Helpful Resources

 
 

Hello Church!

This past Sunday I had the privilege of sharing a message with you all that’s important to me — one about justice in the kingdom and the responsibility we have as Jesus lovers to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us through prayer and fasting into people of action. Part of being people of action is taking the time to listen and learn. If you didn’t have the opportunity to listen to this past Sunday’s message, I’d encourage you to do that first. It provides a good backdrop for the things I want to share with you in this post.

I wanted to share with my church family some of the resources and the voices that have helped guide my understanding of this conversation about race in America during (and before) this important cultural moment. Some of them come from inside the church, some from outside. Some I agree with 90 percent of the time, others closer to 20 percent of the time. Nonetheless, this is a collection of the most impactful voices I’ve come across that the Holy Spirit has breathed on to help me along on the path of encountering world-views unlike my own finite and incomplete one.

I fear the conversation presently taking place among my friends as well as those I disagree with is altogether too saturated with bite-sized clips and quickly digestible social media posts. It’s my strong opinion that we can’t learn much more than whether we already agree or disagree with someone from a two minute clip or a 140 character post.

I’m a reader. I always have been and I’m convinced that the absolute best way for us to take in and carefully consider what we want to learn about is to read (or listen to) a book. Long form communication suspends our judgements for a time. It allows a story to be told and evidence to be unpacked in a more meaningful way. In an age of communication dominated by what can only be described as instant gratification by means of a quick hit of dopamine, I think we’d do well to read more books and watch more films. I’m going to share some video clips with you as well because I understand that reading a book is a significant investment of our time, but I implore you to consider this an area that is worthy of such an investment.

Here’s my reading list that has aided me in developing (what I believe) is an increasingly compassionate outlook on race.

  • Disunity In Christ by Christena Cleveland

  • Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity by Edward Gilbreath

  • Doing Reconciliation by Alexander Venter

  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

  • Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum

  • To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

  • Bloodlines by John Piper (This one gets a disclaimer - to say I disagree with a great deal of John Piper’s theology is an understatement, however, his story of becoming aware of and working to overcome racial prejudice is powerful.)

And here’s a list of YouTube videos that are helpful in the conversation (but start with a book!)

Let’s have a conversation! I hope you get the opportunity to engage with these resources. As you do, let me know what you think by sending me an email (parkerfrey@rocketmail.com).

 
Parker Frey