A book to redirect our conversations on race

Hi friends. I have good news. Some of you already know, though I haven’t formally announced it on this space yet. In January I will be publishing my first book with Herald Press on a timely and important topic. In response to all the racial violence, particularly the police violence against black people that has been shoved in the face of most Americans for about one year now, we have seen a new justice movement emerge in our generation. People have determined to struggle for change, and to participate in God’s kingdom come right now while still confronting these very old problems. Some, however, like those in the 50s and 60s, have found themselves either silent, or even worse, in opposition to this renewed fight for the liberation of black people from 400 years of tyranny and oppression.

Where the Church is supposed to shine its bright light into the darkness, it has instead too frequently been nothing but a dark hole of despair. The dominant expression of the Church in America seems to be destined to stand against what Jesus stood for and taught throughout his life; justice, mercy, and faithfulness. (Matthew 23:23) While most Christians, within any racialized group, have failed to understand the depth and radicality of simple Christian terms like repentance, kingdom of God, and righteousness, what has been most discouraging for me to watch is how so many white Christians have refused to enter into the vulnerability of simple human dialogue, with an openness and desire to seek to understand other people’s perspectives beyond white dominant cultural vantage points. A recent survey showed that white evangelical protestants, followed next by white mainline protestants, were the least likely to acknowledge the ongoing police brutality.[1] White evangelicals in particular, based on the survey, seem to be operating out of a completely different realm than most other Americans. Why is that so?