When God Provides

Abstract Drawing from ethnographic research conducted at an Orthodox sociomedical center in Beirut, this article investigates welfare practices situated at the intersection of lived theology and sect-based clientelism. Amid the crises engulfing Lebanon since 2019, the center's activity was shaped by Orthodox models of social activism where “heaven starts from earth.” Theological concepts of service were activated in relation to a divine management that addressed concrete needs and in response to economic uncertainty. Together, they authenticated a pragmatic God working through the center's social and material infrastructures. The human-divine relationality shaped by these models is analyzed in relation to sect-based networks entangled in the everyday lives of Lebanese people. This approach argues for a reconsideration of charity alongside and beyond sectarian models of differentiation and secular ideals of national unity. Focusing on an Eastern Orthodox community in the Middle East, the article is a critical intervention in the anthropology of Christianity. It underscores localized expressions of Christianity by highlighting the social life of theological concepts amid the realities of a country in crisis. Additionally, the focus on religion at the intersection of lived theology and precarious lives reveals the entanglements of Orthodoxy as sect and community of practice in Lebanon.