The
Hole in our Gospel
By
Richard Stearns
A book critique by Pastor
Paul
D. Van Noy
“The
Hole in our Gospel,”
by Richard Stearns, the recent Christian Book of the Year and apparently headed
to be a New York Times best seller, is the newest danger to come against true
Believers in the Church Age. It promotes a false gospel within a socialistic
philosophy. It fails miserably in its hermeneutic, is ecumenical in focus,
promotes human performance as a method of pleasing God, and believes people on
earth can do good to “usher in the Kingdom.”
Richard
Stearns writes from a “Kingdom Dominion” perspective and embraces an
Amillennial or Postmillennial eschatology. He has embraced a social gospel and
mingles “grace through faith” with “grace plus work,” which dangerously
dilutes the power of God’s redeeming Grace. In his words, “This gospel - the
whole gospel – means much more than
the personal salvation of individuals. It means a social
revolution.” (Pg 20, Emphasis original)
Continuing,
Stearns says:
“The
gospel that we have been given – the whole gospel – is God’s vision for a
new way of living.” (Pg. 276) “Christ’s vision was of a redeemed world
order populated by redeemed people – now.
To accomplish this, we are to be salt and light in a dark and fallen world, the
“yeast” that leavens the whole loaf of bread (the whole of society). We are the ones God has called to be His Church. It’s up to us. We
are to be the change. But a changed world requires change
agents, and change agents are people who have first been changed
themselves.”
(Pgs
243-244, Italics emphasis original)
As
stated above, Stearns says we are the “yeast”
that leavens “the whole loaf of
bread.” The definition of leaven/yeast in the Scriptures is debated by
scholars.* All definitions associated with “yeast” in the Gospels indicate a
reference to bad doctrine, evil, impurity, and hypocrisy. It is most often used
in association with the Pharisees and sin. The two passages referred to by
Stearns, Matt. 13:33, Luke 13:21, are interpreted in a variety of ways by a
variety of scholars. Mat 13:33 reads
“The
kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures
of meal till it was all leavened.”
However
Stearns intends to use this verse, we understand the Scriptures to say that the kingdom of heaven is like
leaven. He makes it clear that he thinks we
are the gospel. He says,
“The
words of the Lord’s prayer…are a clarion call to Jesus’ followers not just
to proclaim the good news but to be
the good news, here and now.” (Pg
20, Italics emphasis original)
Either
way, he fails to communicate the true Gospel when making this statement. If he
is saying we are the gospel then we are all in a lot of trouble. We are not the
Gospel. The Gospel comes to us. We can’t save anyone!
I
do appreciate the passion and desired focus the author has for the poor and
needy. Poverty throughout the world has motivated a desire to care for the poor
throughout the majority of our lives. At the church I pastor, we engage in
missions work to spread the Gospel. In addition to many missions programs on
which we focus, individuals in our church sponsor over 1,000 children through Compassion
International - an organization similar to the one represented by the
author.
I
also understand that the author may not be a Biblical scholar. This fact can be
seen throughout the book in what appears to be a flip-flop from theological
position to theological position. Below is one such example. In his effort to
articulate this struggle he brings light to the conflict between salvation by
faith alone and the faith plus
error. Stearns writes,
“One
of the things drummed into my head as a young Christian was the doctrine that we
are saved by faith alone and not by works.
Understanding
and applying this simple truth has been at the root of fierce and contentious
debates throughout the long history of the Christian faith. Indeed, the notion
that one could be saved by doing enough good work – and could even purchase
one’s justification through the buying of ‘indulgences’ – was ultimately
the root cause of Martin Luther’s rebellion against the Roman Catholic system
in the sixteenth century, leading to the protestant Reformation.
This
same basic debate has seesawed back and forth within the Church since Luther’s
day, with the pendulum swinging more toward faith in some groups and more toward
works in others. But faith and works were never meant to be in dichotomy. We
need only to look at the primary proof text for salvation by faith alone to see
the unity of faith and works intended in scripture:
“For
it is by grace you have been saved, though faith – and this not from
yourselves, it is a gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast”
(Eph. 2:8-9).
