Philip Yancey had an interview in Publisher’s Weekly reflecting on his upbringing. I wish I had been a bit quicker to my own realizations like Yancey, or Eugene Peterson. I’m a slow learner.
Read moreThe exhaustion of white spaces in evangelicalism
Many Black pastors have said, “Thank you so much for writing this book.” Or young Black people who find themselves in evangelical spaces coming out of the Black church said, “There’s finally a book that helps me explain where I come from.”
Read moreWe always need an enemy
As I work my way through Jesus and John Wayne I am struck by several things.
Read moreThe fluke
The title grabbed me. “Is Jemar Tisby’s best selling book about racism a fluke?”
Jemar Tisby’s first book is called The Color of Compromise and it is hard hitting. He gives an unvarnished look at the American church and its complicity all through history when it has come to slavery and racism. When George Floyd’s murder happened, his book flew off the shelves. It hit The New York Times bestseller list.
Is this a breakthrough moment or a “one off”?
Read moreThe church may be a mess and Christ is beautiful
The Church is a very human institution and this week is a very human week in the American conservative (white) church. I am thankful for voices like Tish Harrison Warren and her encouraging words of hope.
It may look tough or bleak:
Read moreThe “pre” post mortem on the fall of evangelicalism
It will take another 25 years or so to honestly do a decent job on the post mortem, but there are the roots of this fall that are being talked about now. We are entering a time of Babylonian captivity as the white conservative church. The question of our awareness and willingness is another matter altogether.
Read moreThere is history… and there is what we believe about history…
However, to an unusual degree, evangelicals have remained oblivious to how their own stories map onto larger histories. It’s not that evangelicals disregard history entirely, but they tend to prefer their own versions of events. At a popular level, pseudo-historians have played fast and loose with historical evidence to spin fanciful tales of America’s Christian origins. Within academic circles, some evangelical historians have produced narratives that tend to downplay the darker sides of their religious tradition.
Read moreEugene Peterson and “evangelical”
In another time I would have sat and read Peterson’s biography front to back with enthusiasm… and then be finished. At this point in life, I am somehow given to more reflection and this book gives me opportunity for evaluation and examination.
Read moreThe toxicity of white space
How hard have we made it, as white evangelicals, for people of color to be in our supposed multi-ethnic spaces? How hard have we made it for black brothers and sisters to voice their concern, their pain, and even their joy in our spaces? Some examples:
Read moreWhite evangelical
The quote above is from David French. The interview is HERE.
