Richard Stearns' - The Hole In Our Gospel - Chapter 1

I am reading The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns with my small group in church. The basic idea of the book is that many Christians, that find themselves in a comfortable place in life, are falling short of what God expects of them. They might be going to church, praying, reading their bibles and avoiding the big sins, but that's where they stop. From what I can gather so far, its a book about putting your faith into action and not just sitting complacently.

When I first looked at it, I thought to myself "Well, there's no hole in my gospel!". Of course I said this without even a smidgen of pride. (yeah right!) Well, I'm only on the first chapter and Richard Stearns has already poked my theory full of holes. Haha. No pun intended. I am hoping to blog through this book chapter by chapter as I read through it. This isn't intended to be a play by play of the book. Just my thoughts on it.

Introduction:

The part that sticks out in my mind the most in this section is where Stearns quotes Johnny Cash when he sung "You're so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good." Wow. I have to ask myself as I seek to strengthen my relationship with God, am I any good to the people around me? Haha, if you look at the clutter around my house I'm going to have to go with no...

Chapter One:

I'm already smacking myself in the forehead as I read this. Remember when Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:10 "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"??? I have to admit that went right over my head. Stearns clarifies " His was not intended to be a far-off and distant kingdom to be experienced only in the afterlife; no, Christ's proclamation of the "kingdom of heaven" was a call for a redeemed world order populated by redeemed people--now. In other words, the perfect kingdom of God that I just described was to begin on earth." Um geez. I haven't exactly done much towards that end. That's a tall order and here I am sitting on my bum. Something like that takes a lot of people working together to get it finished. If anyone is slacking off, then its just that much longer until it happens. I need to step up!

Stearns goes on to talk about about how we've somehow managed to turn evangelism into getting people to buy fire insurance for their homes while completely ignoring the fact that for many people, their "homes" are falling down around them. (this is my paraphrase, not a quote from the book.) We're trying to get them to pray the sinner's pray but not attending to their physical or emotional needs. They're starving or dying, but as long as they pray that prayer we say "Praise God" and move on to the next sinner in need of repentance.

That makes me think of a line in a Christafari song (Christafari is only my all time favorite band. They're a christian reggae band.) The song is called Preach the Gospel (Every Day Living). He sings "Preach the gospel use words when necessary." Google it if you want to see the complete lyrics. LOVE that song! But I think that might be what Stearns is trying to get at here. The one line that made the biggest impression on me in this section was this: "Christianity is a faith that was meant to spread---but not through coercion. God's love was intended to be demonstrated, not dictated. Our job is not to manipulate or induce others to agree with us or to leave their religion and embrace Christianity. Our charge is to both proclaim and embody the gospel so that others can see, hear, and feel God's love in tangible ways. When we are living out our faith with integrity and compassion in the world, God can use us to give others a glimpse of His love and character. It is God--not us--who works in the hearts of men and women to forgive and redeem. Coercion is not necessary or even particulary helpful. God is responsible for the harvest--but we must plant, water, and cultivate the seeds."

I forget this often. I remember witnessing to a classmate while we sat on the city bus, I guess about a year ago. It was a very intellectual conversation. I was trying to persuade him, without looking like I was trying, and I felt very desperately that I wanted him to see the truth right then and there! Even witnessing sometimes to my very best friend in the world, I get so desperate for her to just see and understand, that I wouldn't be surprised if my onslaught of words turned her off to the gospel completely. Well I know that she knows I love her, so I can only hope that in both of these cases, God can somehow use my over-zealousness for good. I want to think that my friend has seen my faith in action. But I can't think if my classmate ever did. Hm.

Stearns also talks about how we may never see the harvest we hope for. We don't know where along the line in someone's life we've come into. It may be anywhere from clearing the field to planting the seeds, to reaping the harvest. I need to remember that. I tend to get discouraged easily. I don't like to think that I'm not taking anyone to heaven with me. Yep, I've never been there to reap the harvest. I pray that God will bless me with that opportunity someday. Until then, I need to learn to be content with helping plant the seeds!

Stearns talks about Jesus' mission statement being from Isaiah 61 as quoted in Luke 4:14-21. "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Stearns breaks this statement down into three parts: proclamation of the good news, a compassion for the sick and the sorrowful and commitment to justice. Jesus set the example for us. Remember that popular phrase a few years back "What Would Jesus Do?" Well, if he were here today, I wonder where on this earth he would be and what he would be doing. I imagine that's what I where I need to be...

On a side note, I am writing this blog as I read the chapter, so I won't forget anything. Stearns just quoted Saint Francis of Assisi when he said "Preach the gospel always; when necessary use words." Haha, I guess that's where Christafari's Mark Mohr got it! My bad. Well, it still makes for a great song!

Stearns closes out the chapter with a story of how his friend Jim Wallis went through and cut every verse about poverty and justice out of the bible. It makes me cringe because that seems sooo sacrilegious! Apparently there were over 2000 verses that he cut out and the result was a bible that was falling apart. When Wallis would speak about the issue, he would hold up that bible and say "this is our American Bible; it is full of holes. Each one of us might as well take our Bibles, a pair of scissors, and begin cutting out all the scriptures we pay no attention to, all the biblical texts that we just ignore." That story hit me kind of hard. Because if I'm really a Bible believing Christian, then I shouldn't be picking and choosing what parts I want to follow.

Thanks for listening to me think. Let me know if I don't make any sense! :)