"In a time where the church feels just as fractured as our nation, we need Christians who are equipped and compelled to repair the breach. In this book, Dominique Gilliard calls us back to biblical discipleship and shows the scriptural roots of some of the most divisive issues that impair our witness—privilege, systemic oppression, and racial justice. Subversive Witness is a gift to the church, offering us a new, faithful way forward amid the brokenness and polarity that abounds."

—Latasha Morrison, founder of Be the Bridge to Racial Unity, author of the New York Times bestselling book Be the Bridge: God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation

"In this historic moment, many are asking, 'What can I do?' With the passion of a community advocate and the inspirational teaching gifts of a seasoned pastor, Dominique Gilliard reimagines the biblical narratives of familiar characters such as Esther, Moses, and Paul to demonstrate how privilege can be generative and liberating, compelling us to participate as ambassadors of God’s justice in innovative and subversive ways."

—Robert Chao Romero, author of Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity

"Subversive Witness rightly highlights the connections between privilege and power. No matter what your social-cultural location, this book compels us to recognize the various forms of power we possess—oftentimes unjustly—and what we can do to bring about equity and justice. Those readers who have humble hearts to walk through the confession, lamentation, and repentance that this book encourages will cultivate a witness that can shake the world."

—Jemar Tisby, CEO of The Witness, Inc., author of The Color of Compromise and bestseller How to Fight Racism

"Dominique Dubois Gilliard reminds us about our proximity to privilege in Subversive Witness and how we as Christians are tasked to handle, recognize, and ultimately steward that privilege to bring heaven on earth. This is an important and timely message that needs to be internalized by the church and faith-professing individuals alike."

—Albert Tate, cofounder and lead pastor of Fellowship Church, Monrovia, CA

"How should Christians engage a world with systems and structures that are so often unjust, racist, and prevent human flourishing? How can Christians overcome their addictions to comfort and apathy to leverage their power and privilege for those in need of God’s liberating work? If these are real questions for you—and they should be—Dominique Gilliard leads us forward in offering robust answers through an absolutely persuasive reading of the Christian Scriptures. Gilliard shows us how the stories of Moses, Esther, Paul and Silas, and Jesus should form the church to be a people patterned after the character of Jesus who used his power and privilege for the good of those most in need. I can’t wait to use this book as required reading in my own courses!"

—Joshua W. Jipp, associate professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"With the myriad of challenges facing the church today, we need the prophetic call to go deeper—deeper into our faith and deeper into the biblical narrative. Dominique Gilliard has offered a gift to the American church by calling out our assumptions around the confoundingly contentious use of the word privilege. Our witness as a racially reconciled Christian community requires us to examine our failure as witnesses to the truth of the gospel because of our failure to deal with truth. Through this text, Gilliard calls us into a deeper discipleship that takes us deeper into God’s word so that we may find the healing balm of truth. May the reader take heed and act upon these important words."

—Soong-Chan Rah, Robert Munger Professor of Evangelism, Fuller Theological Seminary, author of The Next Evangelicalism and Prophetic Lament

"Subversive Witness initiates a long-overdue discussion within the church on power and privilege and the ways these have been deformed by empire. Far from taking the familiar approach of disavowing privilege, Gilliard instead calls Christians to leverage privilege for the sake of exposing oppression and tackling injustice. He offers a spectacular accounting of Scripture’s hope for collective liberation without curtailing its cost. As an academic dean and Christian ethicist, I hope to see this book as required reading in seminaries, churches, and theological institutions across the world!"

—Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom, dean of faculty, North Park Theological Seminary