Book Recommendation - Bloodlines

 By Anthony:

I would like to strongly recommend the book Bloodlines, by John Piper. It is the best theological book I've read on the issue of racism and ethnocentrism. There are so many important books to read about racism, especially by people who share their own stories of experiencing racism, or by authors who examine the history of the USA and the problems that continue up to today. But if you are looking for a thorough biblical and theological treatment of the topic, this book does a masterful job.

And you can download it for free here! It's amazing that almost all of Piper's hundred plus books are free. It's so fun to give my Ugandan pastor friends hundreds of digital books at a time, legally, including all of Piper's books. Piper's generosity has enabled me to experience the joy of giving as well.

He writes about hard issues with nuance and care. In this book, he looks directly and honestly at his own overt racism in his youth, and he also doesn't shy away from talking about the real problems of systemic racism today (what he terms structural racism). But what is most important, in my mind, is that he applies the Gospel, the good news about Christ, to all of these really tough racial issues.

Like many of you I have read dozens of articles and watched many videos about racism over the past 6 months. This book does what most of them don't. Piper looks at the issue of racism connected to every different aspect and feature of the Gospel. The Gospel is what the world needs. And the Gospel is what we need if we want to have any hope at fighting against racism in ourselves and in society. Over the past months, I have mourned a bit when I see that some people use the phrase - "we need to bring the Gospel into this" as a way to avoid dealing with the real practical issues of racism. But I've also mourned when people assume that because Christians want to bring the Gospel into the discussions then that means they don't really want to push for real change in our society. As Piper points out, the Gospel will make us aware of our guilt and racist sin, but the Gospel will not leave us paralyzed in guilt. The Gospel is the solution to our guilt and sin, and the Gospel is what will bring us together with people who are different from us. The Gospel is what will bring reconciliation. And the Gospel is what gives us humility, a willingness to listen, and the power to actually change how we behave.

Here are some other interesting things I learned from Piper in this book:

• I was shocked to learn that in some US states the laws against interracial marriage were only removed about 20 years ago.
• I now look at some Bible stories in completely new ways. For example, I now see the racial undertones when Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses for having a black African wife, and it is awfully interesting that God makes Miriam leprous as a punishment; it says she was made as white as snow. As if God was saying, "so you think it's better to be white do you?" 
• There was an excellent analysis of the importance of generalizing and having stereotypes in every day life, but also showing the ways that using stereotypes can lead to sin. He gave helpful strategies for avoiding falling into those sinful patterns.  
• Piper argued that ethnicity is a more helpful category than race, and I strongly agree.
  "When you stand before a man who is manifestly different from you in skin color, hair type, and facial features, and you want to respectfully and intelligently take his significant differences into account in your interaction, it is generally more helpful to know that he is a Korean-American-third-generation-born-in-Philadelphia than to know that he belongs to the Asian race. Or if you are an African American standing before a “white” man whom you would like to interact with in an intelligent and respectful way, it will probably be more relevant to know that he is a Danish-international-student-studying-urban-trends than to know that he belongs to the Caucasian race."