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The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us?

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As I cracked open this nearly 300 page book I found a biography of a man that compelled me. Richard was a godly husband and father to 5 children and was the President of Lenox China before giving up his Jaguar, large home, and large salary to become the President of World Vision. He went from living the country club lifestyle to sitting in grass huts in Uganda feeding children who are starving. Why? Why did he give up the American dream?


Richard told the story of a pastor friend who went through the Bible literally cutting out with scissors, all the verses on poverty and then when he preached on poverty, he held his ragged, tattered Bible in the air and said "Brothers and sisters, this is our American Bible; it is full of holes...here are all the Biblical texts we ignore."


Richard goes into full detail about the epidemic of poverty in our world that American Christians just simply ignore. 26,500 children will die today due to causes related to poverty - whether it's starvation, dirty water, ravages of war, disease or AIDS. That's the equivalent of 100 jet liners crashing just today! He knows how Americans value our airplanes and hate to see one crash - so he compares the statistic to a plane wreck.


If we hear the story of a child dying in a car accident - we are sad for the family. But if we learn that it is our next door neighbor's child who died we are deeply grieved for the family. And if our own child dies - well - our world is turned upside down. For some reason we place less value on the children dying half way around the world than we do our own children - but GOD DOES NOT!



Oh, this book was so convicting as it told stories of children eating dirt patties with butter to ease their starving bellies. As I imagined the orphans of the AIDS epidemic spending most of their day looking for food and retrieving dirty water - I felt convicted about my own children and how they turn their noses up at their peanut butter and jelly sandwich that doesn't have the crust cut off!



What does God expect us to do about all this poverty? Richard reminds us of Matthew 25 where Jesus speaks of judgement day. Jesus says that the criteria for dividing the sheep from the goats will be:


"When I was hungry you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."


The righteous ask "when did we see you hungry Lord?" And Jesus replied "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine , you did for me. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink..." And the righteous went to eternal life.



Wow - did you catch that? - the people who did not feed the hungry or give drink - went to eternal fire! God has a pretty STRONG opinion on what he expects us to do - wouldn't you say??? If you are like me - you spend much of your Christian days trying to do what is right as a mom, wife and servant in the church - avoiding the really bad sins. But this "squeaky clean" approach is not what God is looking at on judgement day. God is not just looking at our faith - but our evidence of our faith - and specifically - how we helped the poor.



I have to admit and be open here - this book completely humbled me - at one point in the book - I literally stopped reading and said out loud "shut up!" and began to cry. I am deeply grieved by my failure in this area.



I have shared much of my reading with my husband and children and I hope to make some strides forward in this area as a family - the task is so overwhelming but this one quote motivates me to try - "Don't fail to do something because you can not do everything."



I recommend this book and also want to encourage you to go to World Vision's website - http://www.worldvision.org - to see if there is anything that you can do to help those in need.

Courtney
www.womenlivingwell.org

Recently, I was sent a copy of "The Hole In Our Gospel" to read and review. Written by the U.S. President of World Vision, Richard Stearns, the book journeys into the great problems of the world and analyzes how Christians, specifically in America, relate to them.

Seeing that the book was penned by the head of an international aid organization, I must admit that I began with feelings of skepticism and reluctance. Before beginning the book, I expected a simple, shallow, and guilt-ridden message that would end with a plea for World Vision support. However, this book steers far from that path. Surprisingly, Stearns never directly advocates for the support of a World Vision child. Instead, his chosen path is one in which he walks alongside the reader through many challenging issues, pointing out what he sees along the way. I can imagine no better tour guide than the man who not only leads one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the history of the world, but also one who has set foot in nearly 100 of the poorest countries in the world. Stearns doesn't just lightly suggest the pursuit of justice and care for the poor--he is battling on the frontlines himself.

From the outset of the book, I was comforted with the relative normalcy of Richard's early life. In addition to feelings of apathy and ignorance towards suffering in our American churches, he also shares that for most of his life he was consumed with materialism and the addiction of corporate success. Proclaiming that he is no `Mother Teresa', he sincerely aims to show that he should not be lifted up as an other-worldly wonder-worker. He makes a point that he is an every-man, and it shows through his experiences. This encouragement yields a hope that anyone, no matter where they are in life, can experience a true conversion of the heart.

The book opens by detailing his early life as an incredibly successful young business man, jumping from role to role as a leader of multiple companies. The early parts of the book chronicle his personal journey of enlightenment, one that led him to realize this great `hole' that we American Christians have in our version of the Gospel and our call to fill it. Using many sources and proof texts from the Bible, he walks the reader through the blatant evidence in Scripture that point to this `hole', namely that God is determinedly on the side of the poor.

Stearns sprinkles the book with quotes from many throughout history--from the great thinkers of the past such as St. Teresa of Avila and St. Augustine, to modern world-changers like Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and even from great modern thinkers like Robert Frost, C.S. Lewis, Dallas Willard, Albert Einstein, and Bono. The one thing that becomes clear through this journey is that Stearns sees one uniting string that stretches throughout all of history, one that also weaves throughout our modern life. This string interlaces brilliance and charity, contemplation and action, enlightenment and love, and in fact began with God. He displays a deep harmony between those who understood life at its core and those who cared most for the greatest injustices of their day. As an example Stearns, like me, considers Bono to be one of today's greatest prophets, despite being a pariah amongst many of today's churches. Religious inconsistencies arise when those who care most for the pain in the world don't `fit' in our churches.

Stearns sees one common message that has been proclaimed through different words by different people at different times: God cares for the poor and the downtrodden immensely, and a person claiming to love God should be living a life that reciprocates that care. And he suggests that we in American are coming up way short.

The seriousness of poverty in this world quickly becomes evident, and the lack of response from the American church becomes clear just as fast. Stearns notes that despite the Old Testament mandate to tithe, or give 10%, of one's salary to the church and the poor, American Christians on average give away only 2% of their income to churches or charities. And only 2% of this 2% goes to fund international work--0.04% of American Christian's total income. Understanding that, these statistics become terribly convicting:

* The total annual income of American churchgoers: $5.2 trillion
* Amount available if each of them gave 10% of their salary: $520 billion
* Estimated annual cost to eliminate extreme poverty in the world: $65 billion
* Annual cost for universal primary education for ALL children in the world: $6 billion
* Annual cost to bring clean water to most of the world: $9 billion
* Annual cost to bring basic health and nutrition for the world: $13 billion
* Total to eradicate the world's greatest problems: $93 billion (1.8% of American Christian's income)

We just agreed to push through an $800 billion financial bailout in our country. Stearns opens our eyes to the fact that American's have the potential and the resources to bring billions and billions of people out of extreme poverty at a relatively small cost. American Christians by themselves--even excluding the rest of America and the world!--have enough available resources themselves to end the great problems of this world. So why isn't this happening? That question is left to stir in the minds of readers throughout the book.

Towards the end of the book, Stearns finished by igniting a passionate vision in the minds of readers. He asks the reader to imagine, "how stunning it would be to the watching world for American Christians to give so generously that they:
* Brought an end to world hunger
* Solved the clean water crisis
* Provided universal access to drugs and care for the millions suffering from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis
* Virtually eliminated the more than 26,000 daily child deaths (20,000 of which are estimated to stem from hunger issues)
* Guaranteed education for all the world's children
* Provided a safety net for the world's tens of millions of orphans"

If this happened, "the global social revolution brought forth by the body of Christ would be on the lips of every citizen in the world and in the pages of every newspaper--in a good way". How would the world see Christians--and especially the One they follow--if we in America put our money where are prayers and Bible claim they lie? What adjectives would the world then use to describe Christians instead of judgmental, hypocritical, and selfish?

This book is not one that leaves the reader filled with guilt and inadequacy but hope and the feeling that one can make a difference. It ends with practical steps one can take to begin joining the fight for the oppressed, but as a whole the book's foremost goal is to transform the reader's heart into one that breaks for the broken.

I really can't recommend this book enough to those who sincerely want to follow Jesus. Richard Stearns delicately, yet directly, calls the church in American to action against all injustice in the world. He recognizes that as people who claim to follow Jesus, "our heart must break for the things that break God's heart."

Be very careful if you decide to read this stellar book; like any encounter with needed truth, you will feel increasingly uncomfortable as you flip through the pages. However, once you catch the vision Stearns paints, you will be invigorated to slam the book shut and begin to change what your small pieces of the world. We all have the opportunity to make an impact, in this country and even in others. As many throughout history have echoed, now is the time to stand up and break the chains of injustice in our world. Let's go."

As a person who sponsors several children in the 3rd World and who has a tremendous interest in the world's poor, I expected to read the usual stuff. How bad the problem is... what we need to do about it... and then feel good that my husband and I are doing "so much" to help. But what I didn't expect was to be turned on my ear about how little I'm doing in proportion to the problem AND in proportion to my ability to do SO much more.

Rich Stearns does an excellent job of "getting in our face" about the enormity of the world's poor's brutal plight and what we have to do about it without putting us on a guilt trip. Yet we all need to take a new journey, down the road of really and truly doing something to make a difference. This book lets us know that the contribution of EACH of us is tantamount to truly making a dent in the ravages of poverty and the illnesses that go along with it. And we must.

This is a credible piece, endorsed by some amazing people... not just "known" Christians, but by people who also care about the world's poor, like U2's Bono. No matter what your religion or creed, we should all read this.

Bravo, Mr. Stearns and World Vision. And the glory go to God.

I know Richard Stearn's intentions are good but the book leaves me with a hole in my stomach:)

My journey in India has taken me through the paradigm of World Vision-like organizations (e.g. Habitat for Humanity, Samaritan's Purse, Gospel for Asia, The Leprosy Mission, etc) and I have seen their problems on the ground. Consequently, I am disappointed Richard Stearns gives a stinging critique of the American church but doesn't adequately address the legitimate criticisms--well known to insiders--of the Christian, multi-national aid industry. Does one really think groups like World Vision are immune to the empire building and wasteful spending (and in many cases, outright corruption) that the American church is susceptible to?

But forget all the issues of corruption and gross inefficiencies suffered by most international Christian organizations. Those are just symptoms of some fundamental problems with many Christian foreign-aid organizations.
1. They have followed secular humanist priorities which view injustice and physical need as man's primary problem when, as Christians, we are to understand these as symptoms of a much deeper spiritual crisis that exists in communities unable/unwilling to care for their own people. With so much emphasis in the secular media on the issues of poverty & injustice it is certainly easier and more lucrative to follow their lead rather than stand as a prophetic voice and point to the spiritual crisis that is the deeper issue and offer the solution of Jesus.
2. At least in the Indian context, their commitments to donors and the consequent program implementation deadlines require the quick application of funds with little regard for taking the time to build synergy with the local church and work with them to address the spiritual problems in the community that have created the symptoms of poverty and injustice in the first place.
3. In some instances, as is the case with World Vision India, their secular and governments partnerships prevent them from addressing the spiritual issues altogether!
4. As a result of points 2 & 3, they have often ignored the role of local church in enabling/empowering them to set the agenda and priorities in their region such that the deeper spiritual issues can be addressed while simultaneously dealing with the community's symptoms in a manner that is sustainable and does not undermine the long-term, spiritual initiatives.

Finally, there seems to be a mutually symbiotic relationship between the Christian aid organization and the American Christian donor that is not good. The donor get's to sacrifice a bit of their wealth and lifestyle (Stearn's bit was to sacrifice his multi-million dollar income for a MEAGER $400,000/year salary at World Vision) in order to
(a) avoid the sacrifice Jesus and the disciples had to make, i.e. the sacrifice of their lives for transforming the world with the gospel;
(b) avoid the guilt associated with living a lifestyle that cannot be reconciled with Jesus' teachings and the poverty they see on TV;
(c) stay in line with the secular humanist's powerfully influential, yet biblically uninformed conviction that poverty and injustice are mankind's worst enemies and can be solved without the God of the Trinity.

In turn, the Christian aid organization gets to receive the donor's dollars with few questions asked...and even take pot shots at the Church and claim it's being prophetic in doing so!

Neither seem interested in each other's transformation. Neither seem interested in transforming communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ and thereby truly helping the community solve their own problems for the long term. Transforming communities through the Gospel takes time and involves face-to-face, relationship based on human interaction that results in discipling people. There is too much human sacrifice involved in that. Governments (such as the Indian government) and the powerful forces that under-gird poverty and injustice will persecute you for it. Furthermore, the secular humanists find that approach abhorrent in the age of pluralism and have a much faster turn-around time in their short-term approach. Consequently their approach seems to set the bar for today's Christian aid organizations.

Bottom line: It's a lot easier all around for rich Christians in America to simply throw money at the world's immediate problems rather than be prophetic and involve sacrificially in addressing the spiritual roots. And, by the way, World Vision is happy to handle that money for you!

Stearn's book was basically an extended argument for supporting World Vision hidden behind a veneer that wreaks of poor ecclesiology. Certainly World Vision will benefit financially from his polemic (and what better book-release timing than in the middle of the US recession). But World Vision's short term gains will not be long term gains for the gospel of Jesus...nor for the communities being reached with this gospel of secular humanist ideology that under-girds many "Christian" foreign-aid programs which bypass the local Church's discipleship mission.

The Hole in Our Gospel presents the vision of a fuller gospel, stemming from the personal experiences of Richard Stearns. Stearns has led World Vision since 1998, after a career in corporate America. This book is a personal challenge to Christians, particularly prosperous American Christians satisfied with themselves and their churches.

Stearns is neither a great author nor an acclaimed theologian. He quotes from a myriad of diverse voices: Dallas Willard, John MacArthur, Bruce Wilkinson, J. R. R. Tolkien, N. T. Wright, John R. W. Stott, Peter Singer, Bono, Randy Alcorn, and Joel Stein. This is his story, one he hopes will influence others to a faith that moves beyond church walls.

The main point of this book is encapsulated by Stearns in Chapter 3 (Pg. 38), when he says Jesus spoke to him, "You lack one thing, Rich. Sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." The various sections seem to go in divergent directions, but Stearns primary thrust throughout the book is that American Christians need to come back to a more complete understanding of God's message for humanity.

For Stearns, his book is a challenge to how Christians are living their lives. He says on Pg. 243, "We have, in fact, reduced the gospel to a mere transaction involving the right beliefs rather than seeing in it the power to change the world." His push in the final chapters is for Christians to recognize that God has stewarded them with "time, talent, and treasure" to accomplish a mission in this world prior to eternity.

My estimation of this book is that it offers a compelling widening of the gospel for the average American Christian. It is powerfully told from an individual perspective and yet backed up with anecdotes and statistics that describe a world beyond one person's experience. If I were to recommend this book, it would be as a jolt of real-world antidote for an anemic American gospel. We should be able to read Scripture in a way that we understand the gospel is more than we have made it, yet sometimes a voice pointing to more is needed. If you are looking for laborious theology or spiritualized social work, this may not be the book for you.

Rich Stearns has written a very readable book which documents the immense worldwide problem of poverty, its causes, its potential cures, and an engrossing story of his own life journey from growing up in a dysfunctional and low income home to CEO, to unemployment, to CEO again--and finally to his current position of President of Worldvision US. (none of his sentences are that long) Unlike other books that I have read on the subject of poverty, Stearn's style served to inform and motivate me rather than to induce feelings of guilt and avoidance of the subject.
I highly recommend this book

Every generation has its sins--of commission and omission. The lens of history will be brutally honest in its judgment. How can the American church, with all its resources and influence, fail to respond proportionately to the greatest crises facing the world? In The Hole in our Gospel, Rich Stearns calls on Christians to no longer tolerate the moral scandal of poverty and injustice in our world. This book is a great read for Christians and non-Christians alike. It reminds us that we MUST care for all people whether they be our neighbors next door or thousands of miles away. Stearns offers compelling stories, staggering statistics, and practical ideas of how we can eradicate poverty in our lifetime.

In reading The Hole in our Gospel, I was coming in with a blank slate, not knowing who Richard Stearns was. Knowing he was from Worldvision piqued my curiosity, but I wasn't sure what to expect.

The book is essentially about answering the question "What is missing in our theology/evangelism?", and Stearns gets into his answer quickly and unapologetically.

Stearns argues that the real gospel "entails a public and transforming relationship with the world" (2) and by that, he means "social revolution" (20) in the form of helping the poor (21), compassion for the sick (22), and liberation for anyone who is a victim of political, social or economic injustice (22). In case anyone is confused, he gives the standard St. Francis of Assisi "preach the gospel always; when necessary use words" quote (23) and slips the prayer of Jabez in for good measure (40).

Now I did like his comments on how he used to understand the Gospel as simple `fire insurance' (17) and I love the "God expects us to serve Him on His terms - not ours" (39) quote, along with his same page slam against the prosperity gospel. I don't want to be hyper negative against Stearns. Much of his intention is honorable, and I agree that Christians don't live the truth of the scriptures in the lives of the poor, sick and oppressed. Rich Stearns has seen a lot and it has transformed him. I hate the real truth that the church has become a ethno-centrically organized social club for many, and I agree that the gospel hasn't actually impacted those who claim to believe it. But I wholeheartedly disagree with Stearns' understanding of what the gospel IS.

Stearns, on page 21, quotes Luke 4:14-21 and suggests that this is Jesus' mission statement. Stearns suggests that the gospel was directed to the poor, as Jesus says in the beatitudes. The problem is that in Matthew 5, Jesus says "blessed are the poor in spirit". Those lase two words, "in spirit", are exegetically significant. Jesus wasn't talking about welfare recipients, though he didn't ignore them. They weren't the main thrust of the gospel, like Stearns argues.

Again, on page 21 and 22 Stearns suggests that "recovery of sight for the blind" in Luke 4:18 talks about a compassion for the sick and the sorrowful. Problem is, Jesus is clear in places like John 9:35-41 that his miraculous restoration of blindness to the man born blind was ultimately a condemnation of the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Again, Stearns takes Luke 4:18-19 as Jesus proclaiming freedom for prisoners, oppressed and "anyone who had been the victim of injustice, whether political, social, or economic." (22) My only question is if this was Jesus' main message, why did nobody do it? Everyone thought that Jesus came to overthrow the oppressive Roman government, and AFTER his resurrection Jesus taught bout the kingdom for 40 days (Acts 1:3) and the disciples asked him "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6) In Acts 1:7-8, Jesus essentially said "no" and "that's not for you to know". Neither Jesus, nor his disciples ever did what Stearns is suggesting. Christianity frees from slavery and liberates the oppressed, but the biggest slaver is sin and the #1 oppressor is sin (John 8:34; Rom. 6:6-22; Gal 5:1-13; Heb. 9:15).

I recognize and share his passion for what he considers to be the `full meal deal' gospel, and not the North American `happy meal' version, but when I examine his biblical support for his position, I still am asking "Where's the Beef?" My main contention is that Rich does not have a position that's supported by exegesis, and if the main ingredient isn't exegesis, you don't have `special sauce'.

Richard Stearns, the current president of World Vision, tells his compelling story of the typical American dreamer, achieving heights as two-time CEO, but being drug by God to give it all up and pursue this position that he knew nothing of. His own personal struggle of this sacrifice is highly relavent to today's typical American in this materialistic and segregated world. I, myself, currently living in an under-developed African country was pushed to examine my actions in which convinced me to give a shoe-shiner a $20 bill instead of the $1 typically asked for, and think about how to involve local wealthy businessmen to form a club of something similar to the "secret santas" known in Kansas City. According to his aim, this opens many doors and is the first step to show them Christ. But his overall plausibility and reasoning were not so convincing to support his idea of the title, A Hole in Our Gospel. The second half of the book is more of a bible study and preaching session for Richard to bash, in my mind, the church even from its conception, since it did little to change and alter the society around it. Therefore, I believe he is perplexed greatly by this need to save the poor from their poverty, that he misses out on the reality of reality, things we can't change - we live in a fallen world and the battle is not ours. I was moved and compelled by the first half of the book, but lost motivation and became bored by the second half. He should have stopped while the going was good.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com (http://BookSneeze.com) book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

This book took me fully two months to read. It is crammed full of information about the realities of the world beyond our Western civilization. Richard Stearns' zeal is evident on very page. He thoroughly believes that Christianity is meant to change the world, but before that can truly happen, we will have to change ourselves.

Stearns' story of being a successful Christian businessman to becoming the President of World Vision is a powerful testimony to the way in which God can call anyone of us out of our comfort zones and into the frontline of Christ's global mission. This is so personal to the author that he challenges any of his readers to consider doing something similar.

Richard backs up his zeal with many personal stories of hardship and tragedy that have been transformed into something beautiful and meaningful through the power of the Gospel. His traveler's tales of meeting people in all parts of the world are sometimes disturbing to our comfortable Christianity in the West. Stearns passionately attempts to make us listen and look at what's happening in the real world.

"The Hole in Our Gospel" is a life changing book. That's why it took me so long to read. You cannot scan over its pages quickly because the author wants his Christian readers to feel challenged. Time and time again he mentions how the Gospel operates powerfully in other lands and that the work of World Vision is an arm of Christ embracing the world. Stories about orphaned children due to AIDS or impoverished grandparents trying to raise their grandchildren in harrowing circumstances are very hard to take in, analyze, and understand.

The evil that people commit throughout the world and the cheapness of a human life in developing countries is no worse than the casual indifference and cultured ignorance of Western Christianity. Richard Stearns boldly and prophetically declares judgment on our jaundiced views concerning poverty, hunger, and human rights abuses that take place each day all over the globe.

I was glad to finish reading the book because I felt that my spirit was being afflicted chapter by chapter and page after page. However, it has changed my attitude to the importance of global mission and mission dollars. I no longer casually give to a mission without truly thinking about the effectiveness of my gift. I want to do and give what I can to those whose needs far outweigh my own. If the Gospel is going to be effective in my life, then I need to commit whatever I can and see that commitment as a powerful message of Christ's Kingdom in the world.

At the back of the book, Stearns has written some study notes and questions for small groups. The book would be an ideal missional study over several weeks for any church that feels the need to be directly burdened and challenged.

There is also a great website with more illustrations, teaching material, resources, and videos for church groups and individual Christians at [...].