A Long Review of Yancey’s Beyond Racial Gridlock – Part 4

Part 1 – Synopsis
Part 2 – Pros
Part 3 – Defining and Repurposing Terms
Part 4 – Conclusion

Conclusion:

Beyond Racial Gridlock is a tremendous gift to the church, whose racial divisions are often as marked and grievous as those of the culture around it.  In seeking solutions to racial problems, we can and should draw upon the strengths of each of the four secular models that Dr. Yancey outlines.  But he insists that the church cannot adopt a purely secular model to deal with what is, at its root, a spiritual issue.  Instead, he proposes a model for reconciliation that recognizes the depravity in every heart, our tendency to advance our own selfish ends at the expense of those around us.

What is needed, he insists, is genuine dialogue in which all people come to the table with humility, aware of their own failings, open to correction, and ready to listen.  Of all institutions, the church is uniquely equipped to provide such a forum because Christians, of all people, have an understanding of the depth of their own sin.  Moreover, Christians recognize that reconciliation, whether between races or genders or ethnicities or classes, is something that God has already accomplished once and for all on the cross. In reconciling us to Himself, God also reconciled us to each another.  For all who long to see that reality worked out in practice, I highly recommend this book.

Last: Beyond Racial Gridlock – Part 3

Related articles: