Freestyle: Hip Hop, Improvisation, and the Praiseworthy Wisdom of God

I'm going to interrupt my own series on mentoring as spiritual warfare to briefly write about something that captured my mind today.

I spent longer than normal on the bus today because I needed to get a haircut in Allston, which is out of the way of my usual trek from Cambridge to Roxbury. This detour gave me time to listen to music and think. I listened to staples like Pac, 100 Portraits, and Jason Morant. But the extended trip gave me the opportunity to indulge in some favorites by Jill Scott and the Roots crew. While Jill and the Roots make music in two separate genres---R & B and hip hop respectively---the two share in common that jazzy Philly sound. This got me thinking about about the many connections hip hop and jazz share. From there, my mind shifted to theology---as it often does.

God and Improvisation

In Openness circles, the analogy of dynamic providence to improvisational jazz is well-known and affirmed. For Open theists, God's relationship to humanity, particularly regarding his salvific economy, is more analogous to the improvisation of jazz musicians than the direct rendering of notes from a musical composition. The brilliance and the artistry of the music is found in it's creativity and spontaneity, not it's ability to follow a pre-programmed routine.

So wide-spread is this analogy, a quick search using the terms "God" and "improvisation" yielded a book called _Theology, Music, and Time_ by Jeremy Begbie. In this book I read this wonderful excerpt:

"...any student of [Romans chapters 9-11] knows that there has been a tendency (especially drawing on chapter 9) to interpret Paul as assuming a predestining divine decree, individual and particular, proceeding from an essentially singular God. It is as if Paul's primary concern were the means by which a (non-trinitarian) God executes a decision which he has made from all eternity with regard to the future of human beings considered as isolated agents -- some for salvation, some for eternal death. Salvation is thus conceived a priori in atomistic and monadic terms, with regard to both human beings and God himself. The musical equivalent would be a composer composing a piece of music, choosing from a list of performers a restricted number of recipients (simultaneously rejecting the rest), and then sending the music out to the chosen for for them to play. We have seen, using musical improvisation in an attempt to allow the text to speak clearly, that Paul's interests are rather different. For he writes of an election to salvation mediated through a process of receiving from, and passing on to others. The orientation of Romans as a whole (including Romans 9) is not towards solitary recipients of a decree but towards communities who already know the interrelatedness basic to salvation and the mission of God's people. Salvation comes, and can only come, within this mutual relatedness. The individual is of course crucially significant, but only within this mutuality. To put it differently, God gives abundantly in order to promote more giving, to generate an overflowing reciprocity, and salvation occurs within this ecology of giving. Moreover--here we move beyond what Paul says explicitly in these chapters--this is a reciprocity which reflects and shares in the eternal relatedness-in-love of the Trinity. This is the momentum which the group improviser learns: to receive music from others, improvise upon it, pass it back and on to others, and all this in such a way that others are drawn in, and they in turn become the new improvisors. The Composer, we might say, comes to be known only in and through the process of passing the music on, and we find that the original music was composed in mutuality, through an infinitely abundant exchange (between Father and Son) in to which we are now being caught up."

- Theology, Music, and Time, Jeremy Begbie p. 262-263

Hip Hop and Freestyling

In hip hop, as in jazz, mastery of the art is not recognized in artists who merely possess the ability to recite or perform pre-written words. Rather, master emcees are praised for their ability to creatively generate skillful rhymes and flows on-the-fly. This talent is called freestyling. In fact, freestyling, like improvisation in jazz and also in hip hop dance, is often performed in a group called a cypher. As Begbie's points out, improvisation has a drawing effect on it's listeners. It is an invitation to participation.

The Praiseworthy Wisdom of God

All this leads me to the conclusion at which I arrived today while riding the bus. The wisdom of God is praiseworthy precisely because God masterfully improvises with his creation the music of life. Just as the lyrical prowess of the emcee is praiseworthy due to his or her artistic creativity, so it is with God. In the Trinity, for all eternity, the divine community has shared in the cypher of mutual loving exchange. In the Gospel, and in the life, ministry, self-sacrifice, and resurrection of Christ, God invites us to join in. When we identify with the Improvisor and begin to receive his music, giving back our own mimicked notes, we share in the triune God's eternal song of love and become improvisors ourselves.

