The church represents the “good news” of Jesus Christ, reflected in its practice of promoting peace, justice, and wholeness within the community. It exists as an example of reconciling people. Tizon defines God’s mission as “Whole and reconciled” when discussing the holistic gospel, a vision that brings together evangelism and community transformation. For Tizon, “the impact of the whole and reconciled gospel on the world depends on the wholeness of the bold and humble church” . It is the role of the church to participate in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). For a church community to have a lasting impact, each individual must live out God’s shalom in their personal life by actively responding to the call for restorative peace that mends broken relationships, especially between God, humanity, and creation. Shalom is not merely the feeling of tranquility in the absence of conflict but a dynamic harmony among God and His creation that reflects the Triune God.
However, the church cannot be a truly reconciled community if it does not stand where the crucified of history stand. Cone invites us to deepen our vision by examining the history of Black Americans in the United States. In The Cross and the Lynching Tree, he argues that “until we can see the cross and the lynching tree together… There can be no genuine understanding of Christian identity in America”. For Cone, unless the church confronts injustice and identifies with the oppressed, the promise of shalom proclaimed by the gospel is meaningless. The cross and the lynching tree reveal both divine solidarity and the demand for liberation; therefore, the church must bear witness to shalom by being a prophetic voice that resists all forms of dehumanization and racism.
The church is not only a place of fellowship and worship but also a mission-driven community called to be a prophetic voice of reconciliation. The gospel must be seen at work in every faithful believer through humility, justice, and love. When the church goes out to preach the gospel, it does so not merely to convert, but to restore dignity and heal divisions in the fractured world in which we live.
References:
Al Tizon, Whole and Reconciled: Gospel, Church, and Mission in a Fractured World (Baker Academic, 2018)
James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree (Orbis, 2011)
