in need of ultimate reconciliation. This becomes the end goal: restoring people to the ability to worship God through their lives and work and honoring their dignity.
-Appropriate intervention requires assessment:
Doling out endless resources or giving relief supplies that meet material needs often creates paternalism, and unfortunately threatens the self-perception of recipients, making their situation worse. Does the situation need relief, development, or empowerment?
-The community served must be known, listened to, and passionate about being a part of the work.
-Success must take a different framework to the traditional western view. People > projects.
-brokenness of materially poor + god-complexes of materially rich = hurt to both material poor and materially rich
-All parties involved in a poverty alleviation effort have been tainted by sin and are in need of ultimate reconciliation. This becomes the end goal: restoring people to the ability to worship God through their lives and work and honoring their dignity.
-Appropriate intervention requires assessment:
Doling out endless resources or giving relief supplies that meet material needs often creates paternalism, and unfortunately threatens the self-perception of recipients, making their situation worse. Does the situation need relief, development, or empowerment?
-The community served must be known, listened to, and passionate about being a part of the work.
-Success must take a different framework to the traditional western view. People > projects.
July 4, 2024
More like 3.7.
I read this book for an internship but I think it is really important for Christians to understand the complexity that goes into poverty alleviation and how easy it is to get a god-complex while doing it. It’s been encouraging to be at a church where a lot of these things are already being practiced and have been taught to me without knowing.
It is however kind of repetitive…and boring…but that’s not their fault mostly it’s just a looot of information. So people should still read it
I read this book for an internship but I think it is really important for Christians to understand the complexity that goes into poverty alleviation and how easy it is to get a god-complex while doing it. It’s been encouraging to be at a church where a lot of these things are already being practiced and have been taught to me without knowing.
It is however kind of repetitive…and boring…but that’s not their fault mostly it’s just a looot of information. So people should still read it
February 19, 2025
Overall really good book! Really helpful points about poverty (both spiritually and physically) that we all face to some degree or another. Helpful insights on how to address material poverty as a North American. The chapter on short term missions was really good food for thought too. I thought the last 4th of the book got pretty heavy into the weeds that on things that are helpful information for those in church leadership positions, non profit organizations, etc. but was harder to get through as someone not in one of those positions. Definitely would recommend though!
October 15, 2025
this book was a great introduction to a lot of super important topics, but I wish there had been more suggestions for how to take action. there were a lot of “don’t do this” but not many “here’s what to do instead”. the authors did note that it is just an introduction and suggested resources to learn more, but I finished the book feeling like I, as an individual, can’t do anything to directly help those in need (specifically financial need). that obviously wasn’t the goal of the book, but it explained a lot more of the things to be scared of when helping others than beneficial ways for individuals to help which left me feeling a bit stuck in knowing how to respond to individuals that I know that are in need of support
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2024
I read this book when I was starting my current job. It was helpful to build a framework about the different between a “hand-up” vs a “hand-out”. It also showed how sometimes even the most well-meaning intentions can end up sitting an individual in the long run. He provided a lot of examples and sources, from what I can remember.
I recommend this book for anyone in a compassion ministry or just anyone who wants to know to help helpfully.
I recommend this book for anyone in a compassion ministry or just anyone who wants to know to help helpfully.
December 25, 2025
This is a must read for every Christian. I have personally seen so many people cause more damage by "helping" than actually improve the situation.
December 26, 2022
One of the most transforming books about local or international aid. If the US government understood this we would save so much money
January 15, 2024
2024.02: Solid audio. If you have upcoming practical application, consider hard-copy. Lots of pages worthy of underlining and comment. Good reference.
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July 29, 2025pg60 - Instead of seeing work as simply one of the arenas in which I am to glorify God, there are times in which I have made my work my god and have tried to find all of my meaning, purpose, and worth through being productive. This is not how God designed humans' relationship with the rest of creation to be. Of course, I am unlikely to experience material poverty, as my high level of productivity will useually put food on my table; however, at times my poverty of stewardship has had serious consequences, including strained relationships with family and friends, physical and emotional silments resulting from stress, and spiritual weakness from inadequate time for a meaningful devotional life. The fall really happened, and it is wreaking havoc in all of our lives. We are all broken, just in different ways.
One of the major premises of this book is that until we embrace our mutual brokenness, our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good. As discussed earlier, research from around the world has found that shame - a 'poverty of being' is a major part of the brokenness that low-income people experience in their relationship with themselves. Instead of seeing themselves as being created in the image of God, low-income people often feel they are inferior to others. This can paralyze the poor from taking initative and from seizing opportunities to improve their situation, thereby locking them into material poverty.
