Subversive Witness: Scripture's Call to Leverage Privilege by Dominique DuBois Gilliard (review)

In Psalm 119:105, the psalmist writes to God, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." Dominique DuBois Gilliard's Subversive Witness: Scripture's Call to Leverage Privilege helps the light of God's word shine more brightly in a world at risk of succumbing to its own misunderstanding and misuse of privilege. Within the book's first few pages, Gilliard establishes that privilege is not only very real, but it is also biblical. He highlights the subversive witness of biblical figures who leveraged privilege for the good of God's creation and reminds Christians today that Jesus's gospel urges followers to do the same. To this end, Gilliard provides a two-pronged strategy for leveraging privilege to promote the inbreaking of God's will on Earth: (1) discourage the denial and abuses of privilege for harmful, sinful ends; and (2) encourage the acknowledgment and leveraging of privilege in ways that benefit others.

In Subversive Witness, Gilliard thematically develops this call to leverage privilege towards an inspirational climax. The first and final two chapters address privilege in the world and Church, while Chapters two through seven provide insight into the Bible's treatment of privilege in six biblical scenarios—three from the Hebrew Bible and three from the New Testament (not in chronological order). Each chapter concludes with six questions that encourage reflection and contemplative action.

President of Fuller Theological Seminary Mark Labberton's foreword opens the book with sincere witness of his journey in awareness of the challenges and opportunities of privilege. Labberton poses a question central to Gilliard's work: "How do we hold, deploy, or sacrifice what is ours for the justice and thriving of others?" (xv) In his introduction, Gilliard establishes a framework for the reader to "see privilege, address discrimination, and share power" in ways that "equally prioritize the Great Commission and the Greatest Commandment" (xviii; xxi).

In Chapter One, Gilliard addresses privilege and its "many forms… race, gender, citizenship, class, education, sexual orientation, and able-bodiness" (6). He explains that there are "two categories of privilege: those we can renounce and those we cannot fully forsake" (15). Gilliard is critically self-aware as he shares instances in which he has leveraged his privilege to benefit others. Gilliard argues that Satan tempts us to sin by exploiting our privilege, but "by candidly addressing privilege, we create a unique opportunity for the body of Christ to turn away from sin and reorient ourselves toward God and neighbor" (18).

In Chapter Two, Gilliard highlights how Pharaoh's daughter leverages privilege to resist systemic sin. He argues that the Spirit of God worked within the subversive witness of Pharaoh's daughter as she "broke the law to spare Moses' life" (31). Gilliard concludes, "This story demonstrates that the gospel has the power to break generational cycles of bigotry… sinful ideologies of supremacy" (32). In Chapter Three, Gilliard describes how Esther leverages privilege to stand in solidarity with God's people. He reveals that Esther's story reminds us that "God's restoration is never dependent on us, but… God invites us to partner in the work of restoration" (59). Gilliard argues that congregations should read Queen Vashti's sexual oppression as an opportunity to subvert the culture of sexual violence, particularly in the context of the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements. In Chapter Four, Gilliard describes how Moses leverages privilege to sacrifice his own comfort to create good for others—the liberation of his people.

Chapter Five portrays how Paul and Silas leverage privilege to create systemic change in Acts 16:16–30. In the language of today's society, Gilliard terms this pericope as one of "police brutality" (84). He details how "rather than exploiting their privilege to avoid suffering… they suffered in solidarity with the oppressed to expose systemic sin the Roman criminal justice system was mired in" (87). In Chapter Six, Gilliard calls Christians to take up...