The Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith

Many people have become angry and frustrated with organized religion and evangelical Christianity, in particular. Too often the church has proven to be a source of pain rather than a place of hope. Forgive Us acknowledges the legitimacy of much of the anger toward the church. In truth, Christianity in America has significant brokenness in its history that demands recognition and repentance. Only by this path can the church move forward with its message of forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace.

Forgive Us is thus a call to confession. From Psalm 51 to the teachings of Jesus to the prayers of Nehemiah, confession is the proper biblical response when God’s people have injured others and turned their backs on God’s ways. In the book of Nehemiah, the author confesses not only his own sins, but also the sins of his ancestors. The history of the American church demands a Nehemiah-style confession both for our deeds and the deeds of those who came before us.

In each chapter of Forgive Us two pastors who are also academically trained historians provide accurate and compelling histories of some of the American church’s greatest shortcomings. Theologian Soong-Chan Rah and justice leader Lisa Sharon Harper then share theological reflections along with appropriate words of confession and repentance.

Passionate and purposeful, Forgive Us will challenge evangelical readers and issue a heart-felt request to the surrounding culture for forgiveness and a new beginning.

MAE ELISE CANNON (M.A., Trinity International University; M.B.A., M.Div., North Park University) is senior director of Middle East advocacy and outreach for World Vision USA. A former pastor, Cannon is author of theSocial Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World.

LISA SHARON HARPER (M.F.A., University of Southern California; M.A., Columbia University) is senior director of mobilizing for Sojourners and the author of Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican...or Democrat and Left, Right, and Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics. She serves on the board of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good and is co-founder and former executive director of New York Faith & Justice in New York City.

TROY JACKSON has served as pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati since 1994. He is the author of Becoming King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Making of a National Leader and editor of Volume VI: Advocate of the Social Gospel in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project. He has an M.Div. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Kentucky.

SOONG-CHAN RAH (M.Div., D.Min, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary; Th.M, Harvard University) is Milton B. Engebretson Associate Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. The author of The Next Evangelicalism and Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church, Rah was formerly the founding Senior Pastor of Cambridge Community Fellowship Church, a multi-ethnic, urban ministry-focused congregation in Boston.