Clapp, A Peculiar People

Rodney Clapp, A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-Christian Society. InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Referenced in: Ecclesiologies

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

Theology of Mission and Ministry.

Summary: A Peculiar People is an excellent example of contextualized ecclesiology, exploring God’s intent for the church into a specific cultural setting, in our case Western society generally and North America particularly. It is recognized as a modern classic and a standard reference since its first printing. His special contribution to ecclesiology is to illumine a biblically-derived redefinition of the church in the postmodern, post-Constantinian era.

He provides a lucid description of the various ways that today’s church tries to express itself in a culture that increasingly disregards or resents its presence. He explains how in American culture, Christians are no longer steering the ship, but are on the periphery. In this context, he suggests the church should start defining itself through the “politics” of Jesus, who constantly “critiqued Israel theologically, culturally, politically, socially, and economically.” (87) His people do the same, not as protestors, but as a distinct culture who demonstrate an alternative counter-cultural way of being and doing, i.e. a peculiar people. And just as Israel was to be a light to the nations, i.e. to “teach [other] specific nations how to live as nations,” (90) so the new Israel, the “holy nation, royal priesthood, God’s own people” (1 Pet. 2:9-10), functions as a distinct culture or people who “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” This concept of “peculiar people” has implications across the board for the way we worship, serve, proclaim scripture, evangelize, and fellowship. He explains these implications in the chapters outlined below.

1. The Church as Unchurch: How Christians Became Useless
2. The Church as Private Club: Irrelevant for Constantine’s Sake
3. The Church as Nation-State: Why America Is Not the Issue
4. The Church as Type: Why Christians Should Thank God for the Culture Wars
5. The Church as Church: Practicing the Politics of Jesus.
6. The Church as Worshiping Community: Welcome to the (Real) World
7. The Church as Parade: The Politics of Liturgy
8. The Church as Listening Community: The Performance of Scripture
9. The Church as World: On the Faithfulness of Pagans
10. The Church as Mission & Message: Evangelism After Constantine
11. The Church as a Way of Life: Liturgy After the Liturgy
12. The Church as a Community of Friends: About Beginning Where We Already Are

Although this text is over 14 years old, it still enjoys wide use and respect among ministry scholar-practitioners, and usually appears among the top recommendations for helping the church understand anew its role in the postmodern environment.

From the Publisher

Christians feel increasingly useless, argues Rodney Clapp, not because we have nothing to offer a post-Christian society, but because we are trying to serve as “sponsoring chaplains” to a civilization that no longer sees Christianity as necessary to its existence. In our individualistic, technologically oriented, consumer-based culture, Christianity has become largely irrelevant.

The solution is not to sentimentally capitulate to the way things are. Nor is it to retrench in an effort to regain power and influence as the sponsor of Western civilization. What is needed is for Christians to reclaim our heritage as a peculiar people, as unapologetic followers of the Way. Within the larger pluralistic world, we need to become a sanctified, subversive culture that develops Christian community as a truly alternative way of life. Christians must learn to live the story and not just to restate it.

Writing inclusively with considerable verve, Clapp offers a keen analysis of the church and its ministry as we face a new millennium.

Editorial Reviews

• “Here is a wake-up call for accommodated, acculturated North American Christendom. Through this wonderful book, we are offered the possibility to recover the joyful sense of being peculiar in the name of Jesus.” — William H. Willimon, coauthor of Resident Aliens
• “Drawing on and making connections between history, theology, Scripture and social analysis, Clapp challenges Christian communities to recognize and actualize their unique missions and message. A must read for clergy and concerned laity seeking to proclaim and embody God’s Good News for a broken and hurting world.” — Inagrace Dietterich, director of theological research, The Center for Parish Development
• “In an era of polarization and name-calling among persons of faith, Rodney Clapp’s clear and critical vision of the church calls us to a new perspective which transcends our divisions and unites us in a culture of resurrection and hope. This is an important book for contemporary Christian meaning-making.” — Frank T. Griswold, bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Chicago
• “I love this book. Engagingly written, philosophically competent, theologically profound. This self-proclaimed ‘postmodern neo-Anabaptist, plebian Christian’ provides sound teaching and good advice for the whole church.” — Nancy Murphy, author of Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism: How Modern and Postmodern Philosophy Set the Theological Agenda
• “In a wonderfully engaging manner, Rodney Clapp displays why faithful Christians are a peculiar people: distinctive, sometimes odd, yet also (in another definition of peculiar) God’s own possession. Equally at home in theology and popular American culture, Clapp persuasively argues that Christians need to reclaim and embody the practices of church as a way of life. His book is a joy to read and deserves a wide audience.” — L. Gregory Jones, author of Embodying Forgiveness
• “Rodney Clapp has marshaled a wonderfully broad synthesis of postmodern theological perspectives that illumine pressing issues of Christian culture and identity in our time. His urgent reminders concerning the nature of Scripture, evangelism, liturgy and community prod us toward serious reflection on the future of the American churches as we approach the beginning of the new millennium.” — Cheryl J. Sanders, author of Saints in Exile and Empowerment Ethics for a Liberated People
• “A wonderful, thoughtful, well-written call for the church to be the church. To read it is to be both challenged and encouraged.” — Chrisitanity Today
• “Offers a fresh revisioning of the whole Christian enterprise … As the calendar makes its transition to the 21st century one senses a tremendous hunger in evangelicalism for a faith that can make the transition well. Rodney Clapp will be one of the most important North American voices participating in the conversation about how to make that transition.” — Prism

About the Author

Until spring 1999, Clapp was senior editor for academic and general books at InterVarsity Press. He was formerly an associate editor for Christianity Today, and he has served on the editorial boards of The Journal of Family Ministry and Marriage Partnership. His essays have appeared in a variety of publications, including Christianity Today, Regeneration Quarterly and Books and Culture. Clapp is now an editor with Brazos Press, a new imprint of Baker Book House.

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