Reflections on “Might from the Margins: The Gospel’s Power to Turn the Tables on Injustice”

Books about justice are proliferating, with many devoted to the topic of racial justice. I wrote Might from the Margins: The Gospel’s Power to Turn the Tables on Injustice before a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd in 2020. Some who read my book said it arrived at an opportune time in our nation’s reckoning with its embedded racism.¹See Dennis R. Edwards, Might from the Margins: The Gospel’s Power to Turn the Tables on Injustice (Harrisonburg, VA: Herald, 2020). What follows in this essay is a discussion of my rationale for writing Might from the Margins, which includes brief treatments of some of the book’s themes. I conclude with a detailed reflection on my final chapter, “The Power of Love.”

Why Some People Explore Books on Racial Justice

Perhaps because so many people carry cameras with them all the time, we have been able to witness scenes of racial injustice, including episodes of police brutality and public lynching. Consequently, increasing numbers of white people—many of them Christians—have demonstrated renewed interest in race matters, with many requesting titles of books for information concerning racism. Countless social media platforms have displayed titles or pictures of books that people should read if they want to understand racial dynamics in America, particularly with regard to evangelicalism’s complicated history.

Some people told me their examination of racial issues stems from one of three broad perspectives. The first reason people request books on racial justice is that they desire to be equipped to help combat evil. Many people—including some of my friends and former parishioners—have committed to exploring issues related to racism, white supremacy, and anti-racist strategies with hopes of helping to eradicate racism. Many of these people are Christians motivated by their faith in Jesus, which leads to passionate concern for their fellow human beings. This passion provokes curiosity about how to engage in the work of justice. Whenever I have the opportunity (or is it the challenge?) to address issues related to race, the most frequent question I get from white Christians is some version of, “What should I do?” Since knowledge is power, these inquirers seek to arm themselves with information in their fight for racial justice.

A second reason some people explore literature related to racial justice is to refute the concerns of the overwhelming majority of minoritized and marginalized people. Members within this second group tend to rank the sources of their information according to how proximate the author is to whiteness. Whiteness is not so much about skin tone as it is about power. “Whiteness is a constantly shifting boundary separating those who are entitled to have certain privileges from those whose exploitation and vulnerability to violence is justified by their not being white.”²Paul Kivel, Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, rev. ed. (Gabriola Island, BC: New Society, 2002), 17. Anyone can be consumed by whiteness—even non-white people.

A third reason some people are drawn to literature related to justice is to gain information—like that first group of people—but not necessarily to be involved in anti-racist activities. These inquirers are tentative, unsure if racism is as serious a problem as some contend. Members within this third group are cautious of any author or speaker who seems too pro-Black, or too angry.

My Rationale for Writing Might from the Margins

My years of church involvement, pastoral experience, and academic work in biblical studies, especially given my proximity to American evangelicalism, all contributed to my motivation to write Might from the Margins. I highlight three factors:

1. The need to provide a biblical treatment of racial injustice.
2. My prior work in 1 Peter revealed how marginalized, diaspora people demonstrate the character of Christ, often to a greater degree than people of higher status.
3. My desire to encourage minoritized and marginalized people.

Racial justice is a biblical notion, not just a sociological one. Most of my family attended a charismatic storefront church in Queens, New York, that was a major part of my development. I’ll not take the space to discuss the Jesus-only, non-Trinitarian doctrinal stance of that church or some of its other idiosyncrasies. Suffice to say it was not a stereotypical evangelical church. The non-mainstream nature of my church background led me on a quest to find an ecclesial home. Before I found that home in the Evangelical Covenant Church, I spent about twenty years around and within the Mennonite Church (USA), and before that, the Evangelical Free Church of America.

In many conservative settings, racism was treated as a form of personal prejudice or bigotry but not as an institutional problem. The cure, according to some, was conversion: “get people saved” and they would learn to love. But love disconnected from structures and institutions—merely interpersonal—fails to address the systemic mechanisms that keep people marginalized. I argue in the book that victims of injustice are in the best position to define it and to know what it means to feel loved.³Edwards, Might from the Margins, 59–73.

