IS THERE A HOLE IN YOUR GOSPEL?

In the prologue to his book The Hole in Our Gospel, Richard Stearns describes the following: “Several months after becoming a Christian, I was newly engaged to Rene’. As we were planning our wedding and our life together, she suggested that we go to a department store to register for our china, crystal, and silver. My self-righteous response was an indication of just how my newfound faith was integrating into my life: ‘As long as there are children starving in the world, we’re not going to own fine china, crystal, and silver.’”

Several years later, Stearns would become CEO of Lenox, America’s finest tableware company, producing and selling luxury goods to those who could afford them. Then in 1998, he moved from his position at Lenox to become president of World Vision, a Christian relief and development organization that serves the poorest of the poor in the world. He says that when he received the phone call asking him to consider the position at World Vision, he heard God’s voice on the phone: “Rich, do you remember the idealistic young man in 1974 who was so passionate about starving children that he would not even fill out a wedding registry? Take a good look at yourself now. Do you see what you’ve become? But, Rich, if you still care about those children, I have a job I want you to do.”

In his book, Stearns relates his personal story from his conversion to Christ to his early business career to his work with World Vision. He does more, though, than tell his personal story. His personal story sets the foundation from which he probes at the hole in our Gospel, at the hole in our world, and at the hole in the church. He probes deeply so that the church in a broader sense and the reader in a narrower sense will reexamine the Gospel to which we are committed so that we live out the “whole” Gospel. Then Stearns concludes by discussing how we can repair the hole.

So, what is the hole in our Gospel? Stearns suggests that we have lived out a narrow view of the Gospel that seeks to get people into heaven. He says, “In our evangelistic efforts to make the good news accessible and simple to understand, we seem to have boiled it down to a kind of ‘fire insurance’ that one can buy.” We thus leave a hole in the Gospel because our limited view of the Kingdom of God does not drive the church “to change and challenge everything in our fallen world in the here and now. It (the Kingdom of God) was not meant to be a way to leave the world but rather the means to actually redeem it.”

Stearns moves from showing us that the Gospel is to redeem our culture to looking at the world itself. He discusses the areas of our culture that badly need redeeming. He discusses the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor and the unresolved problems that include starvation, illiteracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict, and unnecessary illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. Then he shows how the church comes up short in dealing with these issues, and issues a personal challenge to the readers to reconsider how they view the Gospel and how they can utilize the resources at their disposal to affect redemption in our world.

In her endorsement of the book, author Luci Swindoll says, “He redefines words like neighbor, wealth, possible, awareness . . . then, with challenging directive, shows us tangible ways this hole can be repaired – even eradicated – when each of us pours hope and compassion into it. He expands our thinking, gives us courage, and believes change can happen; and when you’ve finished reading, you’ll believe it too.”

Consider examining the hole in your Gospel and in the Gospel of your church. Consider examining what your church is doing to bring about redemption in people’s lives and in our world. Perhaps you need to examine the missions and other ministries you support. Perhaps you need to consider establishing or working with a food pantry or other type of ministry that alleviates suffering for people. If you are up for a good “read” that will challenge your view of the Gospel, the work of your church, and the way you live your life, pick up The Hole in Our Gospel and let it convict you.