Dominique DuBois Gilliard - Subversive Witness: Scriptures Call to Leverage Privilege

In a time where the church feels just as fractured as our nation, we need Christians who are equipped and compelled to repair the breach. In this book, Dominique Gilliard calls us back to biblical discipleship and shows the scriptural roots of some of the most divisive issues that impair our witnessprivilege, systemic oppression, and racial justice. Subversive Witness is a gift to the church, offering us a new, faithful way forward amid the brokenness and polarity that abounds.

Latasha Morrison, founder of Be the Bridge to Racial Unity, author of the New York Times bestselling book Be the Bridge: Gods Heart for Racial Reconciliation

In this historic moment, many are asking, What can I do? With the passion of a community advocate and the inspirational teaching gifts of a seasoned pastor, Dominique Gilliard reimagines the biblical narratives of familiar characters such as Esther, Moses, and Paul to demonstrate how privilege can be generative and liberating, compelling us to participate as ambassadors of Gods justice in innovative and subversive ways.

Robert Chao Romero, author of Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity

Subversive Witness rightly highlights the connections between privilege and power. No matter what your social-cultural location, this book compels us to recognize the various forms of power we possessoftentimes unjustlyand what we can do to bring about equity and justice. Those readers who have humble hearts to walk through the confession, lamentation, and repentance that this book encourages will cultivate a witness that can shake the world.

Jemar Tisby, CEO of The Witness, Inc.

Dominique Dubois Gilliard reminds us about our proximity to privilege in Subversive Witness and how we as Christians are tasked to handle, recognize, and ultimately steward that privilege to bring heaven on earth. This is an important and timely message that needs to be internalized by the church and faith-professing individuals alike.

Albert Tate, cofounder and lead pastor of Fellowship Church, Monrovia, CA

How should Christians engage a world with systems and structures that are so often unjust, racist, and prevent human flourishing? How can Christians overcome their addictions to comfort and apathy to leverage their power and privilege for those in need of Gods liberating work? If these are real questions for youand they should beDominique Gilliard leads us forward in offering robust answers through an absolutely persuasive reading of the Christian Scriptures. Gilliard shows us how the stories of Moses, Esther, Paul and Silas, and Jesus should form the church to be a people patterned after the character of Jesus, who used his power and privilege for the good of those most in need. I cant wait to use this book as required reading in my own courses!

Joshua W. Jipp, associate professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

In Subversive Witness, Dominique Dubois Gilliard offers the scriptural context that is so often missing from the conversation around privilege. With the critical reflection of a biblical scholar, the piercing proclamation of a prophet, and the deep compassion of a pastor, Gilliard methodically and carefully asks his reader to reimagine a radically discipled misunderstanding of repentance, power and privilege.

Gilliards timely and thoughtful analysis boldly calls us to overthrow the systematized mythology and ahistorical (often whitewashed) theology that privatized privilege often fostersvying instead for the living out of a Christianity which is authentically grounded in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and well positioned to subversively wield privilege as a revolutionary tool for creating a more equitable society where all persons can flourish.

For all who care deeply about the witness of the American church, this book is a must read. It is, quite simply, the best book on Christian ethics I have read in some time.

Rev. Cecilia J. Williams, president and CEO of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA)

This book is an absolute gift that can shake us out of our discontent and help each of us navigate a turbulent and troubled world to bring healing and wholeness to our communities and world. Dominique Gilliard not only offers a brilliant critique of what true repentance is all about but also offers us a way forward in how to use our privilege to usher in justice for our neighbors. He dives deep into the Scriptures, offering us much-needed and often-overlooked context to understand the challenges and choices some of our most revered biblical characters faced, reminding us that the challenges we face today are nothing new. But in the process, he offers us a new way of thinking about privilege and how to wield it to bring heaven to earth. At a time when the church has often taken a back seat in the face of so much injustice, I cant think of a better or more timely book to help each of us navigate and ultimately use who we are to subvert the status quo and bring about Gods kingdom here on earth.

Jenny Yang, vice president for advocacy and policy, World Relief

Subversive Witness initiates a long-overdue discussion within the church on power and privilege and the ways these have been deformed by empire. Far from taking the familiar approach of disavowing privilege, Gilliard instead calls Christians to leverage privilege for the sake of exposing oppression and tackling injustice. He offers a spectacular accounting of Scriptures hope for collective liberation without curtailing its cost. As an academic dean and Christian ethicist, I hope to see this book as required reading in seminaries, churches, and theological institutions across the world!

Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom, dean of faculty, North Park Theological Seminary

With the myriad of challenges facing the church today, we need the prophetic call to go deeperdeeper into our faith and deeper into the biblical narrative. Dominique Gilliard has offered a gift to the American church by calling out our assumptions around the confoundingly contentious use of the word privilege. Our witness as a racially reconciled Christian community requires us to examine our failure as witnesses to the truth of the gospel because of our failure to deal with truth. Through this text, Gilliard calls us into a deeper discipleship that takes us further into Gods word so that we may find the healing balm of truth. May the reader take heed and act upon these important words.

Soong-Chan Rah, Robert Munger Professor of Evangelism, Fuller Theological Seminary, author of The Next Evangelicalism and Prophetic Lament

Dominique Gilliard has given us a gift! As a pastor, Im regularly in conversation with people around matters of privilege. So much gets lost in the conversation because there isnt a comprehensive theological framework that guides our engagement with each other. This is why Im so grateful for this book. Gilliard has given us an accessible, nuanced, prophetic resource to help us name the power and privilege we possess and leverage it for the good of others and the glory of God.

Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, author of The Deeply Formed Life

Truly a book for these days. Subversive Witness gives a scriptural, historical, and hard-hitting way forward through the current divisive talk. Healing and hope at the highest level. Discipleship at its best! This should be a resource for every believer in Jesus.

Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent emerita, the Wesleyan Church