America’s well-documented racial and economic segregation on Sunday mornings is clearly inconsistent with the vision of God’s Kingdom offered in the New Testament. Joining the likes of John Perkins and Michael Emerson, Paul Metzger speaks an important, prophetic word to the “upwardly-mobile,” “consumer-driven” evangelical church culture.
After tracing the historical roots of evangelicalism’s departure from concern with social justice, Dr. Metzger offers a constructive route back to a “communal and co-missional” model. Expanding upon Perkins’ vision for Christian community development, he envisions “reconciliation as a rebinding of a broken world and Christian community by means of relocation and the redistribution of need, responsibility, resources, ownership and glory.”
Metzger calls the church to be the “non-homogenous,” “beloved community” of the communion table, where all share authentically together and together are consumed by Jesus. He offers a compelling, practical, challenging, beautiful model for the church today.