The wisdom of God is praiseworthy precisely because it is truly wise. Wisdom is not required to coerce inferior beings to live out pre-programmed lives towards a pre-programmed fate. Just as in jazz and hip hop, superior praise is due the artist resourceful and creative enough to adapt words perfectly for a particular moment in time.

Join the cypher!

Fighting the Powers: Mentoring as Spiritual Warfare, Part I - "Who are the Powers?"

Intro:

In my next few posts, I will attempt a formidable feat. My plan is to broach several complex and often confusing subjects for the purpose of making one succinct point. (Notice I said "attempt.") I am not entirely sure I will succeed. Should I fall short of my goal however, I am confident that a sufficient number of writers and thinkers read this blog to provide a constructive critique salvaging the heart of the point I wish to make. (Notice I said "constructive.") :-)

As is evident from the title, I intend to discuss the "powers," mentoring, and spiritual warfare. What do these three subjects have in common? Seemingly little, I admit. Nevertheless, I believe there is an important intersection that I hope to shed some light on in this series.

I am not sure just yet how many parts I will need to connect my thoughts into one point. I am only sure that to start, I'd like to briefly survey the New Testament data on the "powers" and discuss them in order to lay a foundation upon which I will build my argument. And the argument I want to make is that Christian mentoring of at-risk/high-risk youth is spiritual warfare.

The Biblical Data and Deductions:

The New Testament refers to the "powers" [edit] six times: Rom. 8.38; Eph. 3.10; Eph. 6.12; Col. 1.16; Col. 2.15; and I Pet. 3.22. Five of the six passages were written by Paul. The sixth passage was written by Peter. Although these passages discuss the powers only briefly, a great deal about who or what are the powers can still be deduced.

The powers are often discussed in very important contexts. For example, they are discussed in the same context as Jesus' work on the cross and also the love of God. If the apostles Peter and Paul believed the powers noteworthy enough to mention them alongside these subjects, I think it is safe to say they should be important to us as well.

Examining each passage, I will now make several deductions about who or what are the powers.

(1) "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,* neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Rom. 8.38-39 NIV (*or heavenly rulers)

In this first passage, the powers are listed among other parts of creation that Paul forcefully teaches cannot separate believers from the love of God in Christ. Regarding the powers, we can deduce at least a couple things from this passage. First, the powers are part of creation, i.e. created by God. After listing the powers, Paul says, "...nor anything else in all creation." So the powers are a part of creation. Second, the powers do control some thing(s). Paul's point here is that whatever the powers are, they cannot separate believers from God's love in Christ. However, it is equally clear that this means whatever the powers are, they do have some power--even if it is not sufficient to separate believers from God's love in Christ.

(2) "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Eph. 3.10-11 NIV

In this passage, Paul teaches us something else about the powers, this time in relation to the church. Here we see that at least part of the purpose for the church is to reveal God's manifold wisdom to not only all humanity, but even to fallen spirit-beings in the seldom-seen spiritual realm.

(3) "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." - Eph. 6.11-13 NIV

Now from this passage we gain a great deal more insight into the identity and purpose of the powers. Paul explicitly states that believers are to fight the powers. The powers are a believer's true enemy--not any other human beings. This is a very important truth. Furthermore, Paul here places the powers alongside several others against which believers are to war including: rulers, authorities, and spiritual forces of evil. Categorized with company like these, it is clear why the powers are one of our true enemies.

(4) "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." - Col. 1.15-17 NIV

In this passage about the preeminence of Christ, the powers are again listed among other parts of creation. In this passage, Paul teaches that not only are the powers a part of creation, Christ created them for himself. The powers were created to serve Christ.

(5) "having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." - Col. 2.14-16 NIV

Now were getting somewhere! In this passage, we find the powers referenced again. However, this time, they are not just mentioned as a part of creation, even as created to serve Christ. Nor are we merely taught they are our enemies. Here, Paul teaches us that the work of Christ on the cross had an impact on the powers--a profound impact! This passage shows us clearly that at least one reason why Jesus gave his life was to defeat the powers. Jesus' self-sacrifice is here describes as warfare. In his act of dying, his seeming defeat, Jesus actually "triumphed" over these powers. In fact, he robbed them of their power and humiliated them. These are profound and fundamental truths.