For
the ‘faith-only’ crowd, this one verse seems to win the argument. But if we
look at the very next verse, we will understand the harmony between faith and
works: ‘For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’ (v 10). Taken together,
this powerful passage tells us that we are indeed saved through faith alone, the
amazing gift of a loving God, but that we are saved for a purpose: to do good
works God actually prepare beforehand for us to carry out. Simply put, we are:
saved BY faith… saved FOR works.” (Pgs 198-199)
There
is truth in the comments above. However, as we will see, the message is muddied
by poor application and weak hermeneutics throughout his book. The resulting
message is blurry at best, and egregious in its conclusions.
Here
is a very brief example of just a few places that communicate this error. Please
note the socialistic tone. When commenting on Isaiah 58, Stern says,
“These
words describe a people and a society characterized by justice, fairness, and a
concern for the poor. They portray not just a personal ethic but also a
community ethic. The reference to ‘break[ing] every yoke’ suggests that any
system, law, or practice that is unjust must be broken – whether personal,
social, political, or economic. This sounds a lot like what I described earlier
as the ‘whole gospel,’ the good news…”
(Pg
56)
Richard
goes on to say,
“God
will delight in His people when they obey Him. When the hungry are fed, the poor
are cared for, and justice is established, He will hear and answer His
servant’s prayers; He will guide them and protect them, and they will be a
light to the world. This is a vision of God’s people transforming God’s
world in God’s way. There is no hole in this gospel.”
(Pg
57)
I
am forced to ask: Can God delight in His people when the hungry are not fed, the
poor are not cared for, and when there is yet injustice in the world? Will He
refuse to hear and answer our prayers or refuse to guide and protect us when we
fail to transform the world? After all, Jesus said “The poor you have with you
always.” (John 12:8)
This
being said, we know we will fail to solve the problem. (I am not suggesting we
abandon our desire to help those in poverty.) Secondly, Paul told Timothy,
“…evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being
deceived.” (2 Tim. 3:13) So, until Christ comes and rules with a rod of iron,
(in the Kingdom age) there will be injustice. Have we no hope of protection or
hope of answered prayers until then? Does this message comfort the poor
in spirit who are weak and need encouragement - now? Is this the message of the whole
Gospel?
Stearns
continues,
“If
we are to be a part of this coming kingdom, God expects our lives – our
churches and faith communities too – to be characterized by these authentic
signs of our own transformation: compassion, mercy, justice, and love –
demonstrated tangibly. Only then will our light break forth like the dawn, our
healing quickly appear, and our cries for help be answered with a divine Here
am I.”
(Pg. 57, Italics emphasis in original)
Isaiah
58 was written to the Jews under the Old Covenant and does not provide a picture
of the way God deals with individuals today in the Church Age. To suggest it
does would be to say, “God expects us” to provide “authentic signs of our
own transformation: compassion, mercy, justice, and love – demonstrated tangibly”
if we are to expect God to answer “our cries for help with a divine Here
am I.” This is a hermeneutical failure and it communicates a false gospel
- of works.
Continuing
in the same theme, Stearns uses Matthew 25, (the parable of the sheep and goats)
to describe the “final judgment” (pg 58) He incorrectly applies this passage
to the Church and says that
“Those
who had failed to respond, whose faith found no expression in compassion to the
needy, were banished into eternal fire.”
(Pg 59)
Stearns
misapplies the sheep and goat judgment to include the Church, calls it the final
judgment, which is untrue, (the Great White Throne judgment is the final
judgment) and suggests that our works will ultimately be the determining factor
for salvation, and makes the least of these the
poor. The literal context concerns the judgment of Gentile nations at the
time of the Second Coming of Christ. The resulting life or death decision made
by the Lord concerns their treatment of Israel - Jesus’ brethren - during the
preceding Tribulation. Those found worthy are granted entrance into the
Millennial Kingdom - the literal 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth.
