This interview was published in Faithfully Magazine No. 2 (Fall 2017).
Trillia Newbell is an author, speaker and the Director of Community Outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission (ERLC), the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Newbell is passionate about God’s heart for diversity and often speaks and writes about race.
In this Q&A, Newbell explains why she believes talking about race is inseparable from the gospel, and encourages others to speak out about the topic as well.
You have blogged about choosing to speak and write about race against the advice of publishers who warned that doing so might harm your platform. Why is it important that you continue to write and speak about race, even amid pushback?
I just think that race has been politicized, but it really is a church topic. We need to take it from politics, and it needs to be a part of the language of the church because God has created people (from) all nations.
For me, not to talk about it seems that I would be bowing to fear, specifically in the area of politics, when this is something that God addresses throughout His Word. It’s important to me because I believe it’s important to the Lord. Otherwise, He could’ve created us without any distinctions. But He didn’t, and He said it’s good. So I think it’s something we have to address.