It is also important to note that while some passages mention the powers neutrally as part of creation, even created to serve Christ, other passages (like this one) depict the powers as opposing God in rebellion. Regardless of the fact the powers are part of God's creation (which he deemed "very good" - Gen. 1.31), they have gone very wrong. They have rebelled against their purpose--to serve Christ--and instead oppose Christ. Therefore, it can be clearly deduced from their categorization with rulers and authorities (implying deliberative thought), and also from their description as opposing God (implying free will), that the powers are personal beings possessing mind and will. The powers are not impersonal forces, laws, or principles.

(6) "and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him." - I Pet. 3.21-22 NIV

We read the last reference to the powers on the tail-end of this dense passage in which Peter brings up several subjects that I won't be discussing. This time, the reference to the powers is eschatological. In the 'already' Kingdom of God, the powers are here depicted as in submission to Jesus Christ though in the 'not yet' kingdom of the world the powers continue to exert tremendous influence. Nevertheless, this is yet another profound teaching that perfectly compliments the Paul's teaching of Christ's victory on the cross in Colossians 2.

Some Conclusions from the Data:

So, by now, we can see that these five passages teach us a great deal about the powers. Here's a summary of some conclusions we can draw:

The powers...

• are a part of creation (Rom. 8.38-39)

• cannot separate believers from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8.38-39)

• have power/control over some thing(s) (Rom. 8.38-39)

• have God's manifold wisdom revealed to them by the church (Eph. 3.10-11)

• are believers' true enemies (Eph. 6.11-13)

• are categorized with rulers, authorities, and forces of darkness (Eph. 6.11-13)

• were created to serve Christ (Col. 1.15-17)

• are in rebellion against God, oppose God (Col. 2.14-16)

• were defeated by the self-sacrifice of Jesus (Col. 2.14-16)

• were stripped of their power by the self-sacrifice of Jesus (Col. 2.14-16)

• were humiliated by the self-sacrifice of Jesus (Col. 2.14-16)

• are eschatologically in submission to Jesus (I Pet. 3.21-22)

From these conclusions, we can begin to see a plot or story line develop. We know the powers are a part of God's creation which he called "very good." Since the powers are depicted as disarmed and triumphed over by the self-sacrifice of Christ on the cross, it is clear that at some point the powers turned from their original state choosing instead to rebel against God. The powers are also categorized with rulers, authorities, and forces of darkness. Paul exhorts us to war against them as our true enemies. And we also see that in the eschaton the powers will ultimately come into submission to Christ. Because we live in that precarious "already but not yet" reality, the powers are both defeated yet still warring against God. The self-sacrifice of Christ signaled the beginning of the end for the powers' reign of terror, but until all is put to rights in the eschaton, we, God's Kingdom people, are called to wage war on the powers until Christ returns.

Now that a basic understanding of the New Testament's data on the powers has been surveyed even if only briefly, we can now start to entertain strategies for precisely how believers are to engage in warfare against these powers. It is from here that I wish to submit my thesis that one of, if not the most, effective of strategies for waging war on the powers is by serving at-risk/high-risk youth as a mentor. However, before I can make this assertion, I feel I must also establish a connection between the powers and at-risk/high-risk youth. Therefore, in my next post, I will detail much of the biblical data explaining what it is the powers do, and are doing. I will attempt to show that at-risk/high-risk youth in cities of our nation (and the world's) are some of the powers' most impacted victims. From there, I will then have warrant for proposing that mentoring these youth is God-glorifying, Christ-following, Kingdom warfare against the powers.

The "American Patriot's Bible" is a Hot, Steaming, Pile of Blasphemous, Idolatrous Feces

I am ashamed to report that the American evangelical church has fallen to a new and horrific low by producing what can only be described as the most blasphemous, idolatrous publication I could imagine.

