The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World Book

The Bible mentions the poor, poverty, and justice more than 2,000 times. It mentions homosexuality about five times. Yet, were one to take the gauge of modern day Christianity, you would think that God spent the majority of His time thundering about gays. He didn't.

This book was written by the President of World Vision, a Christian organization that is dedicated to helping poor children around the world. My family and I are honored to be sponsors for a beautiful four year old girl in El Salvador named Sandra. That author of this book makes a convincing case for the urgency of poverty--not human sexuality--being the most important theme in the Bible. God, it seems, cares much more about widows, orphans, and the poor than He does about who is gay and who is not. Shocking, I know.

The thing is, the Bible is a complicated and complex book. Most of it was written thousands of years ago in Ancient Hebrew (the Old Testament) or Greek that has been either translated from or dictated from Aramaic. Saying that the Bible is authoritative is difficult for no other reason than how wildly divergent translations can be from one and other. Read the King James Version next to The Message and you'll see what I mean. So, it's truly important when applying Biblical hermeneutics (I've been waiting to use that word for almost a year now) to watch for broad themes that (in a manner of speaking) transcend translation. Israel's faithlessness, for example. God's patience. And...care for the poor. The least, the last, and the lost. You can't miss it! It's right there, 2,000+ times.

But of course, we do miss it. Why? Because even though it's simple to see, it's hard to live. As much as I tend to resonate much more strongly with Protestant theology than I do Catholic theology, the Catholics got it right with their social magesterium regarding 'the preferential option for the poor.' I have come to believe--and this is hardly an original thought to me--that our affluence makes us blind to the suffering of humanity. One very telling part of this book describes two Christian churches: one in suburban America, and one in AIDS ravaged Africa. I challenge you to read about these two communities of Christians and come away with the belief that, were Jesus to return tomorrow, he'd have any idea what was going on in the American church. (Side note: I was at a Communion party last weekend. We had wonderful Red Velvet cupcakes that were set out in the shape of a cross. Do you think Jesus would find that disconcerting? I do.)

For myself, it is charity, generosity, and doing what I can to help those who are suffering that most makes me feel like a disciple of Jesus. It will never be enough, but doing something is far better than doing nothing at all. Our politics may differ; our ways of worship and believing my vary, but we should be united in understanding that Christians are called to be salt and light in this darkening world. That, to me, is the point.