Called to Reconciliation: How the Church Can Model Justice, Diversity, and Inclusion

By Jonathan C. Augustine, William Willimon and Michael Curry

Nationally recognized speaker and church leader Jay Augustine demonstrates that the church is called and equipped to model reconciliation, justice, diversity, and inclusion.

This book develops three uses of the term "reconciliation": salvific, social, and civil. Augustine examines the intersection of the salvific and social forms of reconciliation through an engagement with Paul's letters and uses the Black church as an exemplar to connect the concept of salvation to social and political movements that seek justice for those marginalized by racism, class structures, and unjust legal systems. He then traces the reaction to racial progress in the form of white backlash as he explores the fate of civil reconciliation from the civil rights era to the Black Lives Matter movement.

This book argues that the church's work in reconciliation can serve as a model for society at large and that secular diversity and inclusion practices can benefit the church. It offers a prophetic call to pastors, church leaders, and students to recover reconciliation as the heart of the church's message to a divided world. Foreword by William H. Willimon and afterword by Michael B. Curry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781493435371

Book preview

"In an age of despiritualization, greater emphasis is usually placed on social reconciliation than on salvific reconciliation. We tend in these days to ignore the consequences of our having lost the strength of our spiritual connection as we long to repair our relationships with our neighbors of different hues. Called to Reconciliation forces us to bring a more holistic vision to our quest to become the beloved community to which God is calling us ‘with the fierce urgency of now.’"

—James A. Forbes, senior minister emeritus, The Riverside Church, NYC

In a time of political polarization, Augustine reminds Christians that we are called to reconciliation. That calling is not just an invitation to some; it is a mandate for all (see 2 Cor. 5). Augustine’s training as a lawyer and pastor come together as he challenges all of us to find fresh ways to reweave the social fabric. A wonderful accomplishment!

—L. Gregory Jones, president, Belmont University; author of Embodying Forgiveness

A book for our times. In this well-documented, insightful study, Augustine explores the nature of Christian reconciliation in its biblical, theological, social, and contemporary implications. The book surveys the broad concept of reconciliation while providing important implications for recovering it in church and society here and now.

—Bill J. Leonard, professor of divinity emeritus, Wake Forest University

Augustine has clearly and creatively fixed the issue of countering racism within the context of Scripture, thus claiming the issue as a matter of formation for those who follow Jesus. And too, he turns the reader’s attention to the future by articulating a vision of hope that is reconciliation. A wonderful resource for those who seek discernment on the topic of racism via the way of faith in Jesus Christ.

—Russell Kendrick, bishop, Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast

Augustine has done the best and most comprehensive job I have yet seen not only of describing the racial divide and challenges in this country but also of giving us a hopeful way forward. Of the eight books I’ve read in the past eighteen months on the topic of racial justice, this one by far resonates the most with me as something that can bring us together, even in a time of such deep division, around this central biblical and cultural necessity. I couldn’t put it down, and it renewed my hope that we not only must, but we can, do this.

—Timothy M. Smith, bishop, NC Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

"In the tradition of theologians such as Walter Rauschenbusch, Howard Thurman, and James Cone, Called to Reconciliation is a masterful argument demonstrating that faith is thought and deed. Through the focus on reconciliation, the text provides a clear, biblically based pathway for people to begin to reimagine their connection to others and what this requires of them. This book could easily be applied to classrooms, church groups, and social organizations. In the midst of the intense and never-ending culture war that has erupted in response to the successes of the civil rights movement, this text provides an explanation of why this has happened and a vision of how to end the enduring and painful American internal conflict."

—Eric L. McDaniel, associate professor, University of Texas at Austin; author of Politics in the Pews

An important book and a timely book. Augustine draws the call to reconciliation from the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What has been far too peripheral (where it has even existed) in the American evangelical church has been summoned to the center of the church’s life. I commend this work to pastors, to church study groups, and to the college and seminary classroom.

—R. Robert Creech, professor and director of pastoral ministries, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University

Augustine has issued a call to the church to engage its diversity, or sad lack of it, if it is to take up the all-important work of reconciliation. Augustine’s mastery of theology, political theory, sociology, and the law enables him to describe a path forward. It is way past time for our congregations to give up on their segregated ways and become beacons and witnesses for true reconciliation. For any in the church looking for a partner in the Christian vocation of reconciliation, they will find one in this author and be enriched by his wisdom and passion.

—David M. Greenhaw, president emeritus, Eden Theological Seminary

"Augustine’s multidisciplinary work is a gift to the church, by which I mean the diverse ekklēsia envisioned by Jesus. Drawing on and synthesizing a wide array of resources from theology, politics, and law, Augustine has written a powerful and inspiring book for individual Christians and congregations ready to work for reconciliation. He calls the church to lead in our society’s larger fight to end systemic racism by recovering the heart of a Gospel message that affirms the equal worth and dignity of all people."

—Amanda Tyler, executive director, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty

This masterful work is an essential tool for all people of good will as we seek solutions to the serious and deep fissures challenging our society. A road map for how we come together when we seem so far apart, this is a must-read for anyone navigating the intersection of faith and politics.

—Leah D. Daughtry, national presiding prelate of The House of the Lord Churches, author, and activist-organizer

© 2022 by Jonathan C. Augustine

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

Ebook edition created 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-3537-1

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.

To the memory of my precious mother,

Jeanne Cunningham Augustine (1930–2020)

Contents

Cover

Endorsements    i

Half Title Page    iii

Title Page    v

Copyright Page    vi

Dedication    vii

Foreword by William H. Willimon    xi

Acknowledgments    xv

Introduction    1

• Reconciliation in Context

• The Divided States of America

• Social Divisions and the Church’s Ministry of Reconciliation

• Conclusion

Part 1:  The Theology of Reconciliation    15

1. The Trajectory of Reconciliation: Definitions and Peter’s Leadership in the Early Church    17

• Defining and Contextualizing Reconciliation: Salvific, Social, and Civil

• Peter’s Leadership in Moving the Church toward Reconciliation: The Original Use of the Word Church

• The Church Was Born as a Jewish Assembly

• Reconciliation under Peter’s Leadership: The Church Admits Gentiles as the Other

2. Social Reconciliation: Paul’s Theology of Equality in Christ Jesus    35

• Paul’s Theology in Moving the Church toward Reconciliation

• Social Reconciliation in Galatians, 1 Corinthians, and Romans

• Applying Social Reconciliation’s Threefold Criteria to Paul’s Theology of Equality

3. Civil Reconciliation: Contextualizing King and the Black Church’s Ministry of Reconciliation    53

• Civil Reconciliation Stems from Social Reconciliation

• The Importance of Forgiveness in Civil Reconciliation

• Contextualizing Civil Reconciliation

• Revisiting Forgiveness as a Part of Reconciliation: King’s Theology with a More Contemporary and Applied Response

• Conclusion

Part 2:  Reconciliation with the Other    69

4. The Response to Civil Reconciliation: White Evangelicalism and the Southern Strategy Give Rise to Make America Great Again    71

• The Southern Strategy Meets Make America Great Again

• The Voting Rights Act and Affirmative Action: Two of the Civil Rights Movement’s Most Measurable Achievements in Civil Reconciliation

• A Response to Success: The Southern Strategy Fusion of White Evangelicals and the Republican Party

• Can Anything Separate Evangelicals from Blind Political Allegiance?

• Conclusion

5. Where Do We Go from Here? A Call for the Church to Return to Her Apostolic-Era Embrace of Diversity and Inclusion    99

• What Did God Intend the Church to Look Like?

• How Can Diversity and Inclusion Be Good in Moving the Church toward Reconciliation?

• Evangelicals and the Issues: Can the Divisions Unearthed by MAGA Move the Church toward Reconciliation?