Entrance to the Kingdom provides “eternal life” to those who, as believing
residents of His Kingdom, willingly submit to Christ’s rule. To suggest that
one’s eternal salvation is guaranteed, or otherwise offered, as a result of
behavior toward the poor, is not
the true Gospel.
Following
Stearns pattern he then makes apology for the interpretive echo saying,
“But
I want to be clear that this does not mean we are saved by piling up enough good
works to satisfy God. It means that any authentic and genuine commitment to
Christ will be accompanied by demonstrable evidence of a transformed life.” He
then provides 1 John 2:3-4 as his proof text, “We know that we have come to
know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him’ but does
not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
(Pg
59)
When
giving this application as part of the context the reader is forced to ask a few
questions. For example: Does this mean
that any believer who does not or has not given to the poor is unsaved? Does
this mean that the believer who has not or does not give to the poor is in
danger of losing their salvation? You can see the danger this loosely
communicated message provides. Stearns even follows up his thoughts by driving
this pain deeper into the soul of his reader when he says,
“…many
who profess to follow Christ, will be found, in the end, to be false, deceiving
even themselves.”
(Pg 60)
Stearns
also says,
“We
would much rather believe that the only things needed for our salvation are
saying the right words and believing the right things – not living the lives
that are characterized by Christ’s concern for the poor.”
(Pg
59)
I
am forced to ask, how much “concern for the poor” is enough? How much do
Christians have to “express in their compassion to the needy” to be assured
they will not be “banished into eternal fire”? This
kind of message leads only to fear and bondage. Not freedom in Christ!
Reinforcing
the works based message he encourages the reader to actively pursue expressions
of giving and serving as a “pattern of their lives and faith.” He says,
“That
expression might involve small but regular gifts to compassion ministries,
advocating on behalf of the poor, to government representatives, or regular
volunteering at a soup kitchen, the local nursing home, or the Ronald McDonald
House…”
(Pg
60)
Once
again I ask, is giving to a government agency (of all places), the Ronald
McDonald house, serving at a nursing home, or volunteering at a soup kitchen the
method of being assured that our salvation is secure in Christ? Is this the
Gospel without a hole in it?
Stearns
message is the muddy water of a false gospel that clearly mingles faith and
works as the formula for salvation. This
message is not good news!
If
a person has no “demonstrable evidence of a transformed life” is he or she
to be considered unsaved by those who do? (1 Cor 3:15) Can the poor themselves
be saved if they have nothing to give? Can an incarcerated man or woman be saved
if they cannot give “small but regular gifts to compassion ministries,
advocating on behalf of the poor to government representatives”? Can a child
be saved and assured of salvation if they fail to volunteer “at a soup
kitchen, the local nursing home, or the Ronald McDonald House…”? Stearns
says,
“There
is no ‘whole gospel’ without compassion and justice shown to the poor.
It’s that simple.” (Pg
60)
It
may seem like I am splitting hairs, but can you see the bondage to works this
“whole gospel” develops?
If
Stearns had said, “those who are born
again should be reminded to care for the poor,” he would have been
scriptural in his presentation. However, by suggesting that the message of the
Gospel is incomplete, and has a hole in it, because it doesn’t declare,
“believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” ‘and
care for the poor’ and you shall be saved,” we are preaching a gospel
with a hole in it. This brings “The Hole in Our Gospel” my criticism. By
communicating this very thing Stearns has set himself up as one who is
proclaiming a false gospel – not the “whole” gospel he intends us to
embrace. (Gal. 1)
While
there are many other examples of his bad theology in his book, it is not my
intention to condemn Richard Stearns with this critique. I trust his motivation
is sincere and driven by a passion for the poor. It likewise appears that he
desires to please the Lord. I pray that as he matures in the grace and knowledge
of the Lord, these things will become clearer to him. My reason for putting this
in writing is to make my voice known in defense of the faith and as an alarm for
the Church—not to fall for another non-scriptural fad—regardless how
well-meaning it is.
