Tom Skinner and the Kingdom of God

Tom Skinner:  "The church must become a model of the kingdom of God, so that when oppressed people ask, "Where can we find justice?" the church can say, 'Over here.'"

My wife and I are going through our stuff and we ran across an article written by Edward Gilbreath titled, "A Prophet out of Harlem," Christianity Today, September 16, 1996.  It refreshed my memory about how I learned about the significance of the kingdom of God.

In April 1968, at the time of Martin Luther King's assassination, I experienced a second conversion---a keen awareness of the horror of American racism and the need for biblical justice.  At Urbana '70, as I heard the prophet-evangelist, Tom Skinner speak; for the first time I began to understand the crucial importance of the kingdom of God.  Some years later, I was mentored by John Perkins on how to incarnate the kingdom in poor oppressed communities by doing Christian Community Development.

Tom Skinner's speech at Urbana '70 "The Liberator has come!" is probably the single most important ever given at InterVarsity.  It called for a radical, even revolutionary, brand of Christianity.  John Perkins describes Tom Skinner's message in this way:

"Tom Skinner had the clearest understanding of the gospel that I've ever heard. . . .  He understood the importance of 'on earth as it is in heaven,'  That was the heart of his message---living out the kingdom.  He was a prophet without honor because he was hitting at themes of reconciliation that were too radical for blacks and whites alike."

Bill Pannell who partnered with Skinner said,"It was at the point when we put together the evangelistic and the prophetic traditions that we were led back to the motif of the kingdom of God."

"Skinner's central motif of the kingdom of God never shifted."  It called for the overthrow of a social order dominated by white superiority and white privilege.  But so far most American white Christians have rejected the kingdom of God; they have refused to repent and restitute.

I have been on a 45 year pursuit of the kingdom of God, its biblical meaning and how to apply it in America and Haiti.  Thanks Tom for getting me started on this pilgrimage.