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Is There a Hole in our Gospel?
Posted by Andrew Wencl in Bible & Theology, Church & Missions, IMPACT Features
I recently listened to the audio book version of The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. I had heard very little about it at the time. My wife had heard people discussing it on the radio, but since I don’t listen to Christian radio that much, preferring instead to listen to music or audio books on my mp3 player, I was basically in the dark on what this hole actually was.
Richard Stearns is the president and CEO of WorldVision, an organization that sets up booths with orange-colored banners at Christian events with pictures of little children you can “sponsor” for about $30 a month to provide food, health care, education, etc. His testimony in the book attempts to introduce you to the man and to identify with you—he didn’t have a burning desire to relieve the poor before he got involved with WorldVision, and chances are the average Christian reading his book doesn’t either.
As I listened to the book, there were a few times that I had to pause and rewind a little to make sure I heard the narrator correctly, and I wrote down a few quotations to look up later on GoogleBooks, just to make sure I had it right. On the whole it is a challenging book that draws our attention to the plight of the impoverished around the world. He quotes a lot of Scripture to remind readers (or listeners, in my case) that God has always cared for the poor and that we should care for them too. Yet for all it had going for it, I couldn’t get over some deeply troubling theological issues in the book.
On the plus side, Stearns makes a compelling case for increased involvement with the impoverished of the world through prayer, personal interaction, and financial giving. Too often we harden our hearts to those in need, making up excuses for our lack of contentment with our affluence. The book hits hard, and it should, because we in America have become arrogant, fostering a belief that we are deserving rather than privileged because of what our ancestors have done to make this nation as wealthy as it is. While I agree that, as a whole, the nation has been defined by a strong work ethic, I also recognize that none of the generations living today can take credit for where we’re at. Paul severely rebuked the Corinthian church saying, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7, ESV). Many missions organizations and churches are struggling to get by in this economy, and if we aren’t willing to give up the iPads, Dish/Cable, or Blu-Rays in favor of supporting something more important, perhaps we aren’t struggling as much as we thought. Reading the book should make you question whether each of us is looking out “only to his own interests,” or “also to the interests of others” (cf. Phil. 2:4).
Still, I can’t recommend the book without giving a BIG warning to all who would read it. In theology, how you say something is just as important as what you say. Stearns identifies a hole, but it isn’t in the gospel. He could have called it The Hole in Our Teaching or The Hole in Our Practice because we haven’t been teaching or following “all that I have commanded you” (cf. Mat. 28:20) regarding the poor. But “The Hole in our Gospel” is a misnomer. Although Stearns gives an accurate definition of the gospel early on (pg. 15), saying, “The amazing news of the gospel is that men and women, through Christ’s atoning death, can be reconciled to God,” he disregards this definition throughout the rest of the book. Instead, he has taken the gospel message and added “social revolution” to it so as to make the two indistinguishable. True Christians will not remain unchanged after believing the gospel, but social revolution is not the gospel. He undermines the importance of salvation in favor of a more temporary and non-eternal truth when he says, “[S]alvation of the soul, as crucial as it may be for fullness of life both in the here and now and in eternity, does not by itself put food on the table, bring water out of the ground, or save a child from malaria” (pg. 128).
I agree that we should not stop at telling the message of salvation. As Christians we are called to fellowship and communion with one another. How can we have communion with our brothers and sisters when they are poor and despised? How can people hear us tell them about God if they are consumed by the struggle to survive? It makes sharing the message difficult. But Stearns is not just saying we’ve dropped the ball on social issues. He’s saying the social issues are part of the gospel. This is where he errs, and his error is not just semantics. Right after his quote on page 15 about what the gospel really is, he says this, “But the good news Jesus proclaimed had a fullness beyond salvation and the forgiveness of sins; it also signified the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. This new kingdom, characteristics of which were captured in the Beatitudes, would turn the existing world order upside down.” Although he never fully comes out and says it, his definition of the gospel is derived from his eschatology, which aligns much better with pre-World War I thinking: that we bring in the kingdom through changing our world for the better, in this case, through eradicating social injustice.
My biggest issue with the book is it’s distortion of the gospel, which is a perversion, but I also found his handling of Scripture to be inappropriate and wrong. As I mentioned, he takes many Scripture passages out of context, but the worst example of this comes in his chapter “A Letter to the Church in America.”
