It’s OK to shift responsibility to someone else if you keep in mind who someone else is.

Nov 11, 2009

It’s OK to shift responsibility to someone else if you keep in mind who someone else is.

When avoiding child sponsorship by thinking, “Somebody else’ll do it,” remember:

You are “somebody else” to 100% of everyone who isn’t you.

Category: Constructive Criticism, Faith, Love

8 Responses

1

lisa says:

November 11, 2009 at 10:07 am

sponsorship feels like “checkbook charity” until you actually sign up. then the letters come, and the photos and your heart is engaged. we have 3 daughters, and we sponsor 3 kids through compassion. and my girls’ lives are richer for knowing and growing with our kids in haiti, rwanda, and el salvador.

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2

Tara says:

November 11, 2009 at 10:08 am

I guess this still applies to me if I consider sponsoring a second child…

I must say, you seem to have quite a lot more time (or opportunity? inspiration?) to post when your wife is away. :)

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3

Texas in Africa says:

November 11, 2009 at 11:39 am

Or you could realize that, as I once read somewhere, the need is the call.

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4

Lee Shelton says:

November 11, 2009 at 12:10 pm

Does adopting three kids count as sponsoring?

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5

JenR says:

November 11, 2009 at 2:06 pm

In response to the second sentence…while I agree with it in theory, this only works in healthy circumstances. Otherwise, one individual could become very burnt out doing all the work that “somebody” ought to do but that they do not have the capacity for.

It reminds me of the story of Everybody, Anybody, Somebody, and Nobody. There was a job that Somebody was needed for that Anybody could have done. Everybody was asked, but in the end, Nobody did it.

This is why, in an emergency situation, specific people should be assigned tasks (call 911, contain the crowd, etc). Also, if you are being assulted, you have better odds of being helped if there are only one or 2 witnesses, rather than a crowd, b/c the crowd will assume that somebody else will help/call 911.

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6

Melissa Rowe Smith says:

November 11, 2009 at 5:58 pm

Intense, and well said. Here’s a question for you (or anyone out there)

Is it okay for a missionary (full supported by others) to get a compassion kid?

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7

Heneni says:

November 12, 2009 at 2:23 am

LOL…abraham. A bit of reverse pshycology in the OP here. Slightly manipulative. But i admire your determination to get just as many comments and responses for this call as you got for the ESV bible giveaway.

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8

Deek Dubberly says:

November 14, 2009 at 1:13 pm

Hope you don’t mind me using this during my sermon tomorrow on James 2:1-13. “You are somebody else to 100% of everyone who isn’t you”—that’s a great way of putting it.

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