This is the third in a series of posts discussing themes raised in The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. Chapter 15 describes in disturbingly accurate detail two different churches, one a suburban congregation which meets in a large new building in middle America and the other a congregation which meets under a large tree in Africa. The American church struggles each year to meet its budget, but it offers a broad range of ministries for many different types of people.
The American church has an annual missions focus week, where foods from different cultures can be tried and craft projects from different countries are displayed. The church supports twenty missionaries, with a missions receiving more than 5% of the church budget. The African church cannot afford a building. Every family has suffered at the hands of armed rebels who have killed men, raped women, kidnapped children, burned houses and stolen anything of value. The people have no access to clean water, and they live with a range of illnesses.
The American church and the African church are completely unaware of each other. But what would they do if they were located right next to each other? The American church might not have any “extra room” in its budget, but surely it would be compelled to reprioritise expenditure in the face of such overwhelmingly critical need. Today as a result of the Internet, churches in the poorest parts of the world are now almost next door to any “wealthy” church.