This chapter is comprised of various biblical texts fitted together in such a way as to arouse guilt and challenge the reader (or listener). I don’t disagree with appealing to guilty consciences or confronting people with the hard sayings of Scripture. But intentionally distorting the Word of God to support your position, even if it is a correct one, is a perversion to the nth degree. Before you think I’m being too harsh, just read this quote from the beginning of the chapter explaining his thoughts about pulling Scriptures out of their original context and penning this pretend letter from Christ: “I realize this violated every rule of sound biblical exegesis, but I think you’ll agree that it works—it speaks to us with truth and with bluntness” (pg. 223). Youch!
We as Christians need to wake up to the reality of others’ suffering and our blind self-centeredness. But do not distort the gospel message to do so. Paul had some harsh words about that in Galatians 1.
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Andrew,
Thanks for the balance and insight you show in this review. I had not heard of this book either. But, upon reading your review, I am sure I would have essentially the same reaction to it that you did. Indeed, if we are to be obedient disciples of Jesus, we must give a very high priority to serving and loving the poor among us in practical ways. But, liberation theology is not the gospel Jesus died to give us. And, a sound biblical hermeneutic based on what the text actually says is crucial if we are to be faithful followers of Jesus.
It seems there are many among us lately who would want us to go to one extreme or another on these questions. There is a big need to correctly discern the biblical middle ground.
The Spirit blows where He will . . .
The dichotomy which permits the preaching of the Gospel
while in our own blindness to the suffering of others
may not be allowed by the Holy One indefinitely:
http://godspace.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/a-new-advent-meditation/
Andrew,
I do not know if there is a hole in the Gospel but Jesus practice the Whole Gospel when the man was lowered through the roof. His first action was to forgive his sin. Then Jesus healed him.
My friends and I are struggling to know how to help a young Roma man and his pregnant girlfriend. They need money, $150, for state health coverage in this country. We want to provide it but we have been scammed too many times to hand out money. We care about the girl and the baby she will have. We have decided that the best we have to offer is Christ that can bring about the heart change that he man says he wants. We will also provide money for food and see how we can help him earn a living with some skill that will sustain him and his new family.
It would be easy to skip our meals for several days and give him the money and feel good about it. As Christians here to reconcile a lost world to Christ we must do more than just give money.
We are in a learning process here and God is the teacher. We are not sure what we are getting into but we will proceed.
Charles
Brother Andrew,
I appreciate the review. I did not know of the book, and from the sound of it….probably have not missed much. One thing seems to be clear from scripture concerning the gospel anyway. Its not our gospel. The Gospel is God’s gospel, and He allows us to benefit from it, proclaim it, and preach it.
The author of this book may actually be right in his title though. If he thinks there is a Hole in Our Gospel….there very well may be, because our gospel may not even be anything close to God’s gospel. The gospel he brings to the floor is unfortunately a popular “gospel” today….the guilt trip gospel that tries to emotionally engage folks through making them feel guilty.
There is a better way… Philippians 2, and many other scriptures don’t guilt us into action, but in a much more edifying way, encourages us to depend on the Spirit as we obey God’s word to know His will.
Good review,
Thanks again,
Chris
I’m kind of surprised more people haven’t heard about this book. It had been discussed on Moody radio at least once, which means it was broadcast in parts of the Midwest.
Have any of you heard of WorldVision? They’re the ones who do the 30-hour famine each year as well.
Andrew,
Yes, I am somewhat familiar with World Vision. Upon reading the book, would you say Stearns’ position was pretty much compatible with Liberation Theology? That’s what it sounds like to me, from your description. If not totally in agreement, at least, leaning somewhat that way. If so, that is a real shame with a group like World Vision that has Evangelical roots.
I would really like to say that Stearns is untrained in weighty theological matters and doesn’t know how to express himself, but the book, in my opinion, doesn’t lend itself to that view.
I’m not sure if he would deny that “salvation is by grace through faith alone,” but I am sure he would try to qualify the statement.
His eschatology fits much better with Liberation Theology and is tied up in us bringing in the Kingdom and making it a reality. Kevin DeYoung wrote a short critique of the book as well and he identified a quote that points to Stearns’ view that we bring in the Kingdom, and in my estimation fits well with Liberation Theology: