Gospel means good news. Growing up, the good news was simply that Jesus has died on the cross so we can be forgiven and go to heaven when we die.
Rich Stearns, president of World Vision, thinks there is much missing in this formulation.
Stearns was a successful CEO when World Vision pursued him to move into the non-profit sector. In this book, flowing from his experiences with World Vision, Stearns argues that the Gospel is more than just individual forgiveness and afterlife location. You can find New Testament scholars convincingly arguing the same thing. What makes Stearns’ book helpful is he argues from the perspective of someone whose life has changed, and who is working out in the world with real people, to do the sorts of things Jesus did. Specifically, feeding hungry people. If your gospel does not include filling empty bellies, then you don’t fully understand who Jesus is.
