10 Minutes With … Edward Gilbreath

c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Edward Gilbreath, an editor-at-large at Christianity Today magazine and editor of Today’s Christian magazine, calls his new book “Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity.” Gilbreath, 37, spoke about being a distinct minority in many evangelicalsettings, the state of race relations within evangelicalism and how politics […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Edward Gilbreath, an editor-at-large at Christianity Today magazine and editor of Today’s Christian magazine, calls his new book “Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity.”

Gilbreath, 37, spoke about being a distinct minority in many evangelicalsettings, the state of race relations within evangelicalism and how politics can affect those relations. Following are excerpts.


Q. Why did you decide to call this book “Reconciliation Blues”?

A. The book grew out of my experience of being a black Christian who found himself in mostly white Christian settings all his life. I was educated at an evangelical college. I’ve attended mostly white churches. I work at a predominantly white Christian ministry. Through that experience I’ve felt a lot of the ups and downs. I felt frustration at times, a lot of angst, loneliness, but also a sense that God has called me to where I am and I’m committed to that.

I’ve spoken to other black evangelicals; they feel like they’re in the evangelical world but not fully a part of it.

The blues _ that traditional authentic musical genre that grows out of black history, the black community _ describes that sort of raw gut-level expression of our deepest pain.

Q. What did you mean by the subtitle: “A Black Evangelical’s View of White Christianity”?

A. It speaks of that cultural blindness that many white evangelicals display, that their way of worship, their understanding of theology, their politics and social values are the only ones, or that they’re somehow superior to all the others.

Q. When you started at Christianity Today in 1992, you were the only African-American on staff. Now, there are nine, out of about 150. Why it is difficult for some evangelical organizations to diversify?

A. There has to be a sense of some sort of desire, and recognition of a need. A lot of organizations haven’t had that moment where they come to that realization that they’re not doing well in that area and that they need to be doing better.


Q. What’s it like when you’re the only person of color in the room?

A. One of the things that you deal with is being approached and looked upon as the authority on African-American everything, on the community, on the history, on the celebrities. There’s that sense of wanting to represent the community but also realizing there is no way that I can speak for all of black America. We’re not that monolithic.

It’s dealing with questions like, “Why are there black colleges and black beauty pageants? If whites tried to do things like (that) they’d be labeled racist.”

Q. How do you respond?

A. I would say that that kind of remark shows an ignorance of the history of the racial situation in our country. African-Americans and other minorities were not permitted to truly assimilate and be a part of the mainstream community, so they started their own churches and schools, to have places of their own where they could celebrate their culture, where they can find dignity.

Q. What keeps you there instead of moving to an environment where you might not have those challenges?

A. It is feeling called to where I am. I’ve had so many opportunities to meet people and to write articles that call attention to the issue of race and the church and the need for diversity. Over time, I’ve recognized that I’m a bridge builder _ sometimes it’s intentional, other times it just happens.

Q. You said that racial unity is about more than annual choir exchanges and King Day speeches. Is that where most churches are with race relations?


A. A lot of our churches get stuck there. Those types of efforts are important, but if that’s all it is and we don’t have to think about it for the rest of the year, then I don’t know if it’s really serving that greater purpose that it could.

Q. You talked about how white Christians and black Christians need to do more than say “hello” to each other at church, and should do things like watch a sporting event together after services. Do most Christians not do this?

A. There’s a discomfort there. Sometimes I think it’s easier just to leave it at a “hello” rather than really take it home and make it more personal. It’s not to say that there aren’t positive examples of that happening out there.

Q. You mentioned that white evangelicals sometimes won’t consider African-Americans to be “real Christians” if they are not conservative politically. Is political intolerance a part of the hesitancy among evangelicals?

A. Definitely. We’ve allowed our politics and our ideologies in a lot of ways to define who we are as believers, to divide us in a lot of ways.

Q. You say you and other black evangelicals sometimes get discouraged, yet you haven’t given up. Why not?


A. I don’t think I could give up if I tried. It goes back again to that sense of call, that God has put me in this place. Even though there’s a certain discouragement and fatigue _ the blues _ that kicks in from time to time, I can’t imagine not pursuing this because I feel this is God’s heart.

It’s a gospel charge. The credibility of the gospel is at stake here.

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