Introduction
The theoretical approach of helping the people is found in biblical, Christian, and Church values different from the psychology of helping people. Helping behavior in social psychology entails assisting others voluntarily without expecting a reward in return. Some psychologists also use the social exchange theory to explain the concept of helping people with mutual benefits. In contrast, the religious perspective of helping others should be intrinsic, self-motivated, and approved biblically. The Church forms the foundation of helping from a biblical perspective where people can coordinate to initiate church-led helping projects. Moreover, individuals can participate in helping people by observing the theological values laid down. God calls Christians to pour themselves out for others by being kind, compassionate, and forgiving to one another.
How the Church Helps People
First, Christians are servants of Christ through religious values and acts such as helping the people in need. The value of helping does not rest with those receiving the help but also includes human interaction and community vision. According to Kopiec (2021), Christians demonstrate their love of God through acts and truth, such as helping and rescuing the needy and the poor. Poverty is spread to different demographic levels and geographical areas, and hence the communal approach to poverty can offer help at a higher scale. Churches should not be diverse in themselves and should collaborate in accomplishing the mission of sharing and helping people (Cuadra-Martinez, 2019). Helping the poor and the marginalized people demonstrate lived faith through individual inspiration to work with poor communities. Therefore God uses Christians to deliver help to the needy and poor people. Aside from preaching the gospel, Christians and Churches should uphold their responsibility to help the poor.
People offering help should be humble to avoid humiliation and superiority. The Bible discourages using help to serve self-satisfaction and ego. Helping in theology is a private affair between God, the sender, and the recipient of help. The psychology of help does not describe the relationship between personality and willingness to help. Rather, religious serving and generosity should be compassionate to enable those receiving help to feel loved, valued, and cared for. It is not a Christian ethic to judge. How we treat the poor and the needy determines how God will treat us.
Different people collaborate in church communities to effectively dispense help to the most vulnerable. Churches should hold visions of helping and invest significant resources in helping others. Helping is a broad spectrum that may include material, spiritual, and psychological help hence the need for an organization starting from the Church. Churches also help by speaking up to defend and uphold the rights of the poor and vulnerable in society. God has instilled a mission in Churches to support change in life and fulfill the will of God. Individuals and communities serving God through helping should seek God’s guidance through prayers declared in the book of Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor” (Bible, 1985). Helping missions guided by the holy spirit face no obstacles and serve the true purpose of God.
Contrary to the psychology version, the theology of helping people advises Christians that they should also help their enemies. The first step in providing compassionate help to our enemies is loving them and praying for them. Psychology upvotes detaching from the enemies to avoid toxic confrontations and embarrassment. Jesus teaches about loving the enemies as we love our neighbors. The guilt enemies feel when receiving help punishes their humility, love, and kindness to dispel feelings of hate. Rather than self-justification and seeking vengeance against enemies, Christians create their chance of spiritual development by making the hard choices of loving the enemies (Caudra-Martinez, 2019). Jesus calls for believers to love and pray for their enemies in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27. The aspects of pride, position, and power are discouraged in the theology of helping people.
The reward for helping people, in a biblical perspective, should be expected from God instead of from the person receiving help. God says in Proverbs 19:17, “He who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will fully reward them” (Bible, 1985). The verse implies that being passionate about people attracts God’s blessings. In contrast, the social exchange theory in psychology describes that people only help others when they expect benefits that outweigh the costs of helping. The psychological perspective describes that rewards should be expected from the people receiving the help, different from the theory of helping people where the reward is granted by God (Draper, 2021). Therefore the social exchange theory limits help to those capable of repaying. The theology of helping people is an empathetic approach to helping everyone without expecting their rewards, whereas the social exchange theory in psychology is an altruistic approach that pivots on maximizing rewards out of help.
According to the Bible, there is joy in giving; hence people should live to give to others rather than being selfish. Therefore giving should be prioritized and practiced regularly by Christians for self-fulfillment. Jesus once said in Acts 20:35 that “it is more blessed to give than receive” (Bible, 1985). God’s favor influences the beatitude of the joy in helping others upon us due to putting ourselves in a place of humility and trust in God’s provision. The Bible also warns those who ignore and abandon those who need help since help is used to demonstrate love (Cudra-Martinez, 2019). People who do not practice helping others lack the love of God inside them and are likely to attract curses. Since God is the Christian helper, sharing his blessings with others illustrates God’s love in our hearts. The redemptive work to help others achieves personal joy through God’s favor and love.
Conclusion
In conclusion, religion is an excellent asset in humanitarian work that differs from a psychological perspective and approach to helping. Generosity in the Christian perspective is not limited to material things like in psychology but includes spiritual and psychological needs. The reward for helping in theology should be expected from the Lord rather than the help recipient. The key to helping is to make a difference in the life of others in the most humble way to avoid dominance and superiority over the people in need of help. Churches form the foundation of organizing help in local and global missions by coordinating efforts of individual members and different ministries. Unlike psychology, the reward for helping others should be expected from God rather than the person in need. Help from a Christian perspective should not be limited to enemies and instead, use help to dispel feelings of hate. Christians take great joy in giving to others, and it demonstrates the love of God.
References
Bible, D. (1985). The Bible. Chrysalis. Web.
Cuadra-Martínez, D., Sandoval-Díaz, J., Perez-Zapata, D., Castro-Carrasco, P., Véliz-Vergara, D., Guzman-Ávalos, J., & Ramos-Thompson, G. (2019). Helping One’s Neighbor: Teaching and Learning Prosocial Behavior in a Religious Community. Religions, 10(9), 515. Web.
DraperP. (2021). The Christian Contribution to the Changes of the Development Aid System: The Lutheran Approach. Studia Oecumenical, 21, 179-191. Web.