Red Letters begins not with startling statistics or an alarming call to action, but with a simple story about a teenager named Kirill who lived on the streets of Moscow.

We’ve all been there before, trying to assuage our feelings of guilt with justifications and avoiding eye contact. Tom did what many of us would have done. He kept walking. I can resonate with that; it’s the “wise” thing to do. But then he did something different; he turned around.

“Living a faith that bleeds” is the tagline for this book about justice, hope, and change. It begins with a story about a man who saw his Savior on the street. Tom lives his life by the principle that Jesus is everywhere and often seen in the “least of these.” When Tom went back, his faith started to bleed.

In the first few chapters, he discusses the essence of the Gospel, which is something to be lived and not just discussed, and the global problem of poverty. As “little Christs,” we have a responsibility to do something about suffering in the world.

He goes on to discuss the AIDS crisis, Africa – particularly Swaziland, which has the highest rate of HIV in the world and will go extinct in 50 years if nothing changes – and his heart for the forgotten and forsaken.

The statistics do come, and he doesn’t leave the reader with a lot of excuses for inaction. Producing change isn’t hard; it just requires a willingness, he argues.

The latter chapters call the reader to action, but unlike many books of this tenor, they don’t abandon you there. Tom gives you potential routes to pursue. He invites you to join his fivefor50 campaign, go on a mission trip, and raise money and awareness.

My only disappointment with Red Letters was that there were not more stories. My favorite chapter, “Snapshots of Hope,” tells of African babies rescued from abandonment, Russian orphans turned into leaders, and how those who cared for them were radically changed.

Perhaps what I admired most about the book was the author’s dedication to his own cause. Tom Davis isn’t interested in selling books to just propagate more “corporate Christianity”; he’s really seeking to make an impact on the world, which is why a portion of the book sales go directly to feeding orphans. I can’t help but respect that.

Red Letters isn’t about social action. It’s about Jesus—about finding him in the least-likely of places and our commitment to meet him there.

I’ve discovered a new way to live. Every morning when I get out of bed, I look for Jesus. No, not because I’ve misplaced Him. And I’m not talking about a feeling I get during prayer, or revelation that comes to me while reading Scripture. I’m talking about finding Jesus in the eyes of real people. In the eyes of the poor, the handicapped, the oppressed, the orphan, the homeless, the AIDS victim—the abandoned and the forgotten. (Tom Davis, Red Letters, p. 15).

Name: Jeff Goins
Interests: Innovating. Writing. Classic Rock. Traveling.
Bio: Jeff Goins lives in Nashville, works for Adventures in Missions, an evangelical short-term missions organization, and edits the online magazine www.wreckedfortheordinary.com. He’s getting married in January.

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