Mostly I find the internet to be a soul-sucking place lately. But yesterday I discovered something that was so utterly hopeful.

It was a response from the authors of Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair (which was one of the best books I’ve read this year, you should definitely read it) to a critical review of their book by The Gospel Coalition blogger Kevin DeYoung.

It’s a long response. The entirety of it is spectacular, and will give you a good sense for how thoughtful, deep, and precise the book itself is.

But here’s the gem that made me stand and cheer:

​​“Put most simply, our view is this: While Reverend DeYoung’s subtitle indicates that he believes his review to be an expression of a theological project, we believe his review actually to be expressive of a cultural project that seeks perennially to justify itself on theological grounds. And that cultural project is, in one inelegant and highly disturbing phrase, white supremacy.”

Dang, right? So brave.

The way they phrased this was so bracingly simple, and it left me wondering how much of the theological projects that happen in this country in general could be called by the same name. How much of what we call Christianity in America is actually white-centered, white-serving, white supremacy? How much energy have I, have we, has the church in our lifetimes devoted (to borrow a phrase from the article’s title) to “sanctifying the status quo”?

I hope you skip DeYoung’s review and just read the authors’ inspiring response. More than that, I hope you’ll read the book, and talk about it with your friends. I got to talk about it with a dear friend of mine, Josh Banner, and this podcast lets you listen in on that conversation. You’ll hear me say that I believe the book is such a timely, valuable resource for churches and for individual Christians. It’s giving me hope.