Welcome back to Renewing Eve! It’s been a few months since our last post. We have been writing a series on living justly as Christians. My last post in July was on the Year of Jubilee. Since then I have been blessed to gather with various members of my family, some for the first time since Covid hit in March of 2020. My train of thought is long interrupted, but I have been thinking and reading and Ruth and I have continued talking. Ruth and I have observed and grieved over the polarization of opinions among Christians about what it means to live justly. Our Christian faith is under criticism because of the lack of unity among Christians, presently so obvious over issues of racism, injustice and poverty. Not only has this damaged our Chrstian witness, but it has also impeded opportunities to work together to address real problems in our society. I have read three books recently which all seek to tackle the divide among Christians on the subject of living justly. In this post I will share my thoughts on these books.
The first book I would like to share is Compassion & Conviction by Justin Giboney, Michael Wear and Chris Butler, all of the AND Campaign. Giboney also recorded a short podcast which I recommend. One of the key takeaways from this book and from Giboney’s podcast is that the polarized public dialogue that many of us experience both on social media and in personal conversation is not very productive and, in many instances, is damaging between the extremes of two basic view points. On the one end are those who believe the American system is deeply and structurally racist. On the other end are those who believe that while our system is not perfect, anyone who works hard and obeys the laws of our land can and will prosper. That is a simplification of what divides Americans and more particularly, what divides Christians. From my perspective, representatives of the two poles walk in lockstep with others who already share their viewpoint, often quoting the same studies to support their points, using the same language, and not acknowledging any right on the other side or wrong on their own part. When I posted on Causes of Poverty back in May, I wrote that the Bible confirms that poverty is caused by multiple factors, including lack of work on the part of an individual on the one hand and structural injustice on the other hand. Giboney et al acknowledge the correctness and errors of both perspectives. They seek to decrease the defensiveness that plagues these conversations, because they value Christian unity and action. The breakdown of communication that results from either side failing to listen to one another, consider each other’s viewpoints and speak their own convictions with humility prevents unity, action and visible love among Christians which is key to our witness to the world and effectiveness in action.
A second helpful book was Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley. McCaulley opened my eyes to ways I have failed to balance valid teachings from the Scriptures with other teachings I have already embraced. Because of my vantage point as a White Evangelical, I haven’t been attuned to passages which comfort oppressed Christians or give validity to non-violent protest. McCaulley, like Giboney, seems able to evaluate varying viewpoints, correcting and affirming some aspects of each. I was blessed and moved by this book, and the shortness of this paragraph is not a reflection of my regard for it. I highly recommend it. McCauley helped me ask myself what I am not seeing as I study Scriture that someone from a less privileged background would see.
A third helpful book is Why Social Justice is Not Biblical Justice by Scott David Allen. At first glance, this book is off putting: it is anti-CRT (Critical Race Theory) from the start. Critical Race Theory is defined by Britannica as:
critical race theory (CRT), intellectual movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour. Critical race theorists hold that the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans.
Given human sinfulness, I agree that any group in power in a specific setting can use power to oppress systemically. Sociologist George Yancey also makes this point in this article on White Fragility. I believe American history reveals how our government has been guilty of favoring one people group and exploiting and oppressing other people groups. To that extent, I find the premise of CRT instructive. Some of those who consciously espouse CRT springboard from it to devise strategies for reform, some of which are Marxist and revolutionary. However, many Christians acknowledge systemic racism but neither consciously espouse nor reject Critical Race Theory in its pure form, nor advocate for revolutionary response. They are advocating for reform to better the lives of the disenfranchised in our country. So Allen’s alarm-sounding seems to be fighting against a “straw man,” and unnecessarily stirring up hostilities. Most people who don’t share his alarm would just put the book down. They will assume he has no good reason to bring up CRT, but simply wants to avoid really listening to the complaints about structural injustice.
But I read this book because a member of my congregation recommended it and I wanted to give it a fair hearing. Allen is more complicated in his thinking than that initial impression indicated. He has worked cross-culturally for years to alleviate poverty and suffering, and he admits that structural racism is a component of disparate outcomes in present day American lives. He is an advocate of generous capitalism, and seems to see the many ways Scripture teaches that living justly is a fulfilment of the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. By the end of the book, I agreed with his concern for how CRT and Marxism have infiltrated Christian thinking, prompting action which is unChristian. His final chapter is very helpful, albeit with flaws. You could read his last chapter (chapter 8) and gain from his wisdom.
As I mulled over the flaws in Allen’s book, I realized I should list some of them here. Scott Allen may not adequately see how his own thinking has been infiltrated by non-Christian ideology from the other side. He also praises America for abolishing slavery and legalized segregation, as if those reforms happened naturally, when in fact the status quo would likely have continued in the US if it were not for the many people who suffered war, imprisonment, injury and death to bring about those reforms. And perhaps the most significant fault with this book is that he glosses over the grief and trauma White evangelicals cause to less privileged people by their failure to express deep sorrow and repentance for historic injustice.
I am personally frustrated with the reactionary concern among many White Chrstians about Critical Race Theory. As I mentioned, many Christians of color suspect this concern to be a way of evading dealing with institutionalized racism and its impact on the disadvantaged. That may be an accurate suspicion to have. But there are also White Christians (albeit a minority) who raise concerns about CRT legitimately and I believe Allen is one of those writers. I urge Christians of color to not immediately dismiss all pushback that leads off with concerns about CRT, and try to truly listen to the concerns their White fellow Christians are actually expressing.
As I read all three books, my conviction about the need to dialogue together with other Christians strengthened. Allen critiques Woke Church by Eric Mason, Ruth’s pastor. Before he wrote that section, did he call Eric to talk brother to brother? Do these authors solicit readers of their manuscripts who have different viewpoints? Or do writers/bloggers only fight these ideological battles in some form of public media? Are we so confident that we see clearly that we only write from inside the silo of our own tribe? I don’t know the practices of these authors, but I believe we need real conversations with people of diverse perspectives where both sides are actively listening. These conversations should be governed by truth, mutual respect and family love (Ephesians 4:15, 25).
And finally, my conviction strengthened about the need to know our own Scriptures. We need to study the Scriptures, not only utilizing the trusted voices from our usual sources but also seeking out diverse interpretations and applications. God has much to say about these topics. In our next post, we will get back into the Scriptures.