(RNS7-MAR07) Paul Barrett is the author of “American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a
Religion.” For use with RNS-10-MINUTES, transmitted March 7, 2007. Religion News Service
photo courtesy David Rudes.

(UNDATED) About a decade ago, Richard Stearns made a dramatic career change, moving from the top, Jaguar-driving post with Lenox, a fine tableware company, to the presidency of World Vision U.S., an evangelical relief organization.

In a new book, “The Hole in Our Gospel,” Stearns, 58, talks about the transformation in his own life and the one he thinks churches need to make — from solely emphasizing evangelism to embracing a “whole gospel” that puts equal focus on the poor.

Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: You spoke of your struggle to move from being the head of Lenox to helping the world’s poor through World Vision. Bottom line: What made you make that move?

A: At the end of the day, for me it was more about sheer obedience than any attraction or joy at the thought of it. I wish I could tell you that I always wanted to do this and I was just waiting for the opportunity and, when it came, I jumped. The honest answer is I didn’t really want to do this but I felt … kind of like Moses in the Old Testament, that God was calling.

Q: You say there’s a need to embrace a “whole” gospel rather than one with a “gaping hole.” Does the church have it wrong when it focuses solely on evangelism and the afterlife and does not address people’s needs in this life?

A: I would say `yes’ in capital letters. The word `gospel’ means good news, and the good news was more than salvation through Christ. The good news was that yes, we could be saved by faith in Christ and his atoning death on the cross, but now we who were saved … were going to ignite this social revolution, which Jesus called the kingdom of God, where the poor and the downtrodden would be lifted up.

Q: You write about how you have been moved by children you met in person in places like Uganda, where entire families have been ravaged by AIDS. What difference did that make for you when you started your work with World Vision?

A: I think for any of us to really be compassionate about poverty we have to put a face on it. We have to know that these are real people with real names and real tragedies in their lives. And most of us would not turn away from a real child in desperate need, but we easily turn away from the 26,000 children that die every day because we don’t know their names.

Q: You have a provocative version of verses in Matthew 25 that begins, “For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water.” Do you have a sense of outrage about how Americans neglect the world’s poor?

A: I feel God has a sense of outrage about it, and that worries me more than whether I’m outraged. I’ve learned in this business that if you get into the judgment game you become a very bitter person. I like to take the more positive approach of join us, do what you can do, listen to what the Scriptures say, be obedient. … I do get angry a bit at our materialism and how much money we waste and how much we turn a deaf ear to the poor, but I don’t count myself as any better than the next guy.

Q: Is the responsibility for the poor the same for those inside the church as those outside of it?

A: I think those of us in the church are more responsible because we have the knowledge of God’s expectations of us. The fact that those outside the church sometimes do more than we do should shame us.

Q: Perhaps the most visible reminder of the poor in this country is panhandlers on the street. What do you do when you are asked for money, and what do you think others should do?

A: That’s a good question that I’d rather not answer. It kind of depends. I often will offer them a dollar or two; sometimes I don’t. But I feel that it’s kind of like the work of World Vision: It doesn’t do a lot of good to give a man a fish so he’ll eat for a day — or drink for a day in this case. We’ve got to get at the root causes of these things. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to give a panhandler a couple of bucks. If you have the time, it’s maybe better to buy him a meal.