Racism Is About Power

Racism is about power, not just bigotry. Religion, science, history, and other disciplines conspired to dehumanize and devalue non-white peoples. To address racism, we must look beyond individual hatred to policies, institutions, and societal systems that perpetuate injustice. As the biblical story of Israel’s enslavement in Egypt illustrates, exploitative power, not merely emotions, is responsible for injustice. While sociologists examine these systems, the gospel and biblical theology are intimately concerned with power, privilege, and the structures that sustain them.

One biblical passage that frames part of the book’s argument is 1 Corinthians 1:26–29, where God chooses “what is low and despised in the world” so that “no one might boast in the presence of God.” This upside-down economy of God raises the marginalized as exemplars of faithful discipleship. I spend time in the book reflecting on 1 Peter, where the letter’s diasporic status, its attention to the enslaved and to women, and its exemplars reveal how God uses the marginalized for the witness of the gospel.⁴Dennis R. Edwards, 1 Peter, Story of God Bible Commentary 17 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017).

Marginalized People as Exemplars & Solidarity

Marginalized people are our exemplars. Those who have suffered societal injustices—actual oppression—are raised as exemplars because they hold tenaciously to their faith and show themselves to be like the Lord. The civil rights movement is one such historic expression where marginalized, faithful people confronted injustice and helped secure civil rights that improved access to education and civic participation.

I also recount cultural examples to illustrate the dynamics of center vs. margins. For instance, I reflect on the film Black Panther and a scene in which M’Baku and his tribe drown out a presumptuous white authority—an image that resonates with marginalized people who are too often relegated to supporting roles in narratives that center whiteness.⁵Black Panther, dir. Ryan Coogler (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2018).

Solidarity among marginalized groups is crucial. I describe being moved by Asian American Christians joining Black Lives Matter demonstrations after the spike in anti-Asian violence during the COVID-19 era—and how such cross-group solidarity is a model for pursuing justice together.⁶See https://www.asianamericanchristiancollaborative.com.

Philippians, the Phalanx, and Standing Side-by-Side

Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 1:27—“standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel”—conjures the image of the phalanx: solidarity that creates an impenetrable shield-wall. For minoritized groups, there is a necessity to practice unity in Christ that does not depend on white supervision or approval. Solidarity builds capacity and resilience among those who have been alienated by the dominant culture.

Love Is Always the Answer

Addressing racism raises anxiety for many white people and a kind of PTSD for people of color. Nonetheless, love—understood robustly as dignity, justice, and truthfulness—must be the objective of Christian response. Love is not sentimental. Love “rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor 13:6) and entails an honest remembering, naming, and repair of historical injustices.⁷Miroslav Volf, The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006), 54.

Chanequa Walker-Barnes reminds us that internalized oppression occurs when people of color accept white supremacy as normative; Christian witness must counter that narrative and affirm the dignity and worth of marginalized people.⁸Chanequa Walker-Barnes, I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2019), 71.

Conclusion

Might from the Margins is part theological reflection, part testimony, and part pastoral challenge. I hope it will encourage those who have been minoritized and spur others—especially those in positions of influence—to listen humbly, learn honestly, and work in solidarity for justice. My primary hope for Christians within the dominant culture is humility: the willingness to listen, to be corrected, and to grow. Humility opens us to the transforming work of God as we pursue justice, unity, and love together.

This article originally published with the Covenant Quarterly on March 18, 2022.

Endnotes

• 1
  See Dennis R. Edwards, Might from the Margins: The Gospel’s Power to Turn the Tables on Injustice (Harrisonburg, VA: Herald, 2020).
• 2
  Paul Kivel, Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, rev. ed. (Gabriola Island, BC: New Society, 2002), 17.
• 3
  Edwards, Might from the Margins, 59–73.
• 4
  Dennis R. Edwards, 1 Peter, Story of God Bible Commentary 17 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017).
• 5
  Black Panther, dir. Ryan Coogler (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2018).
• 6
  See https://www.asianamericanchristiancollaborative.com.
• 7
  Miroslav Volf, The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006), 54.
• 8
  Chanequa Walker-Barnes, I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2019), 71.