Oct 13, 2009 Comments: 1
Review: The Hole in Our Gospel
When God called Richard Stearns to leave his corporate job in order to take over as president at World Vision, Stearns laid down in his bed, pulled the covers over his head, and wept like a baby. Nevertheless, Stearns answered God’s call, committed himself to the Lord’s work, and now shares how God has broken him.
It all began with him confronting what God expected of him.
Richard Stearns has done Christianity and humanity as a whole a tremendous service in writing The Hole in Our Gospel. With personal stories, biblical reflection, and the powerful insights he has gained in the field, Stearns pulls the church out of its bubble in order to show it the needs of the world, the heart and calling of God, and some action steps.
Stearns deftly presents the things that break God’s heart without ragging on American Christians. Stories, scripture, and statistics are the currency that he hopes will change the investments of the church today.
The book works because Stearns is frank and honest about his personal story. Before World Vision, Stearns was in many ways the model US believer. When the call came to World Vision, he fought against it, wanting to hang on to his place at the top.
Once president of World Vision, God dug deeper into his life, challenging him to give more and more. Stearns helps readers deal with their own desires and weaknesses when it comes to global poverty because he’s done the very same thing himself.
After reading Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change, I could easily notice some striking similarities between Stearns and McLaren. Both believe in directing greater resources to fighting poverty, in applying scripture to the crises of today, and in the connection between addressing poverty and spreading the Gospel. Stearns rightly argues that a church up to its elbows in caring for the least of these commands attention and offers a compelling case for the Gospel.
Stearns is a bit less confrontational though, and his biblical interpretation would fly in just about any church—unlike McLaren’s flirtation with liberal theology in a post-conservative context that sends some hearts aflutter.
In many ways, this is a book that every Christian should read. If you’ve read Everything Must Change and hesitate to recommend to a conservative friend, Stearns is just the guy to read in his stead.
This is isn’t the kind of book with glaring flaws or major weaknesses. If anything, the book does stray toward the long end of things with several sections that don’t seem necessary. Nevertheless, Stearns has written a book that is not only needed, but effective. No one will be quite the same after reading it.
Once you ask what God expects of you, how can you not be the same?
For Additional Information:
Videos about The Hole in Our Gospel including Willow Creek’s Bill Hybels interviewing Rich Stearns
Author’s Note: This book was reviewed as part of the Thomas Nelson Blogger Review program.
