Dhati Lewis - Advocates: The Narrow Path to Racial Reconciliation

Dhati is an incredible leader endowed with seasoned wisdom, prophetic urgency, and the gracious disposition that comes from a firsthand experience in the gospel. I have greatly benefited from his wisdom on this issue and through this book, you will also. Advocates is both touching and practical, prophetic and pastoral. Dhati has a way of nailing down the pivotal issues and painting a positive vision of the future. I am excited to recommend both him and Advocates to you!

J.D. Greear, PhD

62nd President, The Southern Baptist Convention

Pastor, The Summit Church, Raleigh-Durham, NC

Author, Above All

I met Dhati over a decade ago on a church planters retreat. I knew then that he was a leader of leaders. Through his bookwhich he is actually living out pastor of a multiethnic, reconciled local churchhe is leading us to a holistic vision of a reconciled church. Be prepared to learn afresh. I highly recommend this important book.

Derwin Gray

Founding and Lead Pastor, Transformation Church,

Indian Land, SC

Author, The High Definition Leader ; Limitless Life

I am grateful to Dhati who, as a friend and brother in Christ, has never run away from the tension that comes from pursuing racial reconciliation. I believe, as he does, that the churchs mission of evangelism and disciple-making will be hindered if we do not confront our divisions and pursue unity. Dhati is an incredible leader and his book approaches the subject from a clear, biblical foundation that encourages and equips believers to pursue unity in the midst of diversity.

Kevin Ezell

President, North American Mission Board

Ive been to the neighborhood in Atlanta where Dhati not only leads a church, but where his family is entrenched as advocates of the gospel. Ive read every word of this book and can tell it comes from his heart as a student of Scripture and a pastor of his community. All throughout I could detect Dhatis careful concern for what the text of Scripture has to say about reconciliation and how members of the local church can be obedient and practical in their own contexts. Advocates will give you a better imagination for how the gospel truly makes a difference when thinking about reconciliation, and for how Christians truly make a difference when acting with conviction.

Daniel Yang

Director, Send Institute

In matters of race and reconciliation, weve too often and too quickly taken the posture of aggravators, justifying that fighting is the biblical and righteous thing to do. After all, wasnt Dietrich Bonhoeffer the one that said, Silence in the face of evil is itself evil? In this book, Dhati masterfully explains the difference between being an aggravator and an advocate, and how we ought to respond as individuals and as the church in this age fraught with division. Dont miss this!

Daniel Im

Director of Church Multiplication for

NewChurches.com at LifeWay Christian Resources

Author, No Silver Bullets

We need a book like this right now. Fresh, winsome, and helpful, this book is full of insights into a topic that has divided so many of us over the years. Dhatis wisdom, pastoral heart, and biblical insight forged out of decades of experience make this a highly usable and accessible resource. This book will challenge you, enlighten you, convict you, and give you new tools, patterns, and practices on the long road to racial justice.

Michael Stew Stewart

Founding Director, Verge Network

Copyright 2019 by Dhati Lewis

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-5359-3467-1

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 227.86

Subject Heading: PROBLEM SOLVING / BIBLE. N.T. PHILEMON / CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Also used: English Standard Version ( esv ). ESV Text Edition: 2016. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Also used: The King James Version ( kjv ) which is public domain.

Cover design and illustration by Edward Patton. Author photo Chad Pritchard.

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To my wife, Angela, who helped a struggling, insecure young man find his identity in Christ.

And to Jesus, my Advocate, who makes reconciliation possible.

Acknowledgments

In my life and ministry, I have learned the incredible value of working with a team. The content of this book, the production of this book, and all the other things that go into a project like this would not be possible without the amazing team God has given me.

Angela, if you hadnt helped me find my identity in Christ, I would not be able to present this content from a biblical perspective. At a time in my life where the adjectives in front of Christianity defined me more than being in Christ, you showed me what it looks like to find security in Christ. You know who you are, and you dont change depending on what environment you are in. The security of your identity in Christ helped me see and learn how to place my own identity in him too. God has used you more than anyone else in my life to continually remind me who I am in Christ and who I am called to be. This is a gift I will be forever grateful for.

I would also like to thank Jessica for all the work you doseen and unseento keep my life organized and keep me out of trouble. You are a faithful steward, always multiplying the resources we are given and helping our team thrive. Stephanie, thank you for not only editing content but for being a person I can genuinely think through these principles with and have conversations with that help lead us toward more holistic thinking. Kevin, I am so thankful for you entrusting me with the opportunity to lead the Send Network and am so excited to see what God does in the years ahead. Carlos, thank you for being such an encouragement to me, always coming alongside me and cheering me on.

To the Send Network and the many practitioners across the country who are genuinely wrestling with these issues, thank you. Most of you do not have stages or platforms, but youre genuinely wrestling through hard issues in your daily life in some of the most dense and diverse cities in North America. Thank you for allowing me to lead the network and for your faithfulness in pursuing Gods heart for people to be reconciled.

And finally, I would like to thank my Blueprint family for being a healthy place where we can run to the tension together and people can have honest, difficult conversations that lead to authentic life change. And to the Blueprint elders and Titus 2 Women who co-labor together, thank you for your tireless work to help our family live out our theology as we navigate through hard and difficult seasons of family life.

Preface

My name is Dhati Lewis. I am a Black man, married to a White woman, pastoring a diverse church.

For about a decade, we have been learning and growing from the blessings and challenges weve faced as a diverse church. Having different people from different walks of life in the same church family is beautiful, but its not easy.

Diversity is such a buzzword these days, and as pastors, we all seem to want it. It seems most Christians also want to be part of a diverse church. But Ive found that once you are in one, you discover how much it challenges some of your most deeply imbedded theological convictions. Almost like you can be an expert in knowing your Bible, but when it comes to issues of race and division, the Bible can be forgotten or dismissed.