• Conclusion

Epilogue    121

Afterword by Michael B. Curry    125

Appendix: Supreme Court Cases    127

Scripture Index    129

Subject Index    131

Back Cover    134

Foreword

Here’s the right book, at the right time, written by the right person, for the right reasons. Lots of folks are talking about and yearning for racial reconciliation. Jay Augustine joins that conversation and debate by boldly speaking up for reconciliation from an unashamed, uniquely Christian point of view.

Jay adheres to a gumbo view of diversity. (For all of us not from Louisiana, Jay explains, Good gumbo is good because it’s made with a variety of diverse ingredients, each one enriching the others.) He believes that society is also better when it brings diverse people and diverse groups together. Then Jay moves into a Christian, richly biblical defense of diversity, and, before he is done, he also offers guidance for how to achieve diversity in our churches for the sake of the world.

While informed by current sociological, systemic, and critical theory accounts of our racialized culture, Jay dives right into theology, confident that our christological convictions have real-life, here-and-now consequences. The whole New Testament is a response to the early church’s shock and awe that God’s salvation had exploded out from God’s people, Israel, to include even us gentiles. In your church and mine, God is busy gathering a people that looks different from the divisions, separations, and bogus, dehumanizing ploys of the world. Every Christian, in every age, recapitulates Peter’s encounter with Cornelius in Acts 10. We who have been and are being reconciled to God in Christ are thereby free to expect and delight in our reconciliation to one another.

Though he is thoroughly aware of the problematic aspects of the calls of white Christians for reconciliation with Black Christians (when, in America’s history of white and Black, were we ever conciliated? he asks), knowing that pleas for reconciliation can be various forms of manipulation by the powerful, Jay still argues that reconciliation is at the heart of the Christian hope and witness.

Christ puts pressure on his people to expect and work for diversity and to show the world what diversity looks like. Jesus Christ is not only reconciler but also the one who convenes a people (the church) whose members become active agents of reconciliation. Examining the Gospels’ depiction of Jesus as boundary-breaking reconciler, then deep-diving into Paul’s challenge for early congregations to become showcases for God’s reconciliation (especially in 1 Cor. 11:17–22 and Gal. 3:26–28), Jay shows that issues of justice, diversity, and reconciliation are not extra add-ons that the church can opt out of as a matter of personal preference. They are an essential part of the gospel.1 Indeed, as an announcement of who God is and what God is up to in the world, the gospel, in both content and effect, is about reconciliation.

Paul stressed the kingdom at hand as strongly as he stressed the kingdom to come. Christ gathers us in order that the church might be a showcase for what Christ is able to work in the world here, now, despite all the ways we try to separate from and divide one another. Through an astute reading of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Jay detects a vertical plane, representing humanity’s reconciled relationship with God (salvific reconciliation), and a horizontal plane, representing human beings’ reconciled relationships with one another (social reconciliation). Christ is about reconciliation on both planes, promising a gumbo sort of church if we are faithful to his invitation to work with him. Salvific and social reconciliation then work together to enact civil reconciliation, which is primarily secular in intent and scope but is rooted in Paul’s theology of equality.

Jay enables the ancient witness of the church to be as relevant and contemporary as the Black Lives Matter movement. He sets forth a challenge for how we do church as well as for how we conduct our politics.

I’m sure that you will find Called to Reconciliation to be just what you need to equip yourself for living into the shock that, in Christ, God is reconciling the whole world to God and reconciling us all to one another (2 Cor. 5:19).

William H. Willimon

Retired Bishop, United Methodist Church

Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School

1. John M. Perkins, One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race and Love (Chicago: Moody, 2018), 19–20.

Acknowledgments

There are several institutions and individuals to whom I owe thanks. Although Called to Reconciliation is the product of my individual labor, it was made possible by support systems that encouraged and nurtured me in ways beyond expression.

I entered Duke University’s Doctor of Ministry program in August 2017. As someone deeply grounded in the Christian faith, I was especially grateful for intimate worship at the beautiful Duke chapel. I was indeed drawn in by the chapel’s architectural design and ornate stone carvings. One carving,