Subversive Witness

Scripture's Call to Leverage Privilege

By: Dominique DuBois Gilliard, Mark Labberton - foreword

Narrated by: Percy Bell

Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Learn to leverage privilege.

Privilege is a social consequence of our unwillingness to reckon with and turn from sin. But properly stewarded, it can help us see and participate in God's inbreaking kingdom. Scripture repeatedly affirms that privilege is real and declares that, rather than exploiting it for selfish gain or feeling immobilized by it, Christians have a responsibility to leverage it.

Subversive Witness asks us to grapple with privilege, indifference, and systemic sin in new ways by using biblical examples to reveal the complex nature of privilege and Christians' responsibility in stewarding it well.

Dominique DuBois Gilliard highlights several people in the Bible who understood this kingdom call. Through their stories, you will discover how to leverage privilege to:

• Resist sin
• Stand in solidarity with the oppressed
• Birth liberation
• Create systemic change
• Proclaim the good news
• Generate social transformation

By embodying Scripture's subversive call to leverage - and at times forsake - privilege, listeners will learn to love their neighbors sacrificially, enact systemic change, and grow more Christlike as citizens of God's kingdom.

Reflection questions are available in the audiobook companion PDF download.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Dominique DuBois Gilliard (P)2021 Zondervan

Powerful

The reader’s performance is not the best but don’t let that get in the way of hearing the powerful and prophetic content of this book.

Great and Compellind Read

I really enjoyed the fresh voice of the reader. His voice was young and fresh, not so "matured" by years of experience in the field. This his reading sounds more like the voice of the author, whom I've heard speak, remaining true to the spirit of the work.

Highly recommended

Well written, thought provoking, and prophetic in speaking to the issues of today with wisdom and grace, while not sugarcoating the truth. A worthwhile read for anyone, and especially those who like me have more privilege than I often realize. Intellectually stimulating, yet with enough practicality to leave a feeling of possibility and agency for the average citizen. A few mispronunciations in the performance made it difficult a few times to understand, but did not detract from the greater thread so well woven throughout the book.

Good material, not a great reading of the material

Very strange sentence breaks and many mispronounced words. I haven't before come across a reading quite like this.

Biblical and Actionable

I'm a nearly-40 white American man and 16-year tech veteran. I've got all kinds of privilege, a word that I used to hear as "I should feel very bad about myself." But I'm trying to learn, and Gillard does a fantastic job here of disarming that fear, and instead illuminating as he says: Scripture's call to leverage privilege. The fact that he covers so much ground in ~5 hours (and I was able to easily listen/understand at 1.5-2x speed) is really impressive.

I loved the format, as each chapter centered around a key event in the bible where someone with privilege leveraged it for others (Pharaoh's daughter, Moses, Jesus, Zacchaeus). I thought his analysis of Vashti/Esther was particularly outstanding as was his general treatment of women throughout.

Beyond the biblical exploration, Gillard links each to very clear practicals that are going to warrant revisiting (I plan to order a paper copy now to flip through as a reference) - it's challenging in all the right ways. Making me think about the ways I've allied myself with the powerful rather than the powerless, and ways where I'm nowhere near "proximate" enough to those who God calls me to try to care for.

Excellent book, poor narration

Powerful, essential read for every member of the American Church. Unfortunately the cadence of the narrator was difficult to follow, and he frequently mispronounced common words which I found really distracting. I’d recommend the physical copy (or ebook!) over the audio version, but definitely don’t skip this title altogether.

Churchgoers, take note!

This should be required reading for anyone who claims the title, evangelical Christian. it is a desperately needed wake up call for the Church.

Truth after truth!

He approaches the topic is a plain and truthful manner. I recommended this book to a study group before being halfway through. I can’t recommend it enough!