True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar.

In reflection upon the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the time is upon us to more faithfully critique the policies and procedures that impact our neighbors, and in doing so, cooperate with advocacy organizations that assist in the countless efforts directed at structural change. Instead of allowing the robbers and innkeepers of our world to profit from modern day “good Samaritans” who focus solely on responding to the latest crisis, we recognize that the entire road to Jericho must be transformed so that no one is beaten and robbed. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” And so, while charity must continue because of the injustices of our present day and age, our ultimate goal is to reach a point of community companionship in which such acts are no longer required. In the mean time, may we be tormented by the ideal of a common good, and by God’s grace, may we trust that justice will indeed prevail.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithforward/2013/07/when-robbers-and-innkeepers-profit-from-good-samaritans/