Crossing the Line: Culture, Race, and Kingdom

by Michael Burns

When reading Michael's book, I literally ran out of superlatives to describe each chapter. Early on, I predicted that it would easily be the best book ever written on culture and race from both biblical and practical perspectives... Gordon Ferguson, teacher, Dallas Church of Christ As a black man who has been a disciple for thirty-five years and served seventeen years in the full-time ministry, I just wanted to read the entire book without stopping. Everything I read addressed a concern I had but did not know how to express. I no longer have to be the voice of reason on race. Michael's book does it for me with far more palatable language and exponentially more spirituality. Tony Chukes, Denver, Colorado In this book, Michael Burns opens the doorway into dialogue and discussion of race and its impact on the culture and Kingdom of God. Issues of racism, race, and culture bring out deep passion and potential conflict in the world; and because disciples live in this world, they affect us, our mission, and our unity. Every potential problem like this, though, can be a pitfall or a platform. It can be our undoing or an amazing opportunity to put the power and wisdom of the true gospel on display. The real problems that threaten division within the body are not race or skin color as such, but history, culture, perspective, and the solutions that are typically offered by the world. Michael examines these agents of division before delving into the true answers found in God's word. The good news is that perhaps the biggest cause of internal strife and division in the early church was the issue of ethnicity and culture. That means that the New Testament Scriptures are full of principles and teaching that will propel us forward in our search to be the unified people of God that he has called us to be.

Genres: Christian

286 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Sarah Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book about racism in the modern church setting. It is written from a Christian perspective and contains solid spiritual advice and scripture, as well as meaningful definitions of racism, bigotry, prejudice, and some history. The author is clearly educated, smart, and empathetic. The reason I give this book 4 stars is that I feel that his tone is incredibly careful and cautious, measured and reasoned to the point where I believe his message gets a bit diluted, and the people who most need a heart-check on the issue of race can walk away from it feeling like “both sides just need to come together and be Christlike!” as opposed to “maybe I should stop listening to right-wing pundits and lurking on racist FB groups that belabor cruel, racist talking points so I can stop blathering on about Marxism and radical leftists and actually understand the issues.” Sorry - maybe that’s just my experience with certain evangelicals?!? And yes- I totally get that he is speaking to a very specific audience. He is trying to get white evangelicals- the most fragile of all “white fragiles” - to understand another perspective. I understand that we win nothing if people leave the table. But at some point I just feel that when people are so entrenched against “critical race theory” that they can’t even acknowledge that racism exists without getting all bent out of shape, I don’t know how worthwhile it is to have them at the table at all.

[Jambean8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the sometimes blunt candor of where American Christians have dropped the ball on racism while at the same time driving the point that race isn't really the issue we all say it is. That's a challenging feat to merge those two ideas together, but Burns uses thorough biblical study to make it work, then gives practical applications that some other more scholarly texts would either omit or scrape over the surface as platitudes.
To be sure, it is the bluntness and the groundedness that will make this book a blessing for some and a curse for others. It is challenging to every side of the issue, but good for him, in my opinion. It's time the church spoke up as only the church can. I am a better person for reading it.

[Samuel Youngblood · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Michael Burns seeks to draw out the ways the Kingdom of God influences perspective and life among Christians when it comes to race and culture. I found he did an excellent job of describing the divisions in the United States, critiquing both sides and giving fair credit to each perspective. His tone is nuanced, but convincing and calling to action. I was impressed with the depth of contextual explanation of Biblical passages that was conveyed in everyday speech. His points later in the book parsing our culture versus race and how we confuse the two was immensely helpful, reflective, and ought to be approachable for all.

[Leslie Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Burns has first hand experience and insight to cross cultural relationships. I wanted to hear more if his opinion and had to wait til the end of the book to learn what they were. However, his Biblical historical research was well expressed. ( I did not expect he book to be that heavy with church history).

[Jon Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book about the need for us to have a biblical and Christ centered approach to differences racially and how through this love for one another the kingdom of God is spread.