{"id":5022,"date":"2009-05-28T06:24:14","date_gmt":"2009-05-28T06:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2009\/05\/a-hole-in-the-gospel.html"},"modified":"2009-05-28T06:24:14","modified_gmt":"2009-05-28T06:24:14","slug":"a-hole-in-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/05\/a-hole-in-the-gospel.html","title":{"rendered":"A Hole in the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stearns.jpg\"<\/span>Richard Stearns is the President of World Vision. When the President of World Vision speaks, people listen. When the same person writes, people read. On our trip to South Africa I saw a man sitting in the middle of the plane on our flight from Paris to Johannesburg and I immediately recognized the book he was reading — because I was also reading it: Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel: What does God expect of Us? The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

This book belongs in every church library; every pastor needs to read it; and every adult Sunday school class in our country needs to read it and face the facts — and think of how best to respond. That’s my endorsement of this book. (Even though the book could have been shorter.)<\/p>\n

Questions for the day: Does the biblical gospel include justice for the world? Or is justice for the world secondary to the gospel? These are the questions we need to discuss. Where do we define the gospel? From Luke 4:18-19 (gospel of kingdom) or from the message of personal salvation in Romans?<\/p>\n

And if one thinks the gospel entails justice, how is that gospel to be preached? What does evangelism look like for a gospel without the hole?<\/p>\n

This book has four major elements to it:<\/p>\n


\n
<\/p>\n

<!–
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\n\/\/–><\/p>\n

First, Richard Stearns tells his own story of conversion and, most
\nimportantly for this book, of struggling to accept the Presidency of
\nWorld Vision because of what it would do to his successful business
\ncareer. His honesty is worthy of emulation, and his story is valued
\nreading. At one point he has pulled up the sheets of his bed and is
\nweeping over the call to World Vision.<\/p>\n

Second, the thrust of
\nthis book is that the gospel is bigger than personal salvation and
\nincludes global transformation. So, in this sense, Stearns belongs to
\nthe growing number of evangelicals who think the four spiritual laws
\napproach to the gospel is not enough — he doesn’t think it is wrong,
\nbut he doesn’t think it is enough. He calls the absence of justice
\nfocus the hole in our gospel. Here are his words: “It’s basically the
\nbelief that being a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, requires
\nmuch more than just having a personal<\/i> and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public<\/i> and transforming relationship with the world” (2). This theme is found on most every page in this book.<\/p>\n

Third,
\nthis book includes chp after chp of leading his readers to think again
\nand again about their commitment to global justice, to compassion for
\nthe poor and the needy, and to financial support for the many, many
\nfolks involved in making a difference in the day-to-day lives of
\nsuffering people in the world.<\/p>\n

26,500 children die each day of preventable diseases.<\/p>\n

Fourth,
\nthis book is filled with compelling stories of folks whose lives are
\nbeing transformed by ministries like World Vision — and this book is
\nmuch more Stearns’ own story than the story of World Vision. The book
\ndoes not come off at all like a plea to participate in World Vision.
\nMaybe more could have been done in this regard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Stearns is the President of World Vision. When the President of World Vision speaks, people listen. When the same person writes, people read. On our trip to South Africa I saw a man sitting in the middle of the plane on our flight from Paris to Johannesburg and I immediately recognized the book he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel"],"yoast_head":"\nA Hole in the Gospel - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/05\/a-hole-in-the-gospel.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Hole in the Gospel - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Richard Stearns is the President of World Vision. 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