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I pulled off my damp sweatshirt after an hour on the treadmill and headed for the shower. Routinely I flipped the handle hard right and basked under the hot blast. Having erased the grime, I tugged the handle, but it would not budge. I could not turn off the spigot, and hot water cascaded down the drain.

That’s the picture of some of our charitable efforts around the world. Having backed various projects and people for many years, we can’t turn off the spigot of American dollars. Consequently, these projects and people never develop their own resources and leadership. We rob them of the incomparable joy of giving toward and managing their own affairs. We perpetuate parsimonious giving and dependencies on outside resources. They do not learn to trust God for their needs, but they do learn how to cultivate wealthy donors beyond their borders.

Should not the rich Christians help the poor ones, as the apostle Paul instructed? Yes, of course. But Paul’s collection of Greek money to help the Jerusalem church did not become a spigot that could not be turned off. In fact, Paul taught systematic, planned giving, not irrational outpouring of money based on emotional appeals. Also, he envisioned the time when the money would flow the other way. World economics being what it is, we can build a strong case for opening our money spigots full blast. At the same time, however, we must plan to adjust the flow, redirect it as needed, and even turn it off. Charitable needs grow like grungies in our showers. They eat up more and more of our resources when they become institutions. These institutions never seem able to stand on their own two feet. Why should they, when the donor spigots keep spewing out the cash?

God wants us to be generous, happy, sacrificial, wise givers. We must rise to the occasion when natural disasters strike. We must give to our next-door neighbors, our community projects, our urban educational and social ministries, and to our sisters and brothers around the world. We must also encourage indigenous development-spiritual and material. What shall we do about all the hands asking for help from India to Malawi to Haiti-help for hospitals, schools, publishing houses, water and sewer lines, books, computers, livestock, and so on? Shouldn’t we do something?

By all means. But we should also follow our projects and people very carefully after we open our spigots. Is our money being used wisely? Is it corrupting people? Is it perpetuating projects that lack growing indigenous support? Is it encouraging an elitist mentality and lifestyle among the haves at the expense of the have-nots? Are there ways we can garner accurate information? Are we building strong bonds of love, trust, and respect between givers and receivers? Is this a partnership, or a one-way street? When we establish effective guidelines and checkpoints (which, by the way, the apostle Paul did), we can decide at least annually how to adjust the flow. We can advise our people and projects of our phaseout plans, so they can develop their own resources from the start.

A relief and development agency donated a starter goat to an Ethiopian goatherder. Relatives came and he fed them his goat. The relief and development people were incensed when he asked for another goat. After due deliberation, they gave it to him. They wedded wisdom to their compassion. They did not turn off the spigot. Sometimes we must.

April 20, 2001