Who Is My Neighbor?

Several weeks ago I started reading The Hole in Our Gospel. I'm generally not a slow reader, but I can't handle reading more than a few pages of this book at a time. The text is not intellectually deep, but it's making me really uncomfortable. I've never been challenged this way before. As I'm reading, I will occasionally say to myself (as if I'm conversing with the author), "well, yes, but..." and then a few pages later, he'll address my "yes, but."

I'm not easily won over, emotionally. I thought The Shack was silly. But I can't tell you how many times I've been reading this book in a doctor's office or some other public place, and I have had to blink back tears so I won't embaras myself. And the author hasn't even launched into the really emotional stuff yet; he's still just presenting facts and his personal story.

I think this book is shaking me so because the author is so much like me (and you). He was very successful by American standards (great job, great family, Christian), and he held many of the same beliefs that I hold (and you probably hold too), particularly about the poor (not how I wish I felt or how I want to feel, but how I really feel). Then he became president of World Vision, and over time, his beliefs changed. And as they did, he began to ponder Jesus' second greatest commandment, Love your neighbor as yourself, and to answer the question, who is my neighbor?

I'm so passionate about the message in this book that I want to give a copy away to one of my friends. If you're reading this post and would like a copy (either an e-book or a hard copy), please leave a comment. On Monday, May 2, I'll choose a winner at random. Contest open to US residents only, no purchase necessary to enter ;-)