ebooks The Church in Exile: Living in Hope After Christendom by Lee Beach in History

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. This is an important study of God's work in and ...By ScottThis is an important study of God's work in and through His people who find themselves in exillic type experiences.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A word of hope for an exiled churchBy Robert CornwallThe image of the church in exile is taken up by Lee Beach; an assistant professor of Christian Ministry at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton; Ontario; Canada; as an image of hope for the church. Even as God was with the exiles in the biblical story; God is with us as well as we enter this new post-Christendom era. While Beach uses the image of exile to stir our prophetic imagination; Walter Brueggemann points out that the texts he chooses actually emerge out of the Diaspora. The difference between exile and Diaspora; is that with exile there is an expectation of a return to normalcy. With the Diaspora; there is a new normalcy of living and practicing one’s faith far from home. Brueggemann writes that “’Exile’ might be a hope of ‘recovery’ for the way the church used to be; whereas ‘Diaspora’ is a recognition that there will not be any return home and there will not be a recovery of any old normalcy” (p. 12). Thus; while the term exile is used here; there is clearly a sense in this book that we will never return to the former “normalcy.”With Brueggemann’s helpful caveat in mind we are ushered into Beach’s provocative exploration of the biblical story of exile and diasporas; old and new; which is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the development of a theology of exile; with special attention given to Esther; Daniel; Jonah; the ministry of Jesus; and the wisdom of 1 Peter. One of the key points in expositing the idea of exile is that God is to be seen as present on foreign soil. The earlier symbols of divine presence – the land; the Davidic monarchy; and the Temple were gone. These markers of their identity as a people had been stripped away from them. But in the midst of their despair came assuring words of hope from the prophets who declared that God had not abandoned them. If this is true; then they must attend to holiness and mission. The biblical stories that emerged; including those of Esther and Daniel demonstrated that Jewish men and women could “thrive in their displaced context and even rise to places of significant influence” (p. 66). It is important to note that even though Beach is an evangelical he understands that stories such as Esther and Daniel may be fictional in nature; but are designed to give advice/wisdom to people living in foreign lands; but seeking to be faithful. Thus; they are much like parables. Jonah represents a somewhat different focus; as in this story the prophet seems unwilling to give a hated enemy the opportunity to repent and receive the mercy God desired to show to the Ninevites. Christians; Beach suggests; have the opportunity to learn from these advice tales about who we are as well as who God is in the context of our situation in the modern Western world.One of the primary lessons we learn from the three Old Testament stories that emerge out of the Diaspora; is that at least for Esther and Daniel; it is possible to adapt and assimilate into a culture without compromising one’s faith. By doing so; they offer a witness of faithfulness to God (even if the name of God is never mentioned in Esther). While the books of Nehemiah and Ezra; addressed to returned exiles; condemns intermarriage; Esther uses her marriage to the Persian king to benefit her people. Beach interprets the story of Jesus in light of Second Temple messianic expectations; including stories found in Enoch. Jesus becomes the image of restoration; so that exile concludes in his life and ministry. The messianic hope has arrived. This is picked up in 1 Peter; which pictures the church as being the new Israel. The church is a spiritual house; and a kingdom of priests. With this new identity the Christian is to embrace holiness and mission in the world; which is expressed “primarily in the context of social relationships characterized by mutual submission” (p. 131). While many read the household codes in a hierarchical manner; he sees them as a call to subvert the normal ways of living by balancing calls for submission on both sides – husband/wife; master/slave; parent/child. Thus; 1 Peter serves as an advice tale for the church.Having laid the theological foundations by examining the witness of Diasporic advice tales and the New Testament witness; Beach begins to lay out the practical implications of this theology. He speaks of the call to leadership and the importance of leaders to engage in prophetic imagination. In this new context leaders need to define reality – being honest about where we find ourselves. It does the church no good to continue reassuring the people that given time we’ll get back to the age of Christendom. With this the imagination can be unleashed to create new ways of living and doing mission. This will require a responsive theology; one that addresses new realities – as Peter discovered in his encounter with Cornelius. Our theological work involves accommodation without compromise (as is seen in the story of Daniel). Orthopraxy becomes central; rather than orthodoxy. This effort requires attention to holiness. By holiness he means keeping track of the difference between accommodation and compromise. It means living in the world; but not letting the world define our values and practices. This leads to mission that is defined by relationships. As an evangelical; he reminds us that part of mission is evangelism. The book moves toward its primary point and that is this – the hope we take hold of is one of restoration. While we will never return to the old normalcy; there is an eschatological vision that is rooted in God’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth. It is a vision of a better world that is to come; but which God is already seeding in the present. We get to participate in this work!This is a call to embrace our new reality; one of displacement and marginalization. That sounds like bad news; but in reality it is good news because we can put our trust and find our identity in God and not our place Christendom; which is really a false hope.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A Helpful Next Step in the Missional JourneyBy Noel WalkerIn The Church in Exile: Living in Hope After Christendom; Lee Beach brings exile to light as a powerful paradigm for ministry in the Post-modern West. I have plenty of books on my shelf that explain that Christendom is over (well duh!) and a couple that argue that it isn't done yet (?) but Beach's book is one of the first (and one of the best) that explores the conversation of "what now?"In the introduction; Brueggemann helps to make it clear that the church in the West is in exile; it is now located far from the seat of power; but unlike the example of Israel in Babylon; we're not going home any time soon.Beach develops a rich theology of exile by looking at exilic texts from the OT (Esther; Daniel and Jonah) and the NT (1 Peter) and then explores practices of exile that the church can lean into. Beach identifies helpful themes (Thinking like Exiles; Holiness as an Exilic Identity; and Engaging Culture as Exiles)and develops them in the context of a hope filled; missional imagination.This is the beginning of missional 2.0; a welcome contribution to the conversastion that goes beyond the flannel shirts and hip coffee shops and helps the church "honestly name its true cultural circumstances." (p. 233)