At Home In Exile

The American church is a church in exile. Whereas American evangelicals were once comfortable in their privilege and power, the church’s role and influence in the public square, especially among the Millennials, is waning rapidly. Evangelicalism’s steep decline in influence and adherents signals an increasing secularization of the United States. American society, if it ever was, is no longer Christian. Instead, the church is in exile, a minority group no longer fully at home. At Home In Exile traces Dr. Jeung’s life and ministry among the poor as “a guest in exile”-Hakka in Chinese-in the slums of East Oakland. Despite their impoverished conditions, Jeung and the community discovered the Kingdom of God in new and powerful ways. Through solidarity with those who are refugees and undocumented, Jeung heard anew how Jesus speaks to Christian exiles as well. As an Asian American, his story reveals how an exilic perspective is particularly relevant to today’s post-Christian society.