When I began reading “The Hole in Our Gospel” as part of the Book Review Bloggers initiative, I had this sense that I was about to read a dangerous book. My interest had begun from the provocative title, because I was hoping against hope that Richard Stearns would do a better job than many of speaking to the issues of justice and poverty without removing Jesus from the Gospel. However, my hesitancy to read was not based on the thought that the author would fall short, but rather that he might truly reinstate the work of justice into the Gospel, and if he did that it might cost me something.
Chapter by chapter, Stearns does a solid job of drawing together strands from the old and new testaments and reminds us that God’s heart beats for the poor, neglected, widowed and maltreated. Part of our work as those who follow Jesus is to help those who are helpless and to truly recognize their humanity and value to God.
The writing is both informative and compelling, and the shear amount of data may overwhelm you, but Stearns seems to come alongside us as we read and be our guide through this heartbreaking terrain.
Read this book, be challenged, and then go out and do something for one of the least of these, because the news we carry is good indeed!
Reflective Musings 