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Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church

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The title does raise some questions...that is if you think about more than what color curtains should decorate your new sitting room. In a world of consumption of material goods that either make us fat or make our creditors fat, Metzger calls us to a new paradigm of consumption and/or a new paradigm of actually being consumed.
There are so few books that will challenge where we are as a Christian community with sound biblical support. His theological approach is readable for anyone willing to focus and question concepts that may be unfamiliar. Yes thats right you may actually have to think through this one and not breeze through it, which is not a bad thing once in awhile.
I appreciate his approach which is historical and systematic as it weaves the common theme through characters in history like D.L.Moody and theological truths such as Atonement, Communion, and many others. The ideas and paradigms presented in the book have been central to my daily ministry of community development. Most importantly, they help me understand and come to know on an ever deepening level the one who is My Savior. At the end of the day that is all one would hope for from a book about the consuming love of Jesus.

In the interests of full disclosure, I studied with Dr. Metzger at Multnomah Biblical Seminary, and in the years since my graduate work there, we've become good friends and partners in the work of the Gospel.

He argues that the divisions of race and class which plague us within the North American evangelical church are deeply ingrained in structures that are largely invisible to the average conservative American Christian. He continues by offering a theological model for overcoming barriers of race and class within the church.

It is a well-sourced, well-written work, that's very accessible to the average pastor or informed lay leader. This is not a study attempting to jump on the latest emergent band wagon, nor is it a rehash of mid 20th century mainline social gospel concerns. It is a relatively short book that tackles a daunting subject with admirable depth. Check it out and take the plunge. The read is worth the ride.

"That ain't my culture and heritage!"

- Homer Stokes in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Tasteless, sure, to start a review of a book subtitled "Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Culture" with a quote delivered by a wizard at a Ku Klux Klan meeting. But just wait, it's perfect. The line comes in the midst of a series of fundamentalist epithets that the wizard (who we soon find out is actually Homer Stokes, the upstart challenger against Pappy O'Daniels for governor of Mississippi) levels against the so-called "progressive" developments sweeping across the depression-era south. Here's the line in full:

"And then there's some folks say we done descended from monkeys! That ain't my culture and heritage! Is that your culture and heritage?!"

The resounding "no!", then, with which the robed and hooded crowd responds is dripping in irony, for they're completely right - that's not their heritage. Their's is much more horrible, a regime of terroristic racism, whose symbolic apogee - the torch-bearing lynch mob - they are enacting at that very moment.

This silly side-track provides us with two poignant metaphors with which to frame Paul Metzger's new book, Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions In a Consumer Church (Eerdamans: 2007).

The first metaphor comes at the end of the wizard's speech, at which point he removes his hood to more closely inspect the hideous sight of an approaching color guard, which is, in fact, colored (sort of). Upon this unmasking, the audience is informed that the grand wizard - American mythology's own grand wizard of evil incarnates - is actually the hereunto noble and progressive Homer Stokes, "candidate for the little man." So the unmasking of the villain means not that we find a good guy underneath, but rather that we find out that the good guy was a bad guy. The task of the first two chapters is a somewhat opposite one: to unmask the seemingly benign and often extolled forces of consumerism and racial prejudice at work in the church today for the heretical impostors they are.

Chapter One, "A Faulty Order: Retreating Battle Camps and Homogeneous Units", is perhaps poorly titled, since it doesn't say much at all about the homogeneous unit church growth principle here, but is a fantastic critique of the historical progression and carry-over of a "retreat till the rapture" attitude from fundamentalism into evangelicalism. (The history of evangelicalism that is being written by the heavy hitters in American church history - Marsden, Noll, and Hatch - is put to good use, beginning the book's pattern of referencing with sources that are accessible and useful for a lay audience that wants to pursue the issues introduced.) Here Metzger makes a simple and reasonable case that good pre-millenial theology should not lead us to withdraw from society, but rather just the opposite. It ought to be a source of hope that motivates us to engage society and work to change it in anticipation of the coming kingdom.

Chapter two is where the critical component hits full force. Metzger unleashes on "the consumer Balrog", taking to task the way that homogenous unit growth principles, infatuation with numerical, monetary, and political success, and so forth, are actually the worst betrayals of the gospel, turning it into a commodity to be marketed according the whims and fancies of individuals. It hardly needs to be mentioned that the very message being marketed tells us that those very desires and predilections are hopelessly twisted and turned in on ourselves in narcissistic, masturbatory, greedy (I could go on!) self centeredness.

We live in the age of consumer culture, the grand supermarket or shopping mall of desire, and many progressive, culture-engaging churches have unwittingly taken the bait - hook, line, and sinker.

The second aspect of the book isn't really a metaphor, it's just that line. Metzger's book is good, old-fashioned, fist-pounding, finger-pointing, fire and brimstone. Except here the prophetic condemnation is held out over the consumerist ethos that has invaded American Churches. To this ethos, then, Metzger informs us "that ain't my culture and heritage!", and challenges us "is that your culture and heritage?!" It remains, then, the task for the rest of the book to prove that the tradition within which we actually stand is one that stands for justice and equality. And thus it avoids the Coen brothers' ironic skewering of a fundamentalism that would criticize what it perceived as societal evil only in the name of a much more evil tradition. Through and through, Metzger hammers away at his message that the central evangelical event of a heart consumed by the love of Jesus cannot at the same time be consumed by consumerism. To the extent that modern evangelicals are, they have forsaken their roots.

This seems like a good place for the best quote of the book.

The way churches today cater to the market forces of homogeneity and upward mobility inevitably leads them to exclude from their fellowship the poor and those on the fringes of society, partly because they have made such outsiders feel uncomfortable with the insider crowd of "our kind of people." Dehumanizing freedom of infinite choice and personal preference inside and outside the church replaces the law of enforcement and impersonal rule, and that reinforces the race and class divide. Today's problems of race and class in America are not rooted in torture or oppression, but in liberated choice and pleasure: they are bound up with the subtle law of consumer preference. This law declares that one must choose in order to be real, to be righteous, to be justified, and to be enlightened.

The Bible does not address the problem of consumerism directly, at least not as an ideology; that would be an anachronism. Yet, to the extent that consumerism splits the church, it comes under the prophetic purview mapped out in Scripture's call to holy unity. Church-growth strategies that emphasize quantitative over qualitative enlargement and cater to consumer choice and personal preference whet the appetites of the demonic powers as malevolent consumers and breed disunity. In this light, they warrant Scripture's rebuke. (55-56)

So, as it turns out there was only one metaphor. Homer Stokes doesn't provide us with a metaphor to invert in explanation of the third aspect of this book. But that's ok, since its pretty straightforward. In addition to unmasking consumerism as an evil, and denying it's continuity with the evangelical tradition, Metzger also affirms that there are resources within the tradition itself with which to combat its modern perversions. This is, in the best sense of the phrase, "a critique from within. Now, is a problem that Metzger's central strategy for combating consumerism - a revamped celebration and centrality of the Lord's Supper - is probably too sacramental than most evangelicals are going to be comfortable with. But that can be dealt with, and the outstanding contributions to theological critical theory being made along sacramental lines by Cavanaugh, McCarraher, and Milbank should not be assumed averse to appropriation by those of us in the more Zwinglian tradition. Yet aside from this, most everything that is said against consumerism is backed up by a representative from within evangelicalism. For this, he draws chiefly on the work of Jonathan Edwards and John Perkins. This choice of sources was a great move. First, Jonathan Edwards without parallel in influence for the development of modern evangelicalism. His position on "religious affections", set forth during the Great Awakening, goes a long way in defining the movement. The rest of his theology aside, if you don't stand with him here, you probably aren't an evangelical. That said, his Calvinism would be utterly reprehensible to the Arminianism of the American church if they knew anything about it. But still, I think his status as an American church father makes it work rhetorically. As for Perkins, well, if you aren't in awe of him and what he stands for, well, you probably aren't a human being. His story is the perfect embodiment of what this book's message: a life that has been consumed by Jesus will inevitably stand in radical opposition to the surrounding evils in society.

It might be claimed that all of this talk of consumerism is really besides the point, that it is only the symptom of an irreparably faulty system, that, in the words of Eugene McCarraher, "talking about consumerism has become a way of not talking about capitalism." I suspect that critique has some truth in it, but I don't think it fits with this book. This book was written to a lay evangelical audience that would reject it out of hand if it were suspected that any sort of Marxist theory was behind it. Perhaps the day will come when there will be an American Evangelical Church capable of such a full-fledged attach on the dehumanizing forces of capitalism, but that day is not now. Metzger's book pushes us towards that day. It is a book that is good for the church, and I can only pray that the right people read it.

For the sincere Christian who has often struggled with understanding why the Church today seems so ineffective and irrelevant in our society and without the transformative power that fills the New Testament, this book is for you. It will not speak of new ways to "position" the gospel or of strategic methods of evangelizing the uninterested; instead it will confront you and disarm you as it holds up a mirror to us, the Church, to see just what it is we've become as the Bride of Christ in these United States.

Metzger builds a case for how divided the church has become, because of its "disordered vision" and its resulting blindness to "omnipresent consumer-market forces, ever-evolving racialization and evangelical social structures", a "fallen power", a world-resistant and worldly gospel instead of the world-changing message that exploded out of Jerusalem over 2000 years ago.

This is where the mirror comes in. Metzger challenges us, he challenges me, about the choices I make in how, where and with whom I fellowship. He writes about the "way churches today cater to the market forces of homogeneity and upward mobility" for "our kind of people". He goes on to state, "Today's problems of race and class in America are not rooted in torture or oppression, but in liberated choice and pleasure: they are bound up with the subtle law of consumer preference." Ouch.

Thankfully, we are not left in our remorse without a message of redemption and hope. Metzger goes on to explain how "reordering" our understanding of cosmic powers, our Christian lives and the body of Christ to which we belong, will create a path out of our dishonoring and dividing consumerism. He invites us to a life of reconciliation, relocation and redistribution that has at its very core a driving mandate of love that overcomes the evil one and restores life-giving power to the church. "It is not by choosing and consuming but by being chosen and consumed by Christ that we triumph over Satan."

If you'd like to be uncomfortably challenged about how you view the vision and purpose of the church, and how Jesus longs to see her, you'll want to read this book.

I loved this book for several reasons.
1. I love this book because it is a critique of evangelicalism by a man who is a committed evangelical. I love the humility of the book as Dr. Metzger admits to being a part of the problem, but boldly calls us to move and take action. I think this brokenness and humility is very Christlike. It is definitely something that I want to follow him in.
2. I love this book because it deals with a major blindspot of evangelicals: race and class divisions in the church. I was talking to a Hispanic pastor (Jessie) who I met in Nashville. Jessie is pastoring in Texas, and Rich Stafford and I were asking him about his ministry. He commented that Texas is completely integrated. Mexicans and Caucasians do everything together. The only place that is not integrated, he said, is the church. This is tragic. And this is not just a Texas problem.
3. I love this book because it helps to identify subtle ways that we contribute to race and class divisions in the church. We often run our ministries and programs in such a way that they feed our comfort levels. We willingly divide by taste. We have a homogeneous model, which basically drives us to appeal to a certain kind of person and then surround them with people who are like them. We do this all kinds of ways, whether it is by small groups that are affinity groups, whether it is by having a contemporary service and a traditional service, or whether it is by highlighting and emphasizing ministries that are more about appealing to tastes than about following Christ (not wasting our lives).
4. I love this book because it rediscovers the biblical emphasis of walls being broken down by the gospel. Ephesians 2 talks about Jews and Gentiles becoming one in Christ. 1 Corinthians 11 (the communion passage) rebukes the Corinthians because the rich are disregarding the poor. Jesus said that outsiders will know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. The gospel is reflected beautifully when we experience unity between young and old, rich and poor, black, white, hispanic, asian, native american, and any other group that we often segregate. That's what I want! How awesome would it be to have our churches reflect the unity that Christ brings, instead of unintentionally communicating that you need to be like us to go to our church. Otherwise, go find one that meets your tastes.
5. I love this book because it challenges me on who my heroes are. Are my heroes those who have glowing success stories? Or are my heroes those who have been poured out for the work of the gospel? At the end of his life, Paul said that he had no regrets. He said that he had fought the good fight, run the race, kept the faith. Then he talked about being poured out as a drink offering. Paul's version of success was to be poured out for Christ. Jesus himself, in John 12, said that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground, it cannot bear any fruit. I want to follow Christ (and Paul, and Wilberforce, and MLK, and others) by losing my life for him.
Anyway, I obviously recommend this book. It is convicting and challenging, but it is hitting on a blind spot that many of us have (I know it is a blind spot of mine). It is well worth the time that it will take to read.

Does the consumerist mindset of contemporary evangelicalism harm our witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ? In Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church, Paul Louis Metzger answers "yes." And Metzger goes even further: consumerism affects the church by reinforcing the race and class divisions of society.

Consuming Jesus is one of the most engaging books I've read in recent days. Metzger exposes evangelicalism's consumerism for what it is: a capitulation to the market forces of capitalist culture that is detrimental to the unity of the gospel across races and classes.

Meztger begins by showing how evangelicals first retreated from culture and politics, which prepared the way for a disordered consumerist vision that blinds us to racialization, the market mindset, success, and social structures. He critiques the political aspirations of both the Religious Right and Left. He takes on the church growth strategists' emphasis on homogeneity. He challenges churches to no longer prop up the materialistic lifestyles of congregations that keep rich and poor, black and white apart.

What I Liked

1. Metzger is prophetic in his call for evangelicals to open their eyes to the race and class divisions in our churches. I like how he pulls from all corners of the church for his critique: from Jonathan Edwards to Martin Luther King, Jr., from John Wesley to John Perkins. Metzger is not interested in promoting another already-in-practice agenda. He looks at the faithful witness of Christians throughout history to challenge the church to move back to its mission.

2. Metzger challenges us to avoid the moralistic trap. No one can accuse Metzger of advocating a social gospel that challenges societal structures while leaving individual human hearts unchanged. Throughout the book, Metzger praises the evangelical emphasis on personal regeneration, even as he chides us for being too self-focused sometimes to see even our own glaring weaknesses.

3. The first half of Consuming Jesus is heavy on critique, but the second half is heavy on practical application. Metzger does not merely complain about the current state of evangelicalism; he offers clear suggestions for changing things. Especially helpful is Metzger's call for us to minister with the poor, not just to the poor as a way of bridging the divide.

What Needs Work

1. Metzger's suggestions for changing things are sometimes superficial. He spends way too much effort on critiquing our current church architecture. While I'll be the first to say I love a magnificent cathedral, I do not believe that aesthetic changes (like moving the communion table to the front of the church) will produce the type of transformation Metzger would like to see. The New Testament has little to say about what church architecture should look like. History shows that churches that look like Metzger's proposal have had racial and class distinctions of their own.

2. Metzger is right to insist that we need to take responsibility for humanity's total act of sin, not merely our individual sinfulness. That is why it is valuable for Christians to apologize for the actions of previous generations, for example. But Metzger does not take this as far as he should. If whites should apologize to blacks for previous injustice, so too should blacks apologize for injustice towards whites. The doctrine of original sin means we are all victimizers even as we are victims (a point that Metzger affirms, only he tends to emphasize the white's reponsibility more than the black's). What we need is an atmosphere of mutual grief and repentance toward one another.

Overall, Consuming Jesus is a book I highly recommend. Metzger's book calls us to rethink the current structures of the church and he offers an "all-consuming" vision of the Kingdom which should work its way out into our local congregations and communities.

I'm going to have lunch with Paul Metzger --- it's on me Paul.

There are voluminous reviews of this work on-line. I am just simply going to say that I truly enjoyed this work...and the heart of a man (Metzger) that resonates the love of Christ on most every page. Listen to Metzger:

"Paul is fond of saying that we settle for so little when God calls us to so much more. We need to settle for more --- much more of God's compassionate embrace of us so that we will extend that same compassion to the least of these in our world." (p. 180).

This book reminded me of reading John Perkins. However, Metzger approaches many issues from new angles.

I highly recommend this book.Inspiring. The road ahead.

Thank you Paul!

Bill Dahl
The Porpoise Diving Life

If you have ever thought about why churches are still divided by race in 2011, "read this book." If you have ever wondered why people who follow a God whose primary message is to love one another don't always do so, "read this book." If you are not a person of faith, but you are curious as to why the Christian religion is so fragmented in its expression and practices, "read this book."

I can think of no better way to recommend this or any book than by sharing this with you. I have read this book twice, and I have just begun reading it for the third time. Guess what? I am enjoying Consuming Jesus this third time around as much as I did the very first time I read it! I cannot say this enthusiastically enough:"Read this book!"


Jimi Calhoun

(posted by Christopher Laird)
I read Consuming Jesus with great interest to see if the bases were covered on race, class and
consumerism in the Church to my satisfaction. So I even read it critically. They were even covered
more thoroughly than I expected! I really appreciate Paul's coverage of religion and politics and the negative influence that this toxic mix has had on the Body of Christ. As an African American, and as Director of a Ministry of Reconciliation I was constantly looking for Principles I could use in my Ministry. There are lots of them. Paul blasts the "Retreating Battle Camps and Homogeneous Units." And rightfully so. After all the subject of oneness and unity was heavy on Jesus' mind as he prayed on the night before his crucifixion (John 17:20--23). Paul courageously calls out those elitist churches that are fraught with racism, classism and consumerism. As a son of Alabama born in the 1940s (I left there for good in 1963 after graduating from high school), I was not welcome in white churches. It tainted my view of the Body of Christ and of white people in general (I have long-since repented of that). In fact, I found it hard to imagine even heaven being integrated. How many young people today I wonder are forming biases like this toward the Church and God Himself? Paul courageously addresses the need for the Church to properly represent Jesus, that the world may know that the Father sent Him. And that the world may know that he sent us today. Paul ends by sharing steps toward a solution to the problems. And the afterword by Dr. John M. Perkins is great on the solution.
Curtis May
Director of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries
Glendora, CA

Finally...a book has entered the dialogue that holds together the difficult tension of pragmatic and local ecclesiology with profound theological depth. Metzger is refreshing in his critique by not suggesting some sort of new and better moralism, but rather, offering reflections on the most ancient of christian practices (eucharist) as the antidote to our unfettered consumerism, and the inevitable divide our consumerism causes. As one who longs to see diversity in ethnicity and economic status live in the church, this book serves as a mandatory primer.

Metzger suggests that the practice of consuming Jesus as our daily bread requires that we hold together both the church's unique identity and its call to serve the world. He states: the church must "hold firmly to the politics of Jesus," to serve "without abandoning their distinctive qualities and traits, all of which can bring richness to church and civil unity." For those who yearn for the church's transformation of culture, this book is a necessary check for the temptations which will accompany that journey.

I was recently asked to recommend a book that describes the church as it is meant to be. Though they are being written every day in the evangelical spheres, I could think of none more worthy of a hearty endorsement than Consuming Jesus. Buy it. Read it. Consume it.