Edward Gilbreath Answers The Faithful Fifteen
February 2007
Writing
FaithfulReader.com: Could you give a brief summary of your latest book?
Edward Gilbreath: RECONCILIATION BLUES grew out of my experience as a black Christian who was educated at an evangelical college, and who now works, worships and serves in mostly white evangelical settings. I'm usually the only African American in the room most of my days. Over the years, I've talked to dozens of black evangelical men and women who have been on similar journeys, and I've heard this common theme: They feel called to the evangelical world, but not fully a part of it. Many of them are strongly committed to bridging the racial divide that still exists among Christians, but they're often discouraged by the slow rate of substantive progress. They also sense that, for a lot of white Christians, the "race" thing has become too exhausting and that blacks who continue to harp on it just need to get over it. I decided to call this frustration that many black evangelicals feel the "reconciliation blues." Traditionally, the musical genre of "the blues" describes that raw, gut-level expression of one's deepest pains and yearnings. It's not whining; it's a form of spiritual confession.
FR: What role does faith have in the book? What inspired you to write it?
EG: The book is all about the intersection of faith and race in the evangelical world. In passages like John 17 and Matthew 5:23-24, the Bible seems to indicate that Christian unity and reconciliation are important to God. So we, as His people, need to make it a priority too.
Forty years after the civil rights movement, I still hear people intoning those sobering words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "Eleven o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America." There are many reasons for this, and many of them have nothing to do with racism. But, it still says something about the condition of our faith. So, I needed to write the book for my own personal understanding of this issue, as well as for the mission of contributing to the larger discussion about evangelicals and race relations.
FR: What do you feel your calling is as a writer?
EG: My call, both professionally and personally, is to be a bridge-builder --- between different races, cultures, generations, denominations. Almost everything I write or develop for my own magazine (Today's Christian, a sister publication of Christianity Today) has something to do with bringing people of faith together.
FR: Who are your favorite authors and mentors? How have they influenced your work?
EG: Ah, there are so many. But I'll try to keep it brief. C. S. Lewis, Tom Skinner and Philip Yancey are among my favorite Christian writers. They've inspired me to be honest and direct in my writing. Their work has helped me understand that you can write about faith in an intelligent and conversational way that doesn't get weighed down with Christian platitudes and clichés.
In RECONCILIATION BLUES, I mention the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar as an early hero. I could never express how important African American writers like Dunbar and Ralph Ellison were to me as literary role models during my teen years. And among contemporary journalists, I devour almost anything by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker and Tim Stafford in Christianity Today.
FR: Do you have any favorite stories of encounters with readers?
EG: I recently started blogging in support of my book, and it has opened up a whole new world to me in terms of connecting with my readers. I've been working in magazines for more than a decade now, and I'll never grow tired of receiving letters, emails or phone calls from people who were encouraged, challenged or changed by something they read in my magazine. It is such a privilege to communicate God's truth and love through the written word.
Spirituality
FR: Tell us about your personal faith journey.
EG: I grew up in a mostly African-American neighborhood on the "poor" side of Rockford, Illinois. But as an eight year old, I started attending Sunday school at a white Baptist church that sent a bus into my community. That was where I first began to understand who Jesus is --- and the doughnuts after class weren't bad either.
I carried on a sort of superficial relationship with Christ until my sophomore year in high school, when God started getting my attention through books like Lewis's MERE CHRISTIANITY and life events like my mom's death during my senior year.
I was adopted as a young baby, saved from what could have been a pretty miserable path in life. I think being adopted has given me a deeper appreciation for the way God reaches out to each of us to bring us into His family.
FR: Who are your spiritual mentors?
EG: I could rattle off a very long list of folks who were instrumental in my spiritual growth, but it would probably cause your readers to click over and check their email. Let me just mention one person in particular --- the late Eugene Garner. He was the pastor of the small Baptist church I attended as a teenager. He inspired me to dig deeper into the Bible, helped me discover authors like Lewis and George MacDonald, and gave me my first opportunities to share God's Word before an audience.
FR: What is your current church community involvement?
EG: We attend a fairly young Evangelical Free church plant with a vibrant outreach to the community. My wife, Dana, and I teach kids' Sunday school --- well, she's actually the teacher; I'm her assistant. And I've recently started singing with the worship team.
FR: What are your Scripture reading habits? Prayer habits?
EG: As the editor of a Christian magazine, I feel as if I'm doing a new topical Bible study with each article I edit. I'm fortunate that my job forces me to stay in the Word. At the same time, I have to challenge myself not to let work be the only time I really dig into Scripture. Our weekly small group helps keep me on track.
Besides family prayer times with my wife and kids, I find myself praying throughout the day --- for the people who will be reading the article I'm working on, for the woman who sent an email wanting help with a prodigal child, or for the family in the minivan in front of us at the fast-food drive-thru.
FR: If you had one message for Christians today, what would it be?
EG: We need to beware of letting our cultural preferences and political ideologies influence our theology and the way we treat other people --- especially our fellow Christians. It's becoming old hat to hear people outside the church tell us that when they hear the term "evangelical Christian" --- and in some cases, simply "Christian" --- the first thing they think of is right-wing politics or angry protesters.
We'll never change the way all people think about us; some folks are going to dislike Christians no matter what. But wouldn't it be something if "love" and "grace" were among the first things people associated with the church? We can do a better job at demonstrating God's love, and I think part of it can start with how we get along with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
Life
FR: Tell us about your family. Spouse? Kids?
EG: Dana and I have been married nearly 12 years. We have two children --- DeMara (7) and Daniel (5). Dana has a degree in elementary education but is currently a stay-at-home mom, where she uses her degree every day.
FR: Do you and your family have any special traditions?
EG: One of our favorite family activities is taking DU's (Destinations Unknown) on weekend mornings or afternoons to a host of places --- the zoo, the Shedd Aquarium, the children's museum. The idea is for the kids to guess where we're going before we get there. They usually figure it out by the time we're halfway there, unless it's a first-time DU.
FR: What are some of your favorite hobbies and activities?
EG: Besides reading and writing, I love all kinds of music --- rock, jazz, R&B, classical. In fact, I was the lead vocalist for a rock band during high school; we played everything from Van Halen to U2. And I recently teamed up with three other thirty-something dads from my company to form a garage band. We performed at the Christianity Today picnic, and then the Christmas party. I'm also a huge fan of the Chicago Bulls.
FR: What are your media habits? Television? Movies? Music? Etc?
EG: With two young kids, I don't have a lot of time to watch television. If I do, it ends up being PBS Kids or the Disney Channel. (I must confess, I've become a closet Disney Channel fan.) I love listening to National Public Radio. Chicago has one of the best public radio stations in the country, and I get a lot of great information and story ideas from those programs. We enjoy going out to the movies as a family. I think I've seen every computer-animated film released during the past few years. My wife and I try to catch up on "grownup films" when they're released on DVD, but by the time we get the kids to bed, we're usually too tired to watch a two-hour movie.
FR: What excites you about life?
EG: Bringing people together who would never have any reason to connect otherwise. If through an article, book or personal encounter I could help people step outside their corner of the world and expose them to a broader perspective on life and faith, then that gets me excited. I think Jesus was the ultimate bridge-builder --- reconnecting us to God and to our true selves. I just want to follow His lead.
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RECONCILIATION BLUES: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity