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This potential for a common perspective, however, has not yet been located in American church worship and practice, for specific theological reasons. The divide between the liberal, revisionist project and the apostolic, biblical faith is not characterized primarily by the distinction between the individual and the social. The liberal-orthodox gap is most acute when we talk of "the power of God." The biblical proclamation of the triune Creator God who, when his good creation rebels, recaptures it from an occupying Enemy through the invasion of his Son, is not the central operating system for liberal theology. The belief that an "experiential," humanistic perspective on the Christian story is more accessible and appealing is proving not to be the case; several decades of this thin gruel have left us without any transcendent dimension to draw upon, either for social action or for individual regeneration.

The divide between liberal and biblical perspectives has to do with trust in the God who comes into the world from a sphere of power other than our own. It is here that we find the link with the New Testament's picture of a supernatural, occupying Enemy. Humankind does not possess resources to overcome this Enemy, but God does. In the stories of Jesus' exorcisms, we see enactments of the victory of God over the legions of demons. This can and should be interpreted on both an individual and a societal basis. Many African-American congregations excel in their ability to see both at the same time.

Here is an illustration that shows how these divides are bridged—however briefly—where there is biblical faith. I once heard the Czech theologian Jan Lochman describe the atmosphere in Basel, Switzerland, where he was teaching in 1989, when the Berlin Wall came a-tumblin' down. At one worship gathering, this well-known passage from Amos was appointed to be read: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." In Europe, as in America, this text had become over-familiar with widespread use, so that it was reverentially invoked in various contexts, like folk wisdom, without anything concrete expected to happen. But when the passage was read that day in Basel, everyone became aware that there was an event of the Word of God occurring in the very midst of daily events. Lochman, seeking an analogy for his American audience, said that "sudden, unexpected happenings in Eastern Europe were making us feel the tide of the Mississippi River going down with full power." As God moved the currents, men and women reclaimed their freedom and dignity.

We who are evangelicals need to widen our vision of what God does in the world. We have a signature example of "the Scriptures and the power of God" occurring in our midst with the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s. The current status of this history, however, is a sad example of the divide between an understanding of the gospel with relation to the redemption of individuals, on the one hand, and the deliverance of communities on the other. In the white evangelical churches there is a stunning lack of interest in, or knowledge of, one of the most important demonstrations of the power of God in our time (or any time). Liberal churches do somewhat better, but the problem here is that the movement is not understood theologically in the way that most of its leaders did. Most of the participants were overwhelmingly convinced that in their resistance—their sit-ins, mass meetings, and marches—God was on the move.

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June 2008, Vol. 52, No. 6