Reviewed Title: Stearns, Richard. The Hole in our Gospel: The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010. ISBN: 0849947001

Foreman, Abby M

English

Dordt College

Volume 39 Number 3 Article 5 March 2011 Hole in Our Gospel: The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World (Book Review) Abby M. Foreman Dordt College, abby.foreman@dordt.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege  Part of the Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Foreman, Abby M. (2011) "Hole in Our Gospel: The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World (Book Review)," Pro Rege: Vol. 39: No. 3, 29 - 30. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol39/iss3/5 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact ingrid.mulder@dordt.edu. Pro Rege—March 2011     29 Book ReviewsAuthor Richard Stearns begins The Hole in our Gospel by recounting his personal journey from successful corpo-rate CEO to the president of  one of  the largest Christian relief  and development organizations, World Vision.  His decision to lead World Vision and leave behind the more lucrative corporate world was a culmination of  his matura-tion as a Christian, his sense of  God’s call in his life, and a number of  not-so-subtle nudges by fellow Christians and family members who challenged him to make the change. Part 1 covers the journey that Stearns himself  takes in discovering the hole in his understanding of  the Gospel. He becomes convinced of  the social and global implica-tions of  a Gospel meant for the whole world.  The book’s message is directed primarily towards Christians and the church in North America and includes practical steps for those inspired to take further action.  For those who have read extensively on global poverty, the statistics and cur-rent realities to poverty are not new, and yet The Hole in our Gospel offers new insights and conveys urgency to the problem of  poverty while making a convincing argument that the problem is not just the poor’s but ours.In Part 2, “The Hole Gets Deeper,” Stearns argues that the primary hole in our gospel is our tendency as Christians to understand faith as only a personal salvation issue without considering larger implications for behavior towards our families, civil society, or the world.  Stearns uses such passages as Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25 to argue that “God expects our lives—our churches and faith com-munities too—to be characterized by these authentic signs of  our own transformation: compassion, mercy, justice, and love—demonstrated tangibly” (57).  This tangible dem-onstration of  the Gospel is often ignored or overlooked by many Christians despite repeated calls in the Bible for fol-lowers of  Jesus Christ to do justice and love mercy.  Stearns considers our non-response to be a sin of  omission and uses the parable of  Lazarus and the rich man as illustra-tion. The rich man, who ended up in the torments of  hell, walked by Lazarus every day at the gates and ignored him: “He was aware of  the beggar’s plight, had the power to relieve his suffering—and yet chose to do nothing” (187). Throughout, Stearns gently urges us to honestly evalu-ate our response and our view of  the Gospel.  In Part 3, “A Hole in the World,” he also urges us to acknowledge and understand the need in the world.  Though histori-cally inadequate communication systems, lack of  technol-ogy and travel opportunities, and proper disbursement of  medication slowed down our response, these impediments have lessened considerably in the last half  of  the twentieth century (101-104).  But even with these advancements, the response has been slow.  One reason for our slow response is a simplistic view of  the causes and solutions of  poverty. Americans believe that poverty is an “absence of  things” or a lack of  knowledge (125) and that once equipped, the poor will no longer be poor.  Systematic corruption and oppression and their effects are often not considered.  Fi-nally, believing that poverty is a result of  sinfulness, many do not realize that many of  the world’s poorest people are Christians, no more sin-ridden than the rest of  us (126).  In contrast to this simplistic understanding of  the problems and solutions, Stearns offers a comprehensive explanation of  the interconnected and complex factors that affect the global poor.  For example, the AIDS epidemic is not only a health issue but also has devastating social and economic impacts on families and communities.  Education can be threatened when teachers die from AIDS or when chil-dren quit coming when their parents are stricken with the disease.  Stearns appropriately describes the compounding and complicated issues as a spider web.  Stearns conveys a sense of  urgency and timeliness for action by North American Christians, showing first the rel-atively recent and growing inequality between the world’s rich and the world’s poor:  According to Jeffrey D. Sachs, in 1820 the difference in per capita income between the wealthiest region and the poorest was perhaps four to one.  Compare that to the seventy-five to one cited by President Carter in 2002.  Prior to 1800, disease and inadequate health care were facts of  life that affected all people. (100)  The industrial revolution and technological advancements sparked rapid advancement and improvement in quality of  life in only some countries and became a major contribu-tor to the growing inequality.  With this growing gap be-tween rich and poor, there exists a moral dilemma, Stearns argues, for those who are wealthy in comparison to the one billion people who live on less than one U.S. dollar a day.  But Stearns shows that there is hope; progress has been made with significant improvements in health, life expectancy, literacy, and quality of  life for many.  Although we often despair and are immobilized by the sheer size of  Stearns, Richard.  The Hole in our Gospel: The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World.  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010.  