A challenge to the American Church: How do I show that Jesus IS the greatest Treasure of my life?
I was given this book as a gift from my church's youth pastor. He and his wife had just finished reading it, and it impacted them in such a way that they wanted to share it with others in the church. So they bought 10 copies, put a little note in the front of them challenging the reader to think and pray about what God might have them do with what is brought to light in this book, then pass it on once done reading.
So I read it; took me a few months to get through because it is really dense. I can honestly say that more than anything else I've read, "The Hole in Our Gospel" has directly challenged my view of what it means to be a Christian in America; a challenge that Jesus doesn't call us to live the American Dream. Just going to church and bible study and not swearing isn't the goal either, there's so much more than that. God has rocked my world with regards to how I spend my time, money, and where my treasure lies (am I living to show that he is more valuable than life?).How can I continue to live such an extravagant lifestyle, wasting the gifts that God has given me in order to bless others, while people cry out for God to help them? What if you and I were God's response to these prayers, and instead we chose to keep it to ourselves?
I can't even begin to sum up what is in this, but what I can say is that scripture lies at the heart of the message. Please, read through this, (start at the very beginning) take your time, wrestle with it. Spend time going over the scripture referenced here, pray about it, talk with someone about it. Whatever you do, don't just read it and put it on a book shelf somewhere, but act on it. "Your kingdom come, on EARTH as it is in heaven". Jesus wants his church to be a light in the dark world, to change things through his power and grace right now, not just in heaven.
Some have said that the book focuses too much on helping the poor, and forgets that the Gospel needs to be preached, that everyone needs the Gospel, not just the poor. I agree, completely. I didn't get this vibe from reading Hole in our Gospel. While I do agree that much of the book is focused on specifically the poor, there is no reason you have to only see it in this light. I think ultimately, the book, and the scripture referenced in it gets at what Jesus talks about when he says "pick up your cross and follow me". Jesus wants us to resemble him in every part of our lives.
"Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" (Luke 9:23-25)
I highly recommend the "Hole In Our Gospel" to anyone who is a follower of Christ. This is not an easy book to read. It is challenging because of the real life examples given, and also because you need to deal with the scripture references brought up. You can disagree with Stearn's methodology and language, but the most challenging part comes from the Bible itself. Read this, pray through it, and get other's involved in the process.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback.
Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.