The Hole In Our Gospel (click to preview the book) is the story of Richard Stearns who rose from a poor young man to being the CEO of major corporations through his own hard word and determination. One day he wakes up to find he is being called by God to make a major life change, to step down from his lucrative position and move across the country to become the President of World Vision a Christian humanitarian charity organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. This book is his story of his journey to that day and beyond.
But it's much more than just that, it's about our faith and how we put it into action (or don't) in our world. Stearns challenges each of us to have more than a personal relationship with Christ; to be the hands and feet of Christ on earth to eradicate poverty. He says "If your personal faith in Christ has no positive outward expression, then your faith - and mine - has a hole in it." His is a powerful message and it's also the message of Jesus as shown through Scripture quoted by Stearns. I can see how this book, when studied by a group at a church, could change their mission - a church that instead of building a new sanctuary would help the poor to build lives instead.
Being Catholic, one thing did bother me - the improper editing in relation to Catholic references. For instance on page 75 there is a reference to First Communion and Confirmation but their titles are not capitalized which is standard in the Catholic Church. While I saw great respect for all Christian faiths in the book, this one little thing just jumped off the page at me.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing this book for me to read and review.
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