At the same time, the economically rich- including most of the readers of this book - also suffer from a poverty of being. In particular, development practitioner Jayakumar Christian argues that the economically rich often have 'god-complexes,' a subtle and unconscious sense of superiority in which they believe that they have achieved their wealth through their own efforts and that they have been anotied to decide what is best for low-income people, whom they view as inferior to themselves.
pg92 - Ironically, had we simply communcated middle-class American values in our curriculum, our 'ministry' might have replaced those elements of a biblical worldview that the participants already embraced with a modern or an evangelical gnostic worldview! Failing to root the curriculum in an explicity biblical worldview could have been devastating, even if the program participants successfully obtained jobs and increased their incomes as a result of the program. Remember the goal is for everyone involved to glorify God, not just to increase people's incomes. ... [For North American Christians] we are very prone to putting our trust in ourselves and in technology to improve our lives, forgettting that it is God who is the Creator and Sustainer of us and of the laws that make the technology work.
One of the major premises of this book is that until we embrace our mutual brokenness, our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good. As discussed earlier, research from around the world has found that shame - a 'poverty of being' is a major part of the brokenness that low-income people experience in their relationship with themselves. Instead of seeing themselves as being created in the image of God, low-income people often feel they are inferior to others. This can paralyze the poor from taking initative and from seizing opportunities to improve their situation, thereby locking them into material poverty.
At the same time, the economically rich- including most of the readers of this book - also suffer from a poverty of being. In particular, development practitioner Jayakumar Christian argues that the economically rich often have 'god-complexes,' a subtle and unconscious sense of superiority in which they believe that they have achieved their wealth through their own efforts and that they have been anotied to decide what is best for low-income people, whom they view as inferior to themselves.
pg92 - Ironically, had we simply communcated middle-class American values in our curriculum, our 'ministry' might have replaced those elements of a biblical worldview that the participants already embraced with a modern or an evangelical gnostic worldview! Failing to root the curriculum in an explicity biblical worldview could have been devastating, even if the program participants successfully obtained jobs and increased their incomes as a result of the program. Remember the goal is for everyone involved to glorify God, not just to increase people's incomes. ... [For North American Christians] we are very prone to putting our trust in ourselves and in technology to improve our lives, forgettting that it is God who is the Creator and Sustainer of us and of the laws that make the technology work.
May 13, 2025
Much of the book was common sense, but there were a few pieces of advice that I found really helpful:
1. Above all, superiority complexes are sniffed out quickly. We must constantly remind ourselves that the Gospel says we’re all poor, just in different ways.
2. Know whether the community needs immediate relief, rehabilitation, or development.
3. Seeking solutions for the poor that encourages their God-given gifts, requires their participation, and holds their choices accountable using various methods (like only giving aid if certain conditions are met).
4. God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, that raises the bar of our responsibility to the poor from simply giving some of our money to using all of our intellectual, experience, and energy to work out long term solutions for the poor we are seeking to serve.
There were other practical ways to engage local communities needing help, but I skimmed them since they aren’t practical for me now. But I’m sure I’ll revisit them if I’m involved in a mercy ministry in the future.
1. Above all, superiority complexes are sniffed out quickly. We must constantly remind ourselves that the Gospel says we’re all poor, just in different ways.
2. Know whether the community needs immediate relief, rehabilitation, or development.
3. Seeking solutions for the poor that encourages their God-given gifts, requires their participation, and holds their choices accountable using various methods (like only giving aid if certain conditions are met).
4. God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, that raises the bar of our responsibility to the poor from simply giving some of our money to using all of our intellectual, experience, and energy to work out long term solutions for the poor we are seeking to serve.
There were other practical ways to engage local communities needing help, but I skimmed them since they aren’t practical for me now. But I’m sure I’ll revisit them if I’m involved in a mercy ministry in the future.
May 19, 2022
Helpful for serving with Care Center and AJ. Good questions to be asking as I try to serve guests well and effectively.
- what is needed: relief, rehabilitation or development. In that order. Providing relief to a problem that needs development hurts everyone involved. Pg 100
- “poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are are harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings.” Pg 59
- it is more about relationship restoration than material need alleviation. (Relationship restoration needed with: God, self, others, creation)
- Jesus is the ultimate reconciler
- material def Of poverty + god complexes of materially non-poor + feelings of inferiority of materially poor = harm to both
- repentance
- Colossians 1- Jesus is the master of the only banquet that truly satisfies pg 249
- Isaiah 25:6-8
- what is needed: relief, rehabilitation or development. In that order. Providing relief to a problem that needs development hurts everyone involved. Pg 100
- “poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are are harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings.” Pg 59
- it is more about relationship restoration than material need alleviation. (Relationship restoration needed with: God, self, others, creation)
- Jesus is the ultimate reconciler
- material def Of poverty + god complexes of materially non-poor + feelings of inferiority of materially poor = harm to both
- repentance
- Colossians 1- Jesus is the master of the only banquet that truly satisfies pg 249
- Isaiah 25:6-8
July 25, 2024
“As a result, while the average American lives on more than ninety dollars per day, approximately one billion people live on less than one dollar per day and 2.6 billion—40 percent of the world’s population—live on less than two dollars per day.”
Reading this book for the second time, I am once again left with new knowledge and even more empathy. I particularly appreciated the chapters that dive into discerning when relief, rehabilitation, or development is most appropriate for alleviating poverty - a crucial distinction that needs to be made, as failing to make it is a common reason why many poverty-alleviation efforts unintentionally cause harm.
