Faith for This Moment: Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God by Rick McKinley

Faith for This Moment: Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God Reviews

• 
  Jonathan Brooker

  A quick, and absolutely enjoyable (even though pretty dang challenging) read!
  
  With the proper amount of humor, humility, and punch, this book on what it looks like to be the people of God in exile was stunning. I kept reading and thinking that I must've found the best part of the book so early on, only to discover that it actually just kept the same intensity and quality.
  
  McKinley will certainly ruffle some feathers with this one! But those feathers need ruffled as (especially American) Christians come to grips with the realities of how much like Babylon America has become.
  
  Grounded in enough historical data to set the scene very well, and biblical understanding to make this more than a spiritual-minded person's tirade against their own pet issues, this book is a valuable read for any and every Christian in America. Yes, I think he chose 4 things that were probably part of a bundle of things that could be chosen as characteristics of the people of God in exile, but I don't think that a single one of them was out of place or inaccurate.
  
  The truth poured out from these pages speaks of a freedom that too many Christians are missing as they carry on their unrecognized love affair with the empire.
• 
  Loraena

  Where was this book in 2016-2017 when I felt so alone? Pastor Rick looks at our calling as the people of God in our current cultural moment through the lens of God’s people in exile as seen in Babylon. As usual, he has his finger on the pulse of life and responds with this deeply pastoral book that’s both encouraging and challenging in just the right ways.
• 
  Brett

  In this compelling book Rick McKinley clearly illustrates how our present church compares to the Israelites Babylonian exile. As a people of God living in the present world we have lost our sense of identity, lost our ability to speak to the present culture and have lost our ability to meaningfully practice our faith. McKinley does this in a style that is humble, articulate and non- judgmental. He takes a very high road urging us all on to reflect the beauty of Christ in our present culture while staying far away from criticizing others. His warm style and high regard for others will leave your heart warmed and will provide a discernible way forward for enjoying the best of our culture while pointing to the generous love of Christ
• 
  Caroline Garza

  I really enjoyed this book! Light encouraging read on the hope we have as Christians to be true witnesses in a divided world. It’s not heavy on theology or application but my heart is encouraged to love better & obey God today.
• 
  தீபி (Debi)

  This book made some interesting points but overall it wasn’t very deep or profound, and he often went several chapters without citing scripture.
• 
  Bob

  Summary: Explores what it means to live as a Christian in a polarized and secularized society, drawing on the idea of exile in scripture and proposing practices that sustain faithfulness in exile.
  
  Rick McKinley, like many Christians, wrestles with what Christian faithfulness looks like for the church he pastors in Portland, Oregon, amid a secular and highly polarized American society. We can look for who to blame, resort to denial and despair, or recover an idea of understanding our situation upon which Jews and Christians have drawn through the centuries--the idea of exile.
  
  McKinley traces the idea of exile through scripture, from the first exiles from the garden, down through Abraham and Sarah, Israel in Egypt, the Jews in Babylon, and the church scattered through the Roman empire. McKinley lays out the alternatives of how exiles live: 
  
  "[T]he way in which the people of God navigated their faithfulness to God in exile was not to burn Babylon or to baptize Babylon but to find distinct ways to bless and resist Babylon."
  
  He argues that our calling as exiles is both to bless and resist our "Babylons." We need to recognize both windows of redemption, places where we can engage the culture around issues of shared concern such as the arts or the environment, and windows of opposition, such as our consumer culture. To be people who know where to bless and resist, we need two critical skills--the discipline of repentance and the practice of discernment. In repentance, we acknowledge our indifference to God and to our society and are converted by God to people who begin caring about the things God cares about. Discernment helps us know what faithfulness looks like in particular situations such as becoming a reconciling presence in a polarized society.
  
  McKinley contends faithfulness is empowered and lived out through five critical practices:
  
  1. Hearing and obeying--the centering practice that holds the others together.
  2. Hospitality: overcoming fear to welcome the stranger
  3. Generosity: repenting consumerism to recognize money and time are gifts and not possessions.
  4. Sabbath: turning from busyness to embrace rest and relationships
  5. Vocation: moving from the drudgery of jobs to the holy joy of living out a calling.
  
  McKinley's vision is for the church as a healing presence in a divided society. He writes:
  
  "The move I am suggesting is what Miroslav Volf called a move from exclusion to embrace. What if we began to envision a nation in which we didn't simply tolerate our differences but engaged one another around those deeply held convictions? What if we moved beyond polite disagreement to demanding safety for those with whom we disagree and defending the rights of those who hold convictions other than our own? What if we truly believed that each of us bears the image of God and has something to offer the other? What new types of civility might emerge among us? This new kind of relating could create new possibilities of understanding, out of which relationships could be born and change could become tangible."
  
  Oh, that it were so! Beyond this healing vision, what I like about McKinley's book is that it both reflects insights of the likes of Volf and Newbigin (I also wonder if he has read Charles Taylor, James K. A. Smith, and other who have wrestled with secularity), and distills the best of these into a readable and practicable book for the rest of us. Others have written about Christians as exiles, and about formative practices, but I have not often seen all this thinking summarized so succinctly and translated into the real-life practice of a church.
  
  ___________________________
  
  Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
• 
  Karl Dumas

  Have you noticed that things have changed over the past few decades? Good, because most things have changed. And I say most, because it seems that the Church in the West is lagging behind. In no way am I suggesting that the message of the Gospel has changed. I’m not suggesting that the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection has changed, or that the need for grace has changed. But for many churches, many Christians, we seem reluctant to change the way we tell the story, the way we do business, the way we live out our faith. Unfortunately, the way we share the gospel is received differently in every culture, every context, and in every city. So we need to know what matters and how to share that important stuff in the context of the culture in which we live.
  We wonder why we can’t just turn on the lights and unlock the doors on Sunday morning and have the sanctuary full. That might work in a city in the Bible belt; but what about some places in Utah where more than 90% of the population is Mormon? What about places near Detroit with large Muslim populations? What about cities with large Hindi or Buddhist populations? What about places like Portland, OR, which is considered to be largely unchurched? And of course there are major population centers where each of these religious groups are represented. What works in one place, might not be effective in another.
  And then along comes Rick McKinley’s latest book, Faith for this Moment: Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God. (Baker Books, 2018). I’ll be candid from the beginning here. I was not as enthusiastic about this book as I was a couple of the author’s earlier books. Rick is a dynamic speaker, and his experience as Pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland Oregon certainly gives him a lot to speak about, but somehow his excitement and enthusiasm didn’t come through as clearly in this book as it did in say “This Beautiful Mess” (Multnomah, 2006/2013)
  McKinley addresses such issues as Demonstration of faith. What are the distinctives of Christianity, and how do we manifest that faith? What does exile look like today—we know it was 40 years in the desert for Moses. What is the Babylon facing us today, and how do we respond? What does faithfulness look like when we are in exile? There are also several chapters devoted to different spiritual practices, and the book ends with an all-important chapter on loving the city: “Bless the City for the Sake of the King”.
  The title of the final chapter might seem a little misleading…it’s not just a ‘how-to’ chapter, nor is it just an exhortation or command, rather it sums up how the community is blessed when Christians know the history of the church, of the faith, and put into practice what we should have been doing all along.
  4/5
  I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. The thoughts expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.
  
• 
  Mary Lou

  Rick McKinley in his book, Faith for This Moment: Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God, believes many Christians in America find that their faith and lifestyle as Christians has become marginalized and even irrelevant in society today. The polarized world he describes is the reality of the dominant culture versus the people of God. The book is refreshingly laid out so that the first page of each chapter is framed by a graphic of a city. It’s a mirror of the front cover where a small church steeple is overshadowed and barely discernible amid the high rises of urban America. He uses the dominant image of Christians being a people in exile, tying that in to the exile of the Jews when they were taken into captivity in Babylon. His question is how the people of God can live out their faith in the midst of our secular, disdaining, disinterested culture. His answer is twofold for 1. Christians to be continually converted back to obedience to God rather than assimilation with the culture and 2. to practice five disciplines that can embody the presence of God for the communities in which these Christians live: centering, hospitality, generosity, Sabbath and vocation. His goal is that, “God’s people living faithfully in exile can imagine and create a new way of living together in public space… leading the way and helping our communities to become thriving human families whose civility makes room for the embrace of one another as well as our differences” (Rick McKinley, Faith for This Moment: Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God, Baker Books, 2018, p. 176).
  
  In today’s world where the United States and European countries seem to be ostracizing refugees and immigrants, McKinley’s chapter on hospitality is a strong prophetic corrective. He says, “What makes the people of God both a blessing and a resisting presence in exile is the willingness to replace the culture’s definition of hospitality with that of Jesus… In exile, God’s people are willing to give up privacy and security and exchange them for welcoming vulnerability… If we are going to get this practice right, we need to keep in mind our stranger-guest status with God” (p. 131, 132).
  5+ star Dr. ML Codman Wilson, 9/19/2018
  
• 
  Luke Wagner

  In this book, Rick McKinley does a good job at using a frequently found metaphor in Scripture—the metaphor of Exile—as a way in which to approach the Church’s place in the U.S.A. at this point in history. Rather than agreeing with much Christian mass media that the U.S.A. is a Christian nation, McKinley proposes that we live in a post-Christian nation, and as a result, God’s people are called to live differently than we have in prior seasons and times. For McKinley, living in the U.S.A. is not living in Jerusalem, but in Babylon.
  
  With this framework in mind, McKinley takes his readers on a journey through Scripture and through culture, helping Christians in the 21st century in the U.S.A. to live in the way that the Exilic people of God have been called to live. Rather than baptizing Babylon or burning Babylon, McKinley offers the biblical alternative of finding ways in our lives as Christians to both bless and resist Babylon!
  
  The latter section of the book deals specifically with practices that Christians have been practicing throughout Church history and should be practicing today in light of our place in culture and in the world at large.
  
  This work was somewhat elementary at times, and McKinley sometimes fell into the habit of writing in a roundabout way; in other words, he could have shortened the length of the book by being more concise (but perhaps he did not feel as though he had enough content to create a full-length book if he did not write in this way—and I can relate to that). All in all, this book was helpful in reminding me that culture at large is not something that we approach the same way in every circumstance. Sometimes. we bless Babylon. At other points, we resist Babylon. All the while, we seek the peace of Babylon, while pledging our allegiance to Christ, the Prince of Peace and the King of Kings!
  
• 
  Evelyn Lilyana

  his is an important book for the current times. I believe every American Christian can see where we have gone wrong when witnessing to unbelievers. Witnessing, not just as in talking to others about Christ but in the way we live and the testimony we transmit to the world. This is a book that addresses just that and more.
  
  In "Faith for This Moment" Rick begins by talking about the work his church, Imago Dei Community has done to tackle the unchurch population problem in Portland. And gently but boldly exhorts the reader to take similar steps in their own communities. Rick talks about several problems within the American church including, lack of discernment, prejudice, obedience among others that either take a huge toll on the rest of the population or could make positive impacts. He then gives steps on how to approach these problems.
  
  In the modern day world in which we live, where "tolerance", strife, prejudice, equality and so much more prevail over the love of God and humble obedience, this book hits home. This is perhaps the best time for the children of God to be a beacon in a dark world. A more relevant book could not have been written.
  
  I received a copy from Baker in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
  
• 
  Bill Ver Velde

  The good: The beginning of the book tells the narrative of the American Church going into exile. McKinley's 3 responses to the culture are good. The middle way "bless and resist" that McKinley advocates is essentially the Third Way talked about in this video from the Bible Project on exile:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzWpa... I do think McKinley missed an opportunity to introduce the term "blessist" instead of saying "bless and resist."
  
  The bad: McKinley tries hard to not fall into partisan politics. But McKinley gets heavy handed likening current immigration issues to the Old Testament command to welcome foreigners. Personally, I think this is an oversimplification of the issue. Also the last chapter is simply terrible. It reads like a Christian hippie manifesto. I had the image of putting flowers into the barrels of guns as McKinley seems to say, "Let's just all get along." This is not the compelling third way of "bless and resist." The final chapter reads more like "bless" while resisting is forgotten.
• 
  Dylan Bryce

  Recently, I've been told that the best books to me usually are very practical in helping people grow in their faith and if not then I probably won't be reading it. That being said, this book is definitely that. McKinley does a great job of giving a 30,000 foot view of scripture with the theme of exile. The reason I read this book was because it was under the resources for Tim Mackie's video on "The Way of the Exile." It was pretty clear to see how Tim and Rick came to the conclusions that they did. However, that being said, I don't think I learned much from the first few chapters setting up theme. The meat of the book, in my opinion, is in the last few chapters that give practical application to the realities of exile in a post-Christendom society that came seem so polarizing. The idea of being a faithful presence in culture, yet a prophetic resistance bears weight on how we operate in our world today. Overall, solid read.
• 
  Mary

  Oh, wow!
  This is an example of the right book at the wrong time for me. I started reading it right before Thanksgiving, but because of the holidays, I was too distracted to really appreciate it. Fast forward to the first day of Lent....it was the PERFECT book to read to center myself!
  
  Rick parallels Christians in America today with Jews in Babylon; living differently within a strong culture. We're called to resist and bless in Babylon, they will know we are different by our love. And it's not a fluffy book. This is a gutsy little read that gives great guidelines with some humor and a lot of scripture to back up what it's putting out.
  
  This was a Goodreads giveaway but I probably would have bought it on my own anyway, just due to the incredibly relevant content and crazy good cover.
• 
  victoria

  This book had a very unique biblical way of writing and compelling to read with that also guiding us of how to live an authentic Christian life in the world that changing. For this powerful book will provide us for more understanding of where we fit in society today and how fit best into that society and to help us to see within that moment the possibilities God had for us all. I highly recommend to everyone must to read this book. “ I received complimentary a copy of this book from Baker Books Bloggers for this review”.
  
• 
  Eric Blessing

  While I disagree with the nuances of the metaphor, I agree with what McKinley says the status of the Church is with culture. One cannot read this book and read the news without seeing the ways the dialogue. This book challenges all believers not only to say that they love Christ but to live as incarnational people of God that bring about tangible change. Change not through aggressive bills or hope in kings, but faith that brings food to the table of a stranger and strives to see the betterment of neighbors in the local area.
• 
  Sierra Edmonds

  Wow wow wow! Thought provoking and pointed. Rick McKinley has taken hard topics for modern American “Christians” to swallow and made them understandable and compelling. This book is not a self-help or a scolding of the way things are, but a presentation of what we are called to be as Believers in a world that is often against Jesus and His people. This is not a call to action or extremism, but a call to small changes in the practice of life that lead us in our exile to the foot of the throne of God and help us know how to invite others to join us.
• 
  Paul Herriott

  Drawing largely from the story of Israel, McKinley speaks into our polarizing post-christian culture, and where the church should make its home. Valuable for many reasons, but his examples from pastoring in Portland are very enlightening. A helpful read for American urban pastors and church leaders.
• 
  Sharon Hicks

  What a great read! The author intertwines recent news events with perspectives and thoughts of the reality of our society and being a Christian. He looks at current events and a christians choices, language and actions are should look different. Lot of great thoughts.
• 
  Lisa Morrow

  I won this book from Baker Books in a Goodreads giveaway. I learned much from it. My favorite chapter was on the Sabbath. It challenged me to unplug on Sundays!
• 
  Emma

  Simple and encouraging.
• 
  Natalyn

  McKinley hits on a subtle truth. We are exiles in a foreign land. Are we living like it?
• 
  Haley Elenbaas Thomas

  A good book. Pretty repetitive but it definitely had some good discussion around how to be faithful to God in todays climate.
• 
  Joanna Daly

  Meh. The first few chapters were hard to get through. The last few chapters were pretty good and gave some good advice on how to be different from the culture and focus more on Jesus, so it had some redemptive qualities. It was a good book for our book club because it created a productive and encouraging conversation.
• 
  Josh

  Rick McKinley published a very helpful book in Faith for This Moment: Navigating a Polarized World as the People of God, and I recommend it especially for those struggling to conceive of the church's place and purpose today. I have felt out of step with the broader evangelical movement for some time, despite being firmly entrenched within it, and no small reason for my alienation is the shark-jumping that took place in 2016. In The Most Important Election of Our Lifetimes™, depending on who you asked, the choice was literally between the Antichrist and King David Come Again; the "more circumspect" had the wherewithal to call the president-elect Cyrus rather than David. Nevertheless, staging this election as a cosmic, nigh apocalyptic battle, wherein one candidate is blessed and another cursed, screams of special pleading (since, let's get real, most presidents are at best indifferent to the absolute claim of the kingdom of god).
  
  All that to say, 2016 and the subsequent bending-over-backwards to justify, sanctify, and glorify every little thing the president has done as a post facto justification of their tainted vote (because, again, the antichrist) has left me entirely disillusioned with the evangelical perception of the church's space--not to mention greater allegiance--in today's world.
  
  McKinley's Faith for This Moment is a balm in this culture. McKinley gently reminds the reader that the Christ-follower has a citizenship in heaven that wars with the nationalism and earthly citizenship. Further, and more helpfully, the author sketches practical and principled ways in which such citizenship is lived out. Whereas we have drunk so deeply of American culture that we don't recognize "this is water," we need to read the Scripture--and therefore our "water"--with fresh eyes, eyes attuned to the anti-real reality in which we move and seeking the real reality breaking into our world, the blazing sun piercing the night.
  
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  Disclosure: I received this book free from Baker Books through the Baker Books Bloggers 
  http://www.bakerbooks.com/bakerbooksb... program. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 
  http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/wa....
• 
  Amy Norton

  This might be my favorite book that I read this year.
  
  Before I launch into my review, let me just say: if you are a Christian living in America, you MUST read this book.
  
  [BACKGROUND STORY BECAUSE I LIKE TO HEAR MYSELF TALK]
  I first saw this book on the shelves of Powell's Books out in Portland about a year ago. The cover drew me in (along with the fact that it was sitting amongst the featured texts when you walked in the door), and while it was intriguing enough for me to take a picture and write a note to pick it up at the library later, I left it on the shelf and picked up another book of which I have yet to reach the third chapter. (I'm looking at you Six of Crows.)
  
  The picture continued to resurface throughout the year, but I ignored it. I'm not one for "Christian" books. I don't particularly like listening to books other than the Bible when it comes to picking up "how to's" on living the Christian life.
  
  Yet, after a three day weekend where all I wanted was a good book to read, I decided to finally pick it up at the library. When the library didn't acknowledge its existence, I made the decision to spring for it on Amazon.
  
  The book arrived, I started reading, and I didn't stop.
  I finished it in 3 days.
  
  [THE ACTUAL REVIEW]
  Within the first few pages I was struck by how well this book walked the tightrope of middle ground. For a book that is in many ways grounded in politics due to its subject matter of the polarization of American culture, it seemed very a-political while also calling us to take a political stance. At no point am I told that liberals have it right and I must become a Democrat or that conservative Republicans are closest to God. Instead, McKinley brings up a variety of issues (i.e. consumerism, refugees, work culture, sexuality) that the political sphere also addresses and urges reader to take a Christ-centered stance on these topics. No political party gets it right because the Gospel transcends American government. It was refreshing.
  
  I've found myself lovingly convicted throughout this book of my apathy and my desire to assimilate into Babylon. It has ignited a fire and reminded me that I am to be an ambassador of Christ rather than simply acknowledging he exists.
  
  It's a fantastic book, and I will definitely read it again. I believe it's the kind of book I could read once a year and learn something new from each time.
  
  Read it. Devour it. Love it.