Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart

This book should be mandatory reading. In a day of binary oppositional language such as black/white, you're with us or against us, male female, sacred secular, private public - Cleveland seeks to explain the challenges humans face in truly appreciating and valuing differences. Cleveland systematically walks us through robust discussions on:* Categorizing - and the resultant distortions* Categorizing - and its affect on our interactions with others* Group tendency towards identity and self esteem protection and the implications of this protection* The role of bias in boosting self-esteem* Cultural threats leading to hostile conflict* How culture clouds our judgmentCleveland introduces the theoretical discussion in an accessible way and then supports her discussion with examples that most can relate to. No trite easy answers are provided. Instead, Cleveland recognized the difficulty: "The work of reconciliation is often excruciating. . . we must do the difficult work of addressing our biases and blind spots" (pp. 156, 157). She proposes Four elements as needed for "positive crosscultural interaction: 1) working toward a larger goal; 2) creating equal status; 3) engaging in personal interaction; and 4) providing leadership." (p. 158). Cleveland offers an explanation and an opportunity for us to individually and collectively reflect, understand our habitual ways of behaving, and possibilities for a positive way forward. A truly wonderful book!Critiques:I would have titled this Disunity and then scoped it as a case study using the Christian community as a lens from which to illustrate. My fear is that this worthwhile, informative read will be dismissed by some due to the words "in Christ." It truly deserves a wide reading and conversation within communities regardless of faith tradition.Bibliography - I know I know, it's in the footnotes. I like a compiled bibliography where I can quickly scan and find additional books to read (and purchase on amazon.com....of course - LOL).

I wish I would have read this book sooner. Like the subtitle says, the goal of the book is to uncover what keeps us (black Christians and white Christians in particular) divided. I had already learned so much of what she was saying and felt like I just wanted MORE. But this book would be really good for someone who is just starting out on the journey and wants to know why we can’t all just get along.I think this is an important statement: “People can meet God within their cultural context but in order to follow God, they must cross into other cultures because that’s what Jesus did in the incarnation and on the cross.” (p. 21)And this: “In theory, we support the vision of a diverse, integrated and interdependent body of Christ, but we certainly don’t want to venture outside our neighborhoods to live the vision.” (p. 26)Lots of interesting social science experiments on how we view people “like us” vs. “others.”Christena is smart and funny (my favorite combo) with a true heart for gospel unity, and I hope and pray that church leaders and Christians across America read her words and take them to heart.

I have never and I mean never read a book that unpacks disunity in such a personal, professional and profound manner. The level of research, detail and soul searching that went into every sentence, on every page, was intentional and poignant. Cristina is a spirit led story teller guided by truth and grounded in a multicultural perspective of the Gospel. This book has deeply informed my faith and my humanity and my desire to growth in both in a holistic way. This should common Christian literature for every university and church.

This book was recommended by a friend, & it was really good! I think that Christena Cleveland's book is important in helping Jesus followers understand how we're different sociologically, & how we can have helpful dialog & friendship in-spite of our differences. Great book!

FAR TOO OFTEN, as followers of Christ, we make sense of our world in a compartmentalized way. In Disunity in Christ, Christena Cleveland attempts, with great success, to integrate thoughtful sociological reflection on human behavior with a theological matrix for making sense of our division through the lens of the biblical narrative. Christena has done the church a great service by giving us a theological language and imagination for things social scientists have been observing for a while.What is even better is that she weaves these things together in such a way that it is accessible to everyone. I find myself simultaneously in the classroom, in theological study, and deeply reflective in regards to my own complicity in the division that wreaks havoc on the church today.Christena is asking questions which, from my view, are some of the most critical questions facing the church today. One of the great themes of God's Kingdom is how God is bringing together a New Humanity Family as, through Jesus, he reconciles all things to himself and all of us to one another. Christena's work in Disunity in Christ is a great help to any church who sees its calling as living into the trajectory of God's Kingdom future...today.

speedy delivery and brilliant book! Not finished yet.......

An insight and relevant issue that continues to work for many years to come.