What do you think?
Rate this book
The Offensive Church: Breaking the Cycle of Ethnic Disunity
Crises around race have put the church in a defensive posture, always reacting to racial conflicts in society. But Jesus wants more. He wants Christians to play offense by discipling people into a new humanity, where we push beyond mere diversity and into a biblical vision for ethnic unity. Bryan Loritts calls Christians to proactively and intentionally live out the embodied reality of a people at one with one another. We play offense by practicing a robust gospel, preparing reliable leadership, and providing relational environments so that the church becomes the aroma of Christ to our culture and gains ground against the demonic foothold of racism in all its forms.
- GenresChristian Living
192 pages, Hardcover
Published July 18, 2023
10 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 3, 2024
Book for class 10/10
October 22, 2023
A couple semesters ago, I took a class in creating multicultural unity in the church as part of my Doctor of Ministry studies. With all due respect to my professors and the materials used in the class, this is the book we should have been using. The Offensive Church is a heartfelt and experience-driven testimony of building ethnic unity in the church. Building on his years of personal and professional experience, Bryan Lorrits offers churches and church leaders a path toward a unity that is more than token diversity.
One of the issues that sometimes arises in books about racial reconciliation and ethnic unity is that they aren’t palatable to their intended audience. The message is lost because of the tone. And while I feely very deeply that these more polemical works are justified and truth-filled, I also feel very deeply that they often fail to build bridges and accomplish the change they desire to see. The Offensive Church, perhaps ironically, isn’t offensive. Instead, Lorrits offers a compassionate and irenic tone that stems from his prevailing thesis of building relational environments.
Through this, Lorrits offers a difficult but biblical message to Black Christians: forgive your oppressor. Lorrits walks the line between downplaying the brutal realities of historical and present racism and being unable to break free from the chains of its trauma. The message he presents to all people, regardless of ethnicity, is that identity in Christ is greater than identity in ethnicity. But he also upholds the value of ethnicity and outlines with clarity the pitfalls of being “colorblind.” The church presented in The Offensive Church is one that calls its people to repent, to forgive, to see the perspective of others, and to take on the mindset of Christ.
The Offensive Church is a challenging work, one that goes beyond the theme of building ethnic unity. The solutions that Lorrits provides—reliable leadership, a focus on discipleship, the creation of relational communities—are the solution to much of what ails the church. In the end, maybe it really is as simple as truly knowing and loving one another. In one of the book’s chapters, Lorrits writes that being a reconciler means having gentleness, patience, and humility. That tone is the hallmark of The Offensive Church and indicative of the type of culture the church must have if we are to find unity.
One of the issues that sometimes arises in books about racial reconciliation and ethnic unity is that they aren’t palatable to their intended audience. The message is lost because of the tone. And while I feely very deeply that these more polemical works are justified and truth-filled, I also feel very deeply that they often fail to build bridges and accomplish the change they desire to see. The Offensive Church, perhaps ironically, isn’t offensive. Instead, Lorrits offers a compassionate and irenic tone that stems from his prevailing thesis of building relational environments.
Through this, Lorrits offers a difficult but biblical message to Black Christians: forgive your oppressor. Lorrits walks the line between downplaying the brutal realities of historical and present racism and being unable to break free from the chains of its trauma. The message he presents to all people, regardless of ethnicity, is that identity in Christ is greater than identity in ethnicity. But he also upholds the value of ethnicity and outlines with clarity the pitfalls of being “colorblind.” The church presented in The Offensive Church is one that calls its people to repent, to forgive, to see the perspective of others, and to take on the mindset of Christ.
The Offensive Church is a challenging work, one that goes beyond the theme of building ethnic unity. The solutions that Lorrits provides—reliable leadership, a focus on discipleship, the creation of relational communities—are the solution to much of what ails the church. In the end, maybe it really is as simple as truly knowing and loving one another. In one of the book’s chapters, Lorrits writes that being a reconciler