Hauerwas And Willimon: A Religious Analysis

American culture seems to be enraptured with immigration and the value of the immigrant in the life of society. Immigrants have, since the beginning of our nation, the power to transform the face of our society. In the same way, the church when it radically lives out the Gospel as embodied in the life of Jesus can not only transform American culture, but change the whole world. This potential impact of a faithful church in the world is why Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon write Resident Aliens as a critique of modern culture and ministry while providing a call the church to live as an alternative community. Hauerwas and Willimon provide a vision for the restoration of the church as a vibrant community standing firmly in the faith through
The predominate culture has infected the church to the extent that the church and its mission has often been shaped as much by the world as it has been by God. Again Hauerwas and Willimon state, “Whether they think of themselves as liberal or conservative, as ethically and politically left or right, American Christians have fallen into the bad habit of acting as if the church really does not matter as we go about trying to live like Christians.”2 The alternative to the dominating narrative of modern culture is found in the narrative of the story of God. As Hauerwas and Willimon write, “Story is the fundamental means of talking about and listening to God, the only human means available to us that is complex and engaging enough to make comprehensible what it means to be with God.”3 Through story God's people are set free from the narrative of a world dominated by sin and empowered to live out a Christian ethic that stand is stanch opposition the the ways of the
Hauerwas and Willimon, first writing nearly ten years after Brueggemann, make an important contribution to the conversation by taking the biblical vision articulated by Brueggemann and giving practical path for the church to follow in embodying the alternative consciousness of God's people as the living embodiment of His Kingdom here on earth. Through the critical lens of Resident Aliens the church is empowered to see the contrast of the world through its unique ethics and realize its as the witness of God's faithfulness in His ongoing work of salvation for all creation. Resident Aliens is successful in sounding an alarm for the church and providing a clear vision for the church to return to its vital place as a faithful community set apart for the work of