Reading this book for the second time, I am once again left with new knowledge and even more empathy. I particularly appreciated the chapters that dive into discerning when relief, rehabilitation, or development is most appropriate for alleviating poverty - a crucial distinction that needs to be made, as failing to make it is a common reason why many poverty-alleviation efforts unintentionally cause harm.
May 26, 2025
When Helping Hurts provides an introduction on eradicating poverty through providing education and resources within communities who understand first hand the cultural needs of their own people. Missionaries going into communities to “fix things” in their own way only damages the people/community being helped.
The real experts in the eradication of poverty are raised up within the people group needing help and are often the ones who experienced living in poverty first-hand.
I read this book as part of my When I Grow Up training for my Kenya trip in June. I’m excited to see this book played out through this organization. I am so excited to learn and surrender!
The real experts in the eradication of poverty are raised up within the people group needing help and are often the ones who experienced living in poverty first-hand.
I read this book as part of my When I Grow Up training for my Kenya trip in June. I’m excited to see this book played out through this organization. I am so excited to learn and surrender!
June 9, 2025
This is more of a textbook than something you would just sit down and read through. So it doesn't really work well as an audio book. And the narrator of the audio book has some pronunciation issues, namely, he's utterly unfamiliar with The Bible, and so has no idea how many of the books and names are pronounced. (and, apparently, he didn't have the good sense to ask; and his producer didn't care enough to correct him...)
The book is a great resource for groups looking to do the most good in their efforts to help lift the poor out of their poverty. It's targeted to Christian church groups but need not be limited to them.
The book is a great resource for groups looking to do the most good in their efforts to help lift the poor out of their poverty. It's targeted to Christian church groups but need not be limited to them.
December 9, 2023
A beautiful book, and more importantly a practical book. Poverty isn't as simple as throwing money at the problem, and I know many who because of this lost interest. Either because they were simply looking for a simple fix with little effort, or because they got impatient/worn down by failed results. This book is a powerful address to that, and on how to fight poverty in the world. A small spoiler, it's rarely quick, it's never easy, and all people equally need God and to know their value in His kingdom both here now and soon to come.
February 4, 2025
9 - This was my second time reading this book but the experience was very different for me since now I live in Africa as a missionary. So many parts of the book makes sense and I wish that other people around me understood these concepts. I can actually see “helping” hurting the people we are serving when people go against the warnings in this book. I think everyone planning on serving in the majority world should read this.
May 30, 2025
Excellent book. I read this to try to figure out how to help a family member who is homeless, addicted to drugs, and constantly making destructive decisions. Chapter 10 entitled “Excuse me, can you spare some change?” was incredibly helpful, as it lays out a method for determining the person’s willingness or ability to make positive change in their own lives, and what truly helpful help looks like.
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November 18, 2024I don't love rating nonfiction books like this because I feel like its challenging to do so, but this was so helpful and useful! Really beneficial and great information. Highly recommend if you are either working for a non-profit, work or serve in a church, or honestly just if you work with vulnerable people of any kind.
April 15, 2025
The authors give a good, clear explanation of what poverty is and how to start to alleviate it. The book is probably more helpful for the church/ministry/organizational setting than on an individual level, though there is insight for both. It definitely broadened my understanding and I hope to find a place in my church to apply what I learned in the very near future.
September 13, 2025
this book has been on my reading list for nearly two decades. I was not disappointed. I read the second version in preparation for a meeting with the deacons about our church's new ministry of community development which is based on the principles of this book. I listen to the second edition, which I highly recommend.
December 5, 2025
Excellent book. Having served in short term missions to Kenya and inner city USA on multiple occasions, this mindset is so helpful.
The Western, middle- to upper-class can easily fall into bad assumptions and try to help others in harmful ways! I don't want to add spoilers, but I highly recommend this book for any ministry or individual that wants to truly help those "less fortunate".
The Western, middle- to upper-class can easily fall into bad assumptions and try to help others in harmful ways! I don't want to add spoilers, but I highly recommend this book for any ministry or individual that wants to truly help those "less fortunate".
January 17, 2024
Incredibly helpful, challenging, and thought provoking. Almost a must read for Christians. I’m left with lots to process, but this book has encouraged me to love people and made it clear how important is it to love well and live wisely.
July 16, 2024
So much I hadn't thought about in how I interact with people, especially in serving them. This is a great read for individuals or families before embarking on any service based medical or church mission trip.
May 8, 2025
Read for work - Super impactful. Reads like a textbook but is clear and structured well. Definitely has made me think a lot about my approach to my and my family’s approach to giving of our resources and time.
February 7, 2024
Updated version of the original text. Great book to read for any Christian.
March 18, 2024
I disagree with some of the basic premises of this book, but still found it enlightening.
November 10, 2024
Such interesting perspective on financial and resource stewardship. Many thoughts that I’d never considered, but see how much better we as churches can be doing better to help those around us.
November 21, 2024
Kind of crazy it took me this long to read this… required reading for North American Christians!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews