How to Heal Our Racial Divide
What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew, about Racial Reconciliation
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
“I was moved by what I read. I saw things in Scripture I’d never seen before, I saw truths about God and humans and injustice and myself that were new to me, but radically important.” —Annie F. Downs, New York Times Bestselling Author of That Sounds Fun
Why must everything be so black and white? Like many of us, Derwin Gray is weary of the racial divide in our society. He longs to see hurts healed, wrongs corrected, and trust replace distrust.
The good news is that the Bible has a lot to say about how to heal our persistent racial divides. In this book, popular Bible teacher Derwin Gray walks us through Scripture, showing us the heart of God—how God from the beginning envisioned a reconciled multiethnic family in loving community, reflecting his beauty and healing presence in the world. This message is central to the gospel itself.
After reading this book, you won’t read the Bible the same way again—and you’ll want to walk through this eye-opening scriptural journey with your friends or small group.
As founding pastor of Transformation Church, a multiethnic church located in the Charlotte metro area, Derwin knows firsthand the hurdles and challenges to the reconciliation that Scripture commands. That is why he carefully outlines in this book how to establish color-blessed discipleship in your own church.
Together, we can become the change that God yearns to see in this world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pastor Gray (God, Do You Hear Me?) suggests "the church" needs to lead the way to racial reconciliation in this jejune clarion call. Gray uses personal anecdotes and scripture to argue that "the way to heal our racial divide is to catch the Bible's vision of a new community—a multiethnic community—formed around King Jesus in mutual love." The author highlights the unifying message of biblical passages that address ethnic division, noting, for example, that the Samaritan's generosity toward the wounded Jewish traveler in the parable of the good Samaritan illustrates Jesus's belief in compassion across ethnicities. Gray envisions a "color-blessed discipleship" that acknowledges systemic racism and responds by "collectively mourn injustice" and "engag in difficult conversations." Gray's superficial approach to confronting racism by focusing on bonhomie and proselytism ("We must love Jesus"), however, will disappoint Christians looking for concrete ways to combat injustice. Additionally, some of his turns of phrase ("supremacy of Christ," "gracist") come across as flippant. While well-intentioned, Gray's program leaves much to be desired when it comes to actually addressing and correcting racism.
Customer Reviews
OUTSTANDING
Dr. Gray presented a Biblically-based perspective that was unifying and inspiring. STRONGLY recommend.