Charity is a loaded term these days. Alan Knox defines what it means to care for the poor in The Assembling of the Church:

Caring for the poor requires more than giving our money. Our God-given responsibility toward “the least” requires action – not simply giving money. If we are to care for “the least” as Scripture says “the righteous” will do, then we must start responding to “the least” in more appropriate and more personal and more intimate ways.

Like I said, just one year ago, my only response to the poor was to throw a little money at the problem. This may have alleviated by guilt for a short time, but it did very little – if anything – to actually help the poor. I was not living according to my God-given responsibilities toward “the least” by giving money. In fact, as Perkins points out, my money was probably causing more problems that it was helping.

Particularly helpful is his reference to John Perkins, whose book Beyond Charity Knox quotes:

America’s best intentions, most sincere thoughts, noblest efforts – all of these are useless to the urban poor if they do no connect with our personally defined, deepest felt needs. In fact, acts of charity can be dangerous because givers can feel good about actions that actually accomplish very little, or even create dependency. The result is that their sense of satisfaction takes away any motivation to seek more creative long-range development strategies. Overcoming an attitude of charity is a difficult task because it requires givers to demand more of themselves than good will. (23)