Richard Stearns has been the President of World Vision since June of 1998. The book is both autobiographical, detailing the journey that took him from the corporate world to assisting the third world. Replete with stories and statistics, the book is a challenge to the American church and a call to involvement in the problems of worldwide poverty.
The copy I received was provided to me at no charge, courtesy of Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of a review program. The following is my review:
ABOUT THE PAPERBACK EDITION:
The paperback edition contains new material:
(1)16-page color photo insert
(2)interview with richard’s wife, renee
(3)Practical advice on how to get started
(4)Q&A on the subject: “Can Poverty Be Defeated?”
(5)Improved indexes
THE BOOK’S STRENGTHS
Apart from the autobiographical content and the many, many stories, the book’s greatest strength is in painting a picture of reality using a wealth of statistics and data, including the following:
Children:
26,500+ children die each day from extreme poverty – the equivalent of “100 crashing jetliners”
1 out of every 5 children worldwide are malnourished
Every 5 seconds, a child dies of hunger
Global Poverty:
~40% of the earth’s population (2.6 billion people) live on less than $2.00/day.
If you’re income is $25,000 per year, you are wealthier than 90% of the world’s population. If you make $50,000 per year, you are wealthier than 99% of the world.
~25,000 die each day due to hunger
Disease:
In Sub-Saharan Africa, ~12 million children have become orphans due to AIDS
In Africa alone, 15,000 die each day from preventable disease
What I also appreciated was Stearns’ inclusion of the positive things that are happening through Christian charity (including a decrease in poverty and an increase in worldwide literacy, cf. p. 163), helping readers avoid the “compassion fatigue” that often accompanies such figures.
THE GOSPEL?
It has (once again) become increasingly popular to connect “the gospel” with acts of compassion and social justice. Stearns makes clear that Christs gospel “means much more than the personal salvation of individuals. It means a social revolution.” (p. 20)
The problem is that the Bible – specifically in the writings of Paul – consistently defines the gospel in terms of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (cf. 1 Cor 15:1-3). While this may seem a minor issue, to associate social justice with the content of the gospel is incorrect and may inadvertently result in the same kinds of errors seen in the “social justice” (i.e., “mainline”) denominations of yesteryear (denominations which have been successful neither in social justice nor evangelism).
Stearns does an admirable job of outlining the Christian call to address the world’s problems, and his compassion is something that we must affirm. I simply ask that the gospel be a bit better defined.
The Great Commission to share the gospel is distinct, though inseparable from the command to love our neighbor. Practicing one without the other is always less than Christian, but the practice of one does not guarantee the practice of the other.
BOTTOM LINE:
While the bonus material is helpful, I don’t know that the paperback edition is worth purchasing if you have previously read the hardcover original.
The book is recommended to anyone with a concern for the state of the world today. Filled with illustrative material, the book is a good resource for communicators and leaders. Barring the theological fuzziness (mentioned above), the book is a challenging and recommended read.
To that end it is also a difficult read: I could not set the book down without admitting my own ignorance of the world’s problems, nor could I claim to be a part of the solution. I trust that other readers will feel much the same, and I suspect that in that regard, Stearns’ arrow has reached its target.