When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett
Week 4: Chapter 3 — Giving and Taking: Why Do You Want to Help the Poor?
Read Chapter 3 of When Helping Hurts. Key Scripture: Philippians 2:1–11; Matthew 25:31–46
Previewing Week 4 of When Helping Hurts
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 10-week guide when you’re ready.
Before we can help anyone well, we need to examine our own hearts — this chapter invites an honest look at the motivations, biases, and blind spots we bring to ministry.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.The authors argue that our motivations for helping the poor are often mixed — a blend of genuine compassion, guilt, a need to feel good, and cultural pressure. Which of these motivations do you recognize most honestly in yourself?
2.Corbett and Fikkert draw a sharp contrast between 'asset-based' thinking (focusing on what a community or person already has) and 'needs-based' thinking (focusing on what they lack). Why does this distinction matter so much? How does needs-based thinking inadvertently reinforce the poverty mindset it claims to fight?
3.The chapter challenges the assumption that those of us who are 'helping' are the knowers and the poor are the ignorant — that we have answers they lack. Where does this assumption come from, and what damage does it do when it goes unexamined?
a.Think of a time you entered a ministry context already knowing what the community needed. What did you miss by not listening first?
b.What practices would help you enter a new serving relationship with genuine curiosity rather than pre-packaged solutions?