Chapter 3 thoughts- Hole in our Gospel

I am almost finished with the book, its one of those that's hard to put down, so I am behind on sharing my thoughts. Here are some things from chapter 3 that really stood out to me.

The chapter is titled " You lack one thing" in reference to the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking for eternal life. After a exchange where he began to think he was already doing ok, Jesus tells him one thing you lack, go and sell everything and give it to the poor, then come follow me. Of course as he was very wealthy and had many possessions (see American Christians) he was not willing to let go of his "stuff" and so he walked away from Jesus and we never hear from him again. The chapter has a quote at the beginning under the title that really hit me. It was a quote by Frederick Buechner who said once, " The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the worlds deep hunger meet." I wonder, are we as American Christians listening to Gods call, are we there meeting the deep hunger we see from those all around us in the world, or are we like the rich young ruler, unable to let go of all of our "stuff".

Later in the chapter, when the author, Richard Stearns, who is the President of World Vision U.S., shared how he struggled when God called him to this position. He actually told the organization no at first. He continued to agonize over it and a thought came to him one night in a church service. His thought was simply,what if there are children who will suffer somehow because I failed to obey God? He thought hadn't I always taught my kids that actions had consequences? What if my cowardice costs even one child somewhere in the world his or her life? He recounts how he could not live with that thought, so he broke down. God had broken him and he knew he could no longer run from him. That reminds me of that moment in my life, as I walked out of the historic Moody Church in downtown Chicago, where I felt the pull clearly of God to go get that book from the speaker on orphans and the need for churches to get involved. I remember debating in my mind should I go or not. I thank God I did and we remain dedicated to do what he has called us to do, rescue just one child, who without our action, may lose their own life. We can't live with that!