Barker, Making Poverty Personal

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Ash Barker, Making Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible Does. Baker Books/Emergent Village, 2009.

Referenced in: Theological and Philosophical Foundations of Social Ministry

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

This book makes a unique contribution to understanding the biblical witness on ministry to the poor. Ash surveys the teaching on poverty from the Exodus narrative, O.T. laws, O.T. poetry, O.T. prophets, the Gospels, Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation.

Ash is influenced by liberation theology’s idea of ”God’s preferential option for the poor” over other socio-economic groups, the “structural evil” of social systems, the redistribution of wealth, etc. To understand liberation theology, see the description by Sam Storms and the critique by Ben Witherington. Ash is not strictly liberationist, however, and shows appreciation for the importance of conversionist evangelism. This is strongly affirmed in another volume to which Ash gives credit, David Bosch’s Transforming Mission, that “mission includes evangelism as one of its essential dimensions.” (Bosch, 10) Nonetheless, Ash’s concern is not evangelism, but the place of the poor in God’s economy, which may explain his emphasis.

One may benefit by balancing Barker with resources by Ben Witherington, Corbett and Fikkert, and Myers (especially the last part of chapter 2, “The Biblical Story,” and chapter 3, “Poverty and the Poor”). Each fo these is referenced in the resource guide, Theological and Philosophical Foundations of Christian Social Ministry.

Even with these caveats, it is hard not to fall under the conviction of Ash’s treatment of this subject, and come away seeing God’s interest in the poor as a dominant theme of scripture.

Publisher’s Product Description

Poverty is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. But poverty is not new. And neither is God’s deep concern for the poor—it is a theme deeply woven throughout the Bible. Yet sadly, churches and individual Christians have too often been blind to this emphasis, or they have been paralyzed into inaction by feelings of helplessness. In this urgent, provocative book, Ash Barker offers both challenge and hope. Pulling out and reflecting on significant passages from both testaments, he reveals what the Bible says about both the nature of poverty and about how God calls his people to respond. These studies, ideal for either individual or small group use, are interlaced with personal reflections—first-hand accounts from fifteen years of ministry among the poor.

About the Author

Ash Barker is the founding director of Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH), a missionary order working among the poor begun in Melbourne, Australia, in 1993. Since 2002, Ash and his family have been serving in Klong Toey, the largest slum in Bangkok, Thailand, planting UNOH’s first overseas community. He is the author of Surrender All and Finding Life.

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