ISBN: 0849947001. Reviewed by Abby M. Foreman, Social Work Instructor and Program Director, Dordt College.30     Pro Rege—March 2011need, Stearns offers three simple principles for Christians to embrace: “Every one of  these hurting people is created in God’s image and loved by him.  Every one of  these challenges has a solution.  Every one of  us can make a difference” (162).  The technology and resources exist to drastically change the circumstances of  the world’s most vulnerable, but a concentrated and significant movement of  will is needed.  The remainder of  the book shifts focus toward the response of  the church and individuals in re-pairing the hole in the world and in our gospel.  The most powerful and convicting parts of  in The Hole in our Gospel are Parts 4 and 5:“The Hole in the Church” and “Repairing the Hole.”  Stearns makes a convincing and passionate argument that Christians can and should be the ones who lead the charge to change the world.  The Ameri-can church is the wealthiest group of  Christians in history (216). He calculates that if  all churchgoers committed to tithing their full ten percent, there would be an extra $168 billion per year: “If  every American churchgoer tithed, we could literally change the world.  In fact…$65 billion—less than 40 percent of  the extra $168 billion—could eliminate the most extreme poverty on the planet for more than a billion people” (218).  Instead of  being known by what we are against, the church needs to be known by our successful efforts to change the world (228).  Instead of  being com-fortable with the American Dream (individual hard work bringing individual success), we should find comfort in be-longing to God and being entrusted with, not entitled to, His resources (207).  Stearns laments the failure of  the church’s full partici-pation in major social change efforts:If  the Church is indeed a revolutionary kind of  institu-tion, called to foment a social revolution by promoting justice, lifting up the sanctity of  human life, fighting for the underdog, and challenging the prevailing value systems in our world, then it seems we should be out in front on social justice issues rather than bringing up the rear” (190).He shows how the church has lagged behind by citing enslavement of  blacks and treatment of  Native Americans as examples (190-202).  Although his argument is valid, the assumption that the institutional church acts in concen-trated ways is questionable.  On any issue, there seems to be wide and diverse response within the body of  Christ. The church certainly should move together to respond to the vast need in the world, but it seems Stearns even agrees that this response really begins with individuals and small groups of  committed people.  He mentions Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., William Wilberforce, and others as ex-amples of  those who have fought against social injustice and inspired others to join the effort.  The chapter “A Tale of  Two Real Churches” gives us examples of  how local churches saw the need around them and responded with action (231-241).  World Vision and other development organizations serve as powerful examples of  the impact and influence that a few committed Christians can have in inspiring organizations that do a great amount of  good.  Stearns presents a compelling case for the urgency of  Christians to “repair the hole” in the world.  The final sec-tion of  the book turns the challenge to us, asking what we are going to do with our time, talent, and treasure.  Stearns reminds us again that each of  us has a responsibility to act and live out the whole Gospel in a world full of  need. He does not argue that everyone should join the mission field but rather that each should give of  what he or she has and use influence and resources to make a difference. Interspersed throughout the book are stories of  inspiring people and churches that have done amazing things to respond to various problems in their neighborhoods and around the world.  One small group of  people can change the world.  The Hole in our Gospel contains an inspiring and convicting message, and Stearns pushes us to imagine a world where a concentrated effort of  the church makes a drastic difference in the lives of  the world’s most vulner-able people.  When and how did liberty arise? How did we arrive at multi-party, wide-franchise, secret-ballot elections for determining who shall hold office as a legislator? How did we arrive at contemporary democracy with all its faults and blessings? These closely related questions, and others like them, have been posed repeatedly by politicians, lawyers, and historians alike. In the West, as public life over the last two hundred years has lost clear contact with the Christian religion (though is not a whit less religious for all that), the tendency has been to answer these questions by ascribing a pivotal role to the American and French revolutions. Certainly, the period 1763 to 1799 is of  central significance, as any careful reader of  Robert R. Palmer’s now classic The Age of  the Democratic Revolution (1959-64) will appreciate. The question is this: do we owe the things that we prize—when we speak of  liberty, democracy, and free elections—pre-eminently to the French Revolution and the frequently anti-Christian (and especially anti-Catholic) teachings of  Israel, Jonathan I.  A Revolution of the Mind: Radical Enlightenment and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. 276 pages.  ISBN-13: 978-0-69114200-5.Witte, John, Jr. The Reformation of Rights: Law, Religion and Human Rights in Early Modern Calvinism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.  388 pages including bibliography. ISBN-13: 978-0-521-81842-1.  Reviewed by Keith C. Sewell, Professor of History at Dordt College.

Hole in Our Gospel: The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World (Book Review)

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Hole in Our Gospel: The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World (Book Review)

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