Many of us involved in conversations about race and God’s people are in need of encouragement. It is all too easy to get hung up on what is wrong without building out a positive vision for diversity among God’s people.

Jarvis Williams’s Redemptive Kingdom Diversity: A Biblical Theology of the People of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021) is certainly a breath of fresh air in this conversation. He offers a robust biblical discussion of the people of God and calls us to marry orthodoxy with orthopraxy in ways with which the American Church has often struggled since its inception several hundred years ago.

Rather than give a full summary and review, I want to share five ways I've been blessed by Redemptive Kingdom Diversity.

1. Drawn to the Word of God

I graduated from a liberal arts college in Kentucky with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and a minor in religion. I have been simultaneously delighted and dismayed at the number of pastors and Bible teachers who have suddenly begun bringing sociology into their tweets, teachings, and books. I’m delighted because sociology is a common grace lens—though tainted by sin—to look at and learn about the world around us. It’s fun to look at society on micro and macro levels as we assess what drives actions, behaviors, worldviews, and cultures. However, I have been dismayed because it seems that theologians on both sides of the CRT/social justice debate are weaponizing sociology against one another while professing that we are together for the gospel.

When did all of these pastors become specialists in social theories? And when did one’s nuanced views on sociological theories become a litmus test for gospel fidelity? As pastors were talking more and more about social theories, I began to wonder when we’d get back to the sufficiency of Scripture we have so boldly heralded.

As I expected him to do, Williams drew me back to the text of Scripture rather than doling out the same bits of sociological jargon that have been circulating Fox News, CNN, and social media. In fact, Williams devotes 152 pages of his book to working through biblical theology, though not in the sense we commonly understand it. He walks the reader through a book-by-book analysis of how God’s people derived and lived out their God-given identity.

Here’s a little spoiler: “[S]ocially constructed identities do not determine spiritual status or privilege in the family of Abraham for those who are the transformed people of God through Christ by the Spirit” (p. 4). In other words, the Scriptures crush racial superiority and the notion that our primary identity is found in our skin tone, nationality, culture, or ethnicity. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t celebrate them. But we ought not wield them as a tool of oppression or hostility toward others.

2. Drawn to the Gospel

Like drinking a cool, crisp glass of water after a long day of pickup basketball, Williams’s focus on the gospel was refreshing. As many point fingers claiming that Williams is drifting from the gospel into a form of the social gospel or cultural marxism, Williams says:

The fundamental and foundational hope for redemptive kingdom diversity in a fallen world is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit-empowered people of God walking in obedience to the gospel in the church and in society with our Bibles open, with common sense, and with common grace in pursuit of the redemptive kingdom diversity for which Jesus died and rose again. (p. 169)

Before moving into practical applications (orthopraxy), Williams emphasized that we must have hearts renewed and changed by the Spirit through the power of the gospel. He reminds us that “justification by faith in Christ is the great equalizer between Jews and Gentiles,” meaning that there is no superior or supreme race, ethnicity, nationality, or other humanly constructed means of constructing our identity (p. 119, emphasis added). We all need constant reminders of these gospel truths as we wade into the deeply divisive political and social waters of our day.

3. Drawn Away From Worldly Theories

Today, everyone on social media seems to have an expert opinion on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Marxism. In evangelical circles, the ultimate trump card—no pun intended—is to lay the claim of social justice warrior, CRT sympathizer, or cultural Marxist. Sadly, even an unsupported accusation can tarnish a pastor’s legacy and reputation. Williams’s name has been dragged through the mud on social media and other outlets, but he has remained laser-focused on his spiritual and academic endeavors while staying true to the gospel doctrine he has so faithfully and passionately preached over the years. Though Christians need to engage these issues, Williams reminds us that “we must be rigorous exegetes both of the Bible and our own social locations” (p. 155).

On numerous occasions, Williams refutes white supremacy, CRT, and other cultural lies and half-truths. I’ll let him speak for himself:

Are there any superior races? “So-called biological races are not based on any real or measurable criteria” (p. 153).

Is racism the unforgivable sin? “[R]acism is one of those sins for which Jesus absorbed God’s wrath and one of those earthly and demonic powers that his death disarms” (p. 156).

Can minorities be racist? “[E]thnic minorities who commit racist sins must repent” (p. 158).

Should while people live in perpetual guilt while black people cling to perpetual victomhood? “Neither white guilt nor a victim mentality is a redemptive way forward for the people of God” (p. 164). However, “guilt because of sin that leads to repentance and restoration is helpful” (p. 166).

Is white supremacy the blame for every disparity in black communities? “One cannot (or ought not) blame White supremacy or racism for every disadvantage faced by Blacks,” though “the legacy of racism and White supremacy impacts certain (not all) Blacks in certain Black communities” (p. 165).

