Expanding the 8th Level of Charity

Earlier this week, a friend of mine led a devotional session centered on the Eight Levels of Charity by the renowned Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who lived in the 12th century. You can find the eight levels on Wikipedia; they encompass a broad spectrum, ranging from giving money begrudgingly to the highest level of empowering and educating individuals to become self-reliant and independent. The 8th level of teaching people to fish rather than providing the catch resonates deeply with me. It promotes values such as hard work, sacrifice, and discipline. Additionally, my reflections often lead me back to Genesis 2:15 – “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” While God provides, He also commands us to exert effort to sustain His provisions.

Maimonides elaborates further on this highest level, which involves building partnerships, extending loans, assisting in finding employment, and even collaborating in business ventures with those in need. While I find many of these actions within the eighth level to be practical and valuable, I believe there is a crucial aspect that Christians should bear in mind when aiding the impoverished.

In the book “When Helping Hurts” by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett, the authors challenge ministries to reconsider their approach to poverty alleviation. Without delving into an extensive summary, the aspect that particularly resonated with me is the need to transcend the desire to merely educate, train, and empower people. The process starts with restoring one’s relationship with God and then extends to establishing roots within the local community for sustainable, long-term development of individuals. Regardless of the extent of our assistance (referring to North American Christians), a successful charitable endeavor requires local involvement and draws upon the foundations of the community. Maimonides challenged us many centuries ago to empower the poor through education. Fikkert and Corbett further expands on that idea by focusing ministry efforts in giving power to the powerless, and that requires an entirely different approach than many relief efforts ministries provide today. I highly recommend picking up the book for a read.

As Christians, we must engage in introspection when working with poverty alleviation, and these principles offer valuable reminders of practical strategies to implement.

-HC