I
have seen the fruit of this message and its agonizing effect on the Church.
Believers who embrace this kind of teaching are hard pressed to answer (for
themselves and for others) just how much work, service, giving, et al, is enough
to meet God’s standard to keep them from being a disappointment to Him.
Mistakenly
trying to do enough good in their own flesh to be more pleasing to God,
believers eventually become miserable and live under the guilt of doing too
little to measure up. They are ultimately afraid of being “banished into
eternal fire” (Pg 59) by the God who will not say “Here
am I” (Pg 57) to them. I have found this most often in hospital rooms and
around the beds of the dying. It is truly agonizing to watch believers enter
into eternity in fear – fear of being cast away.
This
kind of bondage, no matter how packaged, should be enthusiastically avoided.
END
Notes:
*Under
the Mosaic law, yeast was forbidden in bread used in the Feast of Unleavened
Bread and the Passover (Ex 12:8,15 - 20; Lev 23:6 - 8), and similar exclusion of
yeast applied to offerings placed on the altar (Exo 23:18; 34:25; Lev 2:11;
6:17). The only exceptions were the use of yeast in the two wave loaves offered
as firstfruits (Lev 23:17) and some of the cakes of bread offered with the
fellowship offerings (Lev 7:13).
Yeast,
which brings about fermentation, is uniformly regarded in Scripture as typifying
the presence of impurity or evil (Exo 12:15,19; 13:7; Lev 2:11; Deu 16:4; Mat
16:6,12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:6 - 9; Gal 5:9). The two wave loaves,
representing Israel and the Gentiles as forming the Church, contained yeast in
recognition of imperfections in the believers (see Lev 23:17, note). The use of
yeast in the flour seems intended likewise to represent evil within the kingdom
of heaven. The teaching that yeast in this parable represents the beneficent
influence of the Gospel pervading the world has no Scriptural justification.
Nowhere in Scripture does yeast represent good; the idea of a converted world at
the end of the age is contradicted by the presence of weeds among the wheat and
bad fish among the good in the kingdom itself. Although Biblical truth has a
beneficial moral influence on the world, the mingling of yeast is not the method
of divine salvation or enlargement of the kingdom. Weeds never become wheat. The
parable is, therefore, a warning that true doctrine, represented by the flour,
would be corrupted by false doctrine (1 Tim 4:1 - 3; 2 Tim 2:17 - 18; 4:3 - 4; 2
Pet 2:1 - 3).
___________
I
sent an e-mail asking for audience with Richard Stearns. This was his response:
"The
reason I wrote this book was because I believe that the Christian community in
the United States for the most part has been missing something in our
understanding of the gospel. We tend to think of the gospel as a private
transaction between us and God. It's about being forgiven for our sins and being
saved, which is good news, it's the good news of the gospel that we have been
forgiven and we've been saved, but often we leave it there, we leave it as a
private transaction between us and God. I don't think the gospel was ever meant
to be private. I think it was meant to be public as well, and just like we have
a private relationship with the Lord, we have to have a public and transforming relationship with the world, and
that as followers of Jesus Christ we're meant to take this good news across the
globe, but not just the good news of salvation, but [also] the good news of God's love for the poor, his concern for the
sick and the downtrodden and the broken-hearted. We're to minister in his
name. We're to stand up for justice in our world and fight for the underdog. That's
why the gospel was good news for the poor, and I think we in America have
missed that. Yes, our churches do a lot of good things in our country and our
communities and around the world, but we're not doing nearly enough. We're the
wealthiest community of Christians in the history of
Christendom in 2,000 years. We have tremendous resources, we have
tremendous opportunities, and we need to rise to this challenge to truly be the
gospel, to be the Good news to the world."
The
bold emphasis above was added to show Richard Stearns continues to miss the
point. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ paid the price for our
sins. We are not saved to transform the world. The good news to the poor is that
Jesus paid the price for their sins, just as he did for every man, woman and
child.
Comments: Pastor@CandlelightFellowship.org