Thomas Nelson publishing has released a "study" Bible that interweaves stories from American wars about American soldiers, quotes from American politicians and generals, and editorials about American history into the TEXT OF THE BIBLE!!!

Replacing the nonviolent Kingdom ethic of Jesus is the nationalistic, violent ethic of just about any nation in world history.

Greg Boyd has been blogging a small sampling of the many, many notes he has compiled from his review. You can read them here, here, and here.

Jesus and Justice for My Neighbor Curt

I feel conflicted tonight. A part of me is heart-broken and disappointed at the state of the church in America, particularly in Boston where I live. Another part of me is hopeful, optimistic, even faith-full. I can't see what God has in store, but from my experience with God I can only conclude he's up to something big!

This evening I spoke once again with my neighbor Curt. Curt is a hard-working man who gets up everyday and works long, hard hours at his job to provide for his family. Yet Curt is like the many millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. "I'm working just to pay my bills. Then once they are paid, I've got nothing left. So it's right back to work," he said to me. "I can't even afford to get a cold and miss work." Curt feels like a hamster on a stationary wheel just working to make someone else rich. And before I could even begin my inspirational, entrepreneurship pep-talk, he beat me to the punch. "I could start my own moving company, but that work is seasonal," he tells me. Curt already knows that owning his own business rather than working for someone else is a means of personal advancement. But where does a person without business ownership experience start? Where does he get the capital? What can be done to ensure his success?

There are some conversations I have in which a part of me is beside myself, or hovering above somehow, as if in an out-of-body experience. In conversations like this one, it is as if I am role-playing the precise scenario all my social justice, Christian community development research, reading, studies have equipped me to address. It is as if I have just left a class on evangelism only to be approached by someone at the grocery store who says, "Excuse me sir, aren't you a Christian? How can I be saved?" It cannot be merely coincidental that the challenges my neighbor Curt faces are the exact challenges I feel personally called to confront. There must be a purpose in our proximity.

Nearly 8 years ago I realized how captive the gospel I had been sharing was to Western, white individualism. With the help of such visionary leaders and ministries as John Perkins and the CCDA, I discovered the power of holistic ministry and how holistic is the gospel. Since then, I have given myself over to the kind of ministry that is intentionally Incarnational. I have served with ministries that do not merely proclaim the power of the gospel with words, but demonstrate the self-sacrificial love that is at it's heart through service and meeting felt needs. I have witnessed first-hand the power of holistic ministry by seeing it transform entire communities through faithful, prophetic witness.

I said to Curt, "The answer is community! Our culture blinds us to our potential for prosperity together by constantly trying to convince us that we are all on our own. As long as each one of us believes we just have to look out for ourselves, we will continue in this perpetual cycle of helplessness." But Curt is not a question on the midterm exam in my social ethics class in seminary. He is a real person who has been down that road before and been hurt. His response was as true as it was bleak. "Ya, but... even in community, when one person starts to make it, the others get jealous and think 'why ain't I making it?' Even family will stab you in the back over money." Curt isn't just jaded; I can't simply dismiss his apprehensions. There is a lot of truth to Curt's cynicism. Naturally, I want to reassure Curt that a community centered on faith in Christ will offer him the stability and trustworthiness he needs. However, even as optimistic and faith-full as I think I am, I too quickly recall just how treacherous and divisive church communities can be. Even still I said to him, "The community must be rooted in something trustworthy for those in the community to be trustworthy." I almost didn't believe myself as I said the words.

After several more minutes of conversation about IDAs (Individual Development Accounts), homeownership, and an organization that assists Boston residents in purchasing their first home at an affordable cost, we were both called inside our respective homes for dinner.

Still, I couldn't shake the sense of frustration that comes from knowing the Kingdom of God is the answer to Curt's dilemma---and everyone else's for that matter---but that the church that is called to reflect and advance that Kingdom is failing. Or maybe it is not that the church is failing necessarily. Perhaps somewhere in Boston God has prepared for Curt the precise resources and support he needs. Only I have no idea how to connect the two because I am unaware if or where this ministry exists. While I feel above average in being informed of the ministry taking place in Boston, I admit I cannot exhaustively know what is available. It is conceivable that minutes from us both is a ministry that God has purposed to meet Curt's need perfectly. Nevertheless, I felt helpless. So I called my friend Glenn who is much more informed of holistic ministry in Boston than I. But he had no good news. He said, [edit] 'Christian community development in Boston is a huge need.'

Osheta and I lifted Curt and his family up before the Lord and thanked God that we have the opportunity to know them and share in their lives. We prayed that God would use us to lead Curt and his family into his Kingdom freeing them not only from captivity to sin, but also from the oppressive power of injustice.

I do not know how God will meet Curt where he is at, but I am confident that if he can find and deliver me, he can rescue anyone! Please pray with me for Curt and his family that God will glorify himself in Curt's life by miraculously delivering him into his Kingdom.

Yummy Heroes Theology

I'm a sucker for tasty sci-fi goodness. Give me just about anything that combines a martial arts showcase of raw skills with out-of-this-world powers and I'll scarf it down. But if you really want to fill my metaphorical belly, find a way to intelligently work into the sci-fi action some juicy philosophical musings. The Matrix, like a master chef, accomplished this feat ingeniously, and has perhaps become the prototype for this sub-genre. Heroes is the newest dish I've tasted that serves up this delicious combo, only in bite-sized weekly morsels that leave you wanting more.

My wife and I got into Heroes pretty late in the game. I had watched only brief moments from a few random episodes prior to season 3. However, because of our Netflix subscription, we noticed that every episode of seasons 1 and 2 were available for instant viewing via streaming over the interwebs. So, 2 or 3 episodes at a time, we watched the entire first and second seasons---and then the entire third season finishing up the series (thus far) last friday.

Of course the action is enthralling and the special effects impressive, but honestly it has been the characters that have drawn me in. Each story line has it's own unique appeal, it's own fascinating dynamics. There are marriage dynamics, sibling dynamics, friendship dynamics, to name a few. There are teenagers coming of age, men and women in middle-aged crises, and elders in the twilight of their lives clinging to hope.

It's the philosophy of Heroes, however, that holds the show together. Random stories about characters and their relationships is daytime soap territory. Even the super-powers wouldn't stand on their own---Passions proved this. But by adding the philosophical undertones of fate, free will, destiny, God, and the ontological nature of the future, the plot is provided with a stabilizing force that intertwines each of the disparate story lines and gives the series a maturity and credence it would otherwise lack.

I'm of course in love with the portrayal of the future as partially indeterminate in the Heroes universe, but this is now to be expected. It seems that classical theists, like the proverbial ostrich with it's head buried in the sand, are the only group that continues to deny the openness of the future. To everyone else, the future's openness is an obvious and proven fact. Some other examples of this are Minority Report, the Butterfly Effect, Next, etc. etc. In the Heroes universe, the partial openness of the future is illustrated through the relationship of the characters to time travel and predictive visions of the future. When the few characters gifted with the ability to either dream or see or paint the future do in fact predict what is to come, there is an intuitive knowledge that this vision can be altered, prevented. Characters with vested interest in a particular future being actualized tend to speak of it as "inevitable." But this fatalism is almost always met with immediate opposition. For example, in one episode, when a character named Claire is told a dismal future is "inevitable" she vehemently retorts, "the future is not written in stone!"

While I will continue to, and perhaps always, appreciate twin philosophical undertones such as fate/freewill in stories like Heroes, another pair of themes in Heroes has surprisingly grown prominent and caught my attention. Healing and forgiveness have played important roles in this series---moreso than I would have expected. It has been particular intriguing to see the characters portrayed as the villains wrestle with these subjects. "Sylar," who is often portrayed as the character of greatest sinister evil, appears in a scene with another character upon whom he has inflicted tremendous pain. In Sylar's quest for purpose and identity he has, by this point, realized he may not want to be a monster. In this particular scene, Sylar allows the person he has severely hurt to lash out against him in a deeply self-sacrificial way. When she is exhausted from inflicting as much pain on Sylar as possible, she reveals that she too feels like a monster. She feels responsible for transforming Sylar into the monster he has become. Sylar says to her, "I forgive you. Now you must forgive yourself."

Family is another dominate theme that makes Heroes more than ordinary. Throughout the series the viewer discovers more and more surprise familial relationships. Characters discover they were adopted, they have siblings of which they were unaware, etc. Amidst a program about amazing abilities, the bond of family is often shown to be the strongest power of them all.

Heroes is a delicious entertainment snack that I have enjoyed consuming. In future posts, I may take up specific topics, episodes, or characters from the show for discussion. Be on the lookout for Heroes reheated like leftovers with commentary applied liberally like Tony's =)

The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity - Book Review

Author: Soong-Chan Rah

Paperback: 229 pages

Publisher: IVP Books (2009)

Language: English

ISBN: 9780830833603

Amazon

CBD

About the author:

Dr. Soong-Chan Rah is the Milton B. Engebretson Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Seminary in Chicago, IL. Rah also serves on the board of Sojourners and formerly taught at Gordon-Conwell's Center for Urban Ministerial Education in Roxbury, MA. Before moving to Chicago, Rah pastored Cambridge Christian Fellowship Church in the Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge, MA for over a decade.

Although Rah is frequently a speaker at national conferences, has been published in several journals and magazines, and even contributed to Growing Healthy Asian American Churches (IVP, 2005), the book being reviewed here, The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity (hereafter "TNE"), is his first major, solo published work. Rah brings to TNE his experience as a life-long evangelical, an urban church-planter, pastor, seminary student, and seminary professor. Rah also draws on his experience living and serving in Boston, his academic and ministry mentoring relationships with such notable scholars and ministers as Rev. Dr. Eldin Villafañe and EGC founders Doug and Judy Hall.

Another stream of experience that greatly influences Rah is his involvement with the Evangelical Covenant Church. With a Swedish heritage, the ECC has become one of the most welcoming and affirming fellowships for young, nonwhite, urban ministers. Both authors of The Hip Hop Church (IVP, 2006), Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson are ECC ministers along with pastor Dave Gibbons of California's Newsong church. The ECC has shown Rah that unity among American evangelicals of diverse ethnic and ministry backgrounds is more than just possible but an increasingly frequent reality.

About the book:

Rah's reason for writing TNE

Soong-Chan Rah loves God's church passionately and writes this book to lift the veil exposing what prevents many from seeing what the church is called to be. Rah writes TNE because he has grown up in American evangelicalism and has experienced significant pain resulting from the church's failure to be what God intends it to be. He writes, "...as immersed as I am in evangelicalism, I am oftentimes still seen as an outsider." (p.16) Through research and experience, Rah has identified not only several root causes for the American church's missional drift, but also several strategic action steps needful for recapturing the essence of God's world-wide redemptive mission. Rah also writes TNE as a witness of what he sees God doing amidst the overlooked and undervalued congregations that are transforming communities in every corner of this nation. As the result of these factors, TNE is not primarily a foretelling of American evangelicalism's natural progress or inevitable evolution. Rather it is more accurately a forth-telling of what the American church must do to violently take hold of the Kingdom Scripture reveals is God's dream for it.

TNE's structure

The introduction of the book perfectly lays the ground work for what will follow. By citing not only the remarkable demographic trajectory this nation will travel in the coming years, but also current statistics that are all-to-often overlooked, Rah demonstrates that the future of evangelicalism is now. It gave me great joy to see used in support of Rah's thesis the research of the Emmanuel Gospel Center (EGC), a ministry I have been privileged to serve with several times and by which I have been strongly influenced. It is EGC that has charted Boston's "Quiet Revival" that exposes the general disregard even Christians show ethnic minority and immigrant churches when considering the vitality of American evangelicalism. While the mainstream media and even Christian groups mourn the decline of church-attendance and the closing of thousands of churches, EGC has been studying and proclaiming the explosion of life that is now present in myriad nonwhite, Boston churches.

The excellent introduction of this book is complemented by it's well-proportioned overall structure. The book is divided into three sections of near-equal length. The three sections are: (1) The Western, White Cultural Captivity of the Church; (2) The Pervasiveness of the Western, White Captivity of the Church; and (3) Freedom from the Western, White Captivity of the Church.

In the first section, Rah clarifies the problem he will address by identifying three of the most destructive aspects of Western, white culture: Individualism, Consumerism/Materialism, and Racism. By giving each it's own chapter, Rah is able to present arguments and examples of how these three aspects of Western, white culture are poisoning American evangelicalism and distorting the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the second section, Rah zooms in on three examples of Western, white culture's pervasiveness by discussing: (1) The Church Growth Movement and Megachurches; (2) The Emerging Church; and (3) Cultural Imperialism. In particular, I was most impressed by Rah's engagement of the emerging church. While many evangelicals see this movement in America as the future, Rah shows that the emerging church is just as captive to the destructive aspects of Western, white culture as the form of evangelicalism from Modernity against which they are reacting. Rah writes, "...nonwhite Christians are not perceived as significant contributors to the evangelical postmodern dialogue." (p.118) Rah also writes, "...the emerging church has shut out nonwhite voices in their ability to engage on the issue of race." (p.119) But the quote that best encapsulates Rah's courageous and frank admonition of the emerging church has to be,

"I believe the real emerging church is the church in Africa, Asia and Latin America that continues to grow by leaps and bounds. I believe the real emerging church is the hip-hop church, the English-speaking Latino congregation, the second-generation Asian American church, the Haitian immigrant church, the Spanish-speaking store-front church and so forth. For a small group of white Americans to usurp the term 'emerging' reflects a significant arrogance." (p.124)

In the third and final section, using another three chapters, Rah confronts the issue of American Christianity's cultural captivity with four powerful lessons from four cultural communities: (1) Suffering and Celebration: Learning from the African American and Native American Communities; (2) Holistic Evangelism: Learning from the Immigrant Church; and (3) A Multicultural Worldview: Learning from the Second Generation.

In each of these three book sections, Rah keeps in clear perspective his experience of the evangelical church in America, his calling as an urban, multiethnic church-planter, and an evangelical theology that recaptures the biblical emphasis on social and racial justice.

TNE's thesis

If the American, evangelical church hopes to realize a shalom peace reflective of that which is spoke of in Micah 4, or if it hopes to become the multi-cultural, throne room worshipping assembly depicted in Revelation 21, it must break free of Western, white cultural captivity and embrace a vision of the Kingdom that celebrates and learns from every nation, tribe, and tongue as equally beautiful expressions of Christ's body.

This reviewer's impressions and recommendation:

When I first read the subtitle of this book, I immediately recalled a lecture Rah delivered in a course I took as his student. It was more simply called "The Western, White Captivity of the Church." Specifically I remembered that he mentioned his reluctance to include "white" in the title of the lecture, but he included it nevertheless. Therefore, the conspicuous absence of the word "white" from this book's subtitle stuck out to me right away. I can only conclude that Rah's publisher advised him against it. I was relieved, however, to see that he did not allow the word to be removed from the chapter titles in the first section of the book nor did he refrain from using the full phrase throughout the work. Rah's insistence on including "white" in the chapter titles is a microcosm of the pull-no-punches overall thrust of this book. In TNE, Rah speaks truth to power unrepentantly. It is my prayer that more authors with Rah's level of insight, from research and experience, will follow in his footsteps and produce more challenging works of this caliber.

Rah's discussion of mobility resonated particularly strongly with me due to my experience of living in New Orleans. Mobility was a major, differentiating factor between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' in that city. Even though every resident I knew was keenly aware of how devastating the 'Big One' would be to the city, being below sea level and shaped like a punch bowl, very few (if any) of our neighbors, in the community were we lived and served, had the financial means nor the out-of-state support network needed to take the 3 to 5-day, impromptu vacation a city-wide, mandatory evacuation requires. Only the upper-middle to upper class of New Orleans were ever truly prepared to leave any and every time the city was warned of an imminent, potentially-disastrous storm. In the case of New Orleans and hurricane Katrina, the power and privilege of mobility proved to be the difference between safety and peril for tens of thousands.

Perhaps it is merely coincidental, but so many of the streams from which Rah draws to fill this exciting work with experiential credence and field-tested wisdom coincide with sources to which I also look. With Rah, I share the experience of being a newcomer to New England from a Christian tradition that feared Boston as a spiritual wasteland. In particular, Rah and I both have experience with the Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge where I also attend an evangelical congregation. In fact, Larry Kim, Rah's successor as pastor of CCFC, continues to be a mentor and friend from whom I have learned a great deal. With Rah, I share a common source of inspiration from the research and ministry of the Emmanuel Gospel Center. And with Rah, I too have witnessed first-hand the incredible ministry New Life Covenant Church is doing in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. I visited pastor Choco de Jesus' ministry over 5 years ago and was powerfully impacted by the transformation that community has underwent as a result of one church's commitment and faithful Kingdom witness. With so many common links it may come as no surprise that I felt a personal connection to TNE as I read it.

This reviewer highly recommends TNE. In this reviewer's opinion, TNE should be required reading in evangelical Bible colleges and seminaries where Rah's thesis is the subject matter for an on-going dialog wherein nonwhite voices are given a platform and priority. Like his mentor Eldin Villafañe's The Liberating Spirit, it is clear that TNE will come to be recognized as a seminal work in the field of Christian social ethics. TNE is a challenging, prophetic call to action the American, evangelical church must heed if it ever hopes to resemble the portraits of the Kingdom Scripture paints. White readers in particular are called to a radical divestment of power. For far too long white evangelicals have guarded the status quo as their inheritance. Rah exhorts all evangelicals to celebrate the manifold expression of God's grace in the beauty of diverse cultural and ethnic communities.

The Death of White American Christianity: Boyd recognizes Rah's New Book and Gives Me a Shout Out!

Greg Boyd is the senior pastor of Woodland Hills church in St. Paul MN, a prolific author, and noted contemporary theologian. Recently, on his popular blog, Boyd discussed a topic that has been widely publicized: the demise of American Christianity. Boyd encouraged Kingdom people not to mourn the decline of the American Christianity for at least 5 reasons: (1) America never has never been a "Christian nation" as too many presume; (2) there will be one less illusion to combat when inviting Americans to the Kingdom; (3) there will be one less distraction from doing the work of the Kingdom; (4) the Kingdom has always thrived when marginalized by mainstream society; (5) will expose the idol of American individualism.

I recommended to Boyd the book of my former professor at CUME and former CCFC pastor, Soong-Chan Rah, who now teaches at North Park Seminary in Chicago and just released The Next Evangelicalism (IVP, 2009; found here). I suggested there may be at least one more reason why Kingdom people should not mourn the demise of Americanized Christianity:

This "demise" seems to only be descriptive of white American Christianity.

While predominately white churches and denominations are shrinking and closing their doors, ethnic minority, immigrant, and multiethnic churches are expanding and thriving. For years (possibly over 20) the Emmanuel Gospel Center has been researching and charting the growth of churches in Boston and discovered that while the perception of the church in Boston was one of decline and stagnation, they found vitality all around them. It was true that white congregations were declining, but church-planting and church growth was exploding in Haitian, Cape Verdean, Portuguese, Brazilian, Korean, Chinesse congregations (to name a few). Boston's "Quiet Revival" has even been discussed in Christianity Today here.

In The Next Evangelicalism, Rah argues that the church in America more accurately reflects the values and characteristics of Western, white culture than those descriptive of the Kingdom of God from Scripture. I am 120 pages into Rah's book and hope to have it finished and a review written soon. Be on the look-out for that!

In Boyd's latest blog-post, he recognizes Dr. Rah's book and gives me a much-appreciated shout out for the suggestion: Only WHITE American Christianity is Dying!

I am excited that I was able to connect these two brilliant and prophetic scholar-pastors. I truly believe their research will be vital to Kingdom people in this century. Greg Boyd's ministry is exposing the theological and political captivity of the American church and Soong-Chan Rah's ministry is exposing it's cultural captivity. Both are advancing a radical return to a Jesus movement that more accurately reflects the Kingdom of God. That's the type of Jesus movement I want to be a part of!