The RenewaNation Review 2021 Volume 13 Issue 1 | Page 18

THE NEW SEGREGATION

By Darrell B . Harrison and Cameron Buettel
Grace to You Editor ’ s Note : While this short series was first published over a year ago , we believe it could not be more timely . As worldly , corrupting influences seep into the church , we trust that these vital truths will help God ’ s people calibrate their hearts , minds , and words according to Scripture . The following blog post was originally published on May 6 , 2019 .

Can white people be saved ?

That ’ s a ludicrous question , or so you would think . Today it ’ s an actual point of debate and discussion in the church . It ’ s also the title of a new book from InterVarsity Press . That the book even exists — and that it was released by a once-respected Christian publishing house — is emblematic of an alarming and escalating trend within evangelicalism : Some professing believers are making skin color into a gospel issue .
For example , Kelly Brown Douglas , a dean at Union Theological Seminary , doesn ’ t hesitate to give an answer : “ You can ’ t be white and follow Jesus .” 1 Douglas doubled down on her staggering assertion by declaring : “ Just because you look like a white American doesn ’ t mean you have to act like one . The first step on the road to recovery is to own one ’ s whiteness and realize how it keeps you from your true identity as a child of God .” 2 That kind of biased rhetoric is now pervasive among social justicians .
Another prime example is pastor Thabiti Anyabwile , a council member with The Gospel Coalition . While Anyabwile doesn ’ t go to the anathematizing extremes of Douglas , he still has no qualms accusing generations of white people of guilt by melanin regarding the assassination of Dr . Martin Luther King , Jr . “ My white neighbors and Christian brethren can start by at least saying their parents and grandparents and this country are complicit in murdering a man who only preached love and justice .” 3
Unlike biblical justice — the precepts of which apply equally and indiscriminately to every person ( Lev . 19:15 )— social justice classifies people into groups and pits them against one another . This mindset has even infiltrated the church , where words like privilege , oppression , whiteness , and blackness have become commonplace in evangelical sermon vernacular .
Ethnic distinctions are now fostering a new and emerging class structure in the church , where those with the greatest claims to victimhood are afforded the loudest voice . Effectively , social justicians want to fight the prej-
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