Greg Loesch (compulsiveguile) – Blog

I recently became one of Thomas Nelson’s “Book Review Bloggers” (BRB) and here is a brief review of the book The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns.

The Hole in Our Gospel proved to be a very challenging book to read, as I somewhat expected.  However the difficulties were slightly different than the ones I predicted I might come across.  The purpose of this book is, without a doubt, to force the reader to take a look at the heart and take a look outside of the typical life here in the United States. It’s a pointed finger at Christians and the reality that we, as followers of Christ, often fall short of all that God has commanded of us. Having said this, I expected to be convicted and brought to tears occasionally. While I definitely experienced conviction, I never really felt anything I read “tugged on my emotional heart strings.” I honestly struggled greatly with what seems to be my hardened heart and cynicism when reading this.

Predominantly discussing the issue of  poverty that exists in the world, this book was definitely not one I was dying to pick up and read. There were plenty of times when I looked at the book lying on the coffee table and decided I had things I’d much rather do. Let’s face it… poverty, AIDS, HIV, malaria, and revealed selfishness aren’t exactly topics most of us look to pursue more of. If you’re looking for a “motivational Christian self-help” book, choose a book other than The Hole in Our Gospel.

This book is packed so full of information about poverty, all the stigmatic issues that go along with poverty, and statistics to back it all up that it was more often overwhelming than not.  Stearns addresses this occasionally throughout the book, but it really is tough to know how to deal with all the information in this book. I foresee this being instrumental in my life if I continue to mull over the words this book offered, but as of right now, it’s information overload. I do suspect more has been absorbed than I initially thought.

I don’t consider The Hole in Our Gospel to be a drastic life changer, though I do think it served the purpose that Richard Stearns intended. As a follower of Christ, I most definitely feel like I could and should be doing more to help those in need. I’ve become a bit more conscious of the issue of poverty; I’ve become more educated in all that goes along with poverty. Without romanticizing this too much, it’s now just a matter of what I do with the information.