Disunity in Christ

Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart

By: Christena Cleveland

Narrated by: Randye Kaye

Despite Jesus' prayer that all Christians "be one", divisions have been epidemic in the body of Christ from the beginning to the present. We cluster in theological groups, gender groups, age groups, ethnic groups, educational, and economic groups. We criticize freely those who disagree with us, don't look like us, don't act like us, and don't even like what we like.

Though we may think we know why this happens, Christena Cleveland says we probably don't. In this eye-opening book, learn the hidden reasons behind conflict and divisions.

Learn:

• Why I think all my friends are unique but those in other groups are all the same
• Why little differences often become big sources of conflict
• Why we are so often victims of groupthink and how we can avoid it
• Why choices of language can actually affect unity

With a personal touch and the trained eye of a social psychologist, Cleveland brings to bear the latest studies and research on the unseen dynamics at work that tend to separate us from others.

©2013 Christena Cleveland (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"With a personal touch and the trained eye of a social psychologist, Cleveland brings to bear the latest studies and research on the unseen dynamics at work that tend to separate us from others." ( Light Magazine)

Disunity in Christ speaks of a

Disunity in Christ speaks of a very difficult action required by Christ. To truly see others as Christ sees them, children that need Christ and the salvation he died to provide for ALL the world.

Thouhtful

Intriguing study! Thought provoking content with a relevant application toward understanding racial reconciliation in church.

Unity is actually a pretty big deal

I am not sure why it took me so long to get around to reading Disunity in Christ, but it has. The book came out four years ago and I purchased it two years ago for kindle. But I didn’t actually read it until last week when it came out on audio.

I did not need convincing that Unity is a pretty important part of Christianity. The problem is not that unity is important, but what unity means and what we should be doing about the lack of unity.

Books on Christian unity are not completely unusual. But most books are either theological explorations of the concept of unity, or practical training on peacemaking. While there are theological reflections and practical ideas on how to build unity, what is unique is the social science that helps to explain both why unity is important and why unity is hard to achieve solely with human means.

Christena Cleveland is a Social Psychologist. She is currently a professor at Duke Divinity School and a frequent trainer. The background in social science research, along with a number of studies that she gives her credibility.

I wanted to push back multiple times against some of the focuses of Disunity in Christ, but most of my areas of complaint were answered by the end of the book. Much of my push back is against her assertions that did not seem to give enough weight to the role of power and abuse or too much weight to keeping those in power as part of the discussion and movements toward unity. It is not that she is unaware of those issues. But the focus of the book is to get everyone to hear the call toward unity.

It is not that those in power don’t need to work on unity. Over the past year or so as disunity within the church has become harder to ignore, especially around issues of race and gender and politics. As an African American woman, Cleveland is not ignoring these issues. But she also isn’t focusing solely on issues of gender or race or politics. What I keep seeing is a resistance to those in majority spaces to recognizing that there is a problem. Or when they do, the problem becomes those that are identifying the problem, not the actual issues that are being raised.

Cleveland I think writes Disunity in Christ primarily for those that are resistant to unity, not those that are already convinced that disunity is a problem. I have read a number of books on unity from a variety of perspectives. I think this is probably one that I will frequently recommend in the future. It is readable, quick, practical, theologically informed, filled with social science research, psychologically sophisticated and still practical.

Hope

It was presented in authentic honesty with hope. I appreciated her personal struggles. The church has much to learn and grow in this area.

Excellent book!!!

The author is covering a challenging topic and exposing the patterns of thoughts held by many American Christians. While this can be convicting, she is gentle as she reveals our need to change. Thanks!!!

Don’t buy, save your money

The book is poorly written, repetitive, sophomoric and boring.
Unfortunately, the author seems to have no background in theology yet tries to interpret the Bible and apply it to her field of study, social sciences. Her hermeneutics is horrible.
The content is divisive and offensive. The author tries to shame the reader. Her assumption is that everyone thinks like she does, and therefore is constantly pointing the finger at the reader, telling them how they think and how they should think. It’s unfortunate that she would think everyone has her point of view. This must limit her ability to affect real change when in fact, she’s trying to do the opposite. Perhaps, when the author no longer feels wounded, she can revise her writing and come from a place of healing and love and provide words that will connect Christians.