4. Drawn Toward Gospel Application

The trope “just preach the gospel” is often used to sidestep discussion and accountability with regard to racism, social justice, and the gospel. However, Williams’s entire final chapter is about the people of God and orthopraxy (putting sound teaching into practice). God’s people don’t have the choice to be doctrinally correct while living in neglect. Rather, we must be people who are not only hearers of God’s word but doers of it.

What does this look like today? How do we respond in biblical ways to the challenges we face in this cultural moment? Williams gives numerous examples, but for the sake of brevity I’ll highlight just one. Rather than merely speaking about the issues and lamenting the sin plaguing minority communities, Christians can mentor and disciple at-risk youth, teaching the gospel while modeling biblical manhood and womanhood. This means using the gifts, privileges, and resources we have to bring gospel-centered change rather than using political and secular models that “by themselves lead to a dead end” (p.173).

5. Drawn Toward Hope For Multiethnic Church Planting

Lastly, I walked away from Redemptive Kingdom Diversity with expectant hope as I pursue multiethnic church planting in a rural community. It sounds—and sometimes feels—impossible to think that God can do something like this, but I’m one of countless Christians with a zeal for this work who prays that I can stand in the face of fear and opposition. I am reminded that this journey will be a “long, painful, heartbreaking, joyful, and exhausting period of time” (p. 184), and I’m willing to pursue this work in my home, dinner table, living room, local church, and with people in the real world.

I don’t think I’m something special or even someone uniquely gifted for this sort of work. I am just a called man with a glimpse of redemptive kingdom diversity hoping to “patiently preach, teach, obey, pray, and act” (p. 185). Without the power of Christ at work in me, I won’t be able to do this work. But Jesus didn’t leave me as an orphan. I have the Spirit of Christ in me, Jesus interceding for me, and the Father generously giving me wisdom without reproach. Perhaps I can be a part of His massively glorious plan for redemptive kingdom diversity.

I don’t know if your takeaways will be exactly the same as mine. But I am quite sure that if you read this book you will be encouraged at the Lord’s faithfulness to build His multi-ethnic people. Thanks to Dr. Williams for writing it and I pray it will be widely read.

Redemptive Kingdom Diversity by Jarvis Williams is a book that outlines and surveys the theme of the people of God. Williams argues that God's choice to work through Abraham and Israel anticipate an ethnically diverse community that God has chosen to redeem through Jesus Christ. He suggests that God's chosen people in Christ are not the alternative people chosen to execute a failed plan that Israel was incapable of executing (contra dispensationalism), but that God's redemptive plan is fulfilled in his promises for both Jews and gentiles through Christ.

The first 2/3 of the book outlines nearly every book in the Bible in highlighting the premise that there is but one people of God. Williams shows through this outline that the idea that both Jews and gentiles are one in Christ is a message found not only in Galatians, but it is one found throughout all of scripture. Furthermore, Williams argues through this outline that the promises in the OT given to Israel are fulfilled in Christ and are for both Jew and gentile. This discussion has implications for dispensational thought as dispensationalists make the case that the promises in the OT for Israel are still for ethnic Israel. In the NT portion of the Biblical theology, Williams discusses passages like Galatians 6:16 that refer to believing Jews and gentiles as the "Israel of God." He also discusses Romans 11 and grafting of the Gentiles into the tree, which seems to suggest that there is one people of God.

Williams makes clear that this is not a book about race or racism per se, however, he acknowledges that the topics addressed in the book touch on those subjects. Williams also wants to communicate to readers that this is not a biblical theology work. Rather, Williams says that this is a book that proves an introduction to a biblical and theological survey of God's multiethnic and cosmic redemptive vision for the diverse people of God that are scattered throughout the world. Despite saying that this book is not about race, Williams nevertheless suggests that "the construction of race is based on lies."

The last 1/3 part of the book shifts from a biblical theology of the people of God to a discussion of orthopraxy. In this part, Williams makes the case that ethnic diversity and experiences should not be viewed with contempt in the church. He goes onto say that the multiethnic community in Christ should obey the gospel, be opposed to racism, and be in pursuit of multiethnic communities and churches. Williams repeats several times that race is a social construct and that the racial hierarchy is based on lies that certain racial groups are superior to others. Williams also has a very cursory look at a history of race in the United States, acknowledging that Christians have not always thought about race from a Biblical perspective.

At the end of the book, Williams has a section specifically devoted to the current increase in anti-Asian rhetoric and racism. He implores the church to stand against Asian racism because all people are image bearers and made in the imago dei.

My main critique of this work is that at times, Williams can be repetitive and wordy. There are a few instances where the same thing is said almost verbatim in different locations in the book (race and ethnicity are social constructs). These critiques would not prevent me from recommending this book to others. If you want a book that takes serious the issue of racism that is careful to exegete and outline scripture, I would recommend this book. Williams does a good job showing that a consistent biblical theology demonstrates that Christians should be opposed to racism and that Christians should long for redemptive kingdom diversity.