This Wednesday, March 28, John Piper and Tim Keller will team up in New York City for a conversation, moderated by Anthony Bradley about the gospel and race.

Christians have a Gospel that is profoundly influential, transformative, and significant in the way we think about race, said author and pastor John Piper.

Piper, of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn., is set to join Pastor Tim Keller, of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, and King’s College Professor of Theology Anthony Bradley in a conversation on the Gospel and race this week in New York City.

As a preview to the talk, Piper explores how Christians should approach race issues in a March 22 blog entry amid the uproar over the death of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old African-American teen killed in February by a 28-year-old man named George Zimmerman. There have been rallies and petitions signed across the U.S., and thousands are calling for Zimmerman’s arrest, saying the shooting was racially motivated.

Piper says that even though it’s year 2012, race still plays a huge role in our society. He notes that it is also an issue central to biblical salvation. In the New Testament there were incidents “constantly revolving around ethnic realities,” Piper highlights.

Christians should be aware of and thinking about how to approach these tensions when it comes to race in the 21st century, he says. Piper cites Hebrews 13:3 as a reference point for conversations about race: “Remember those who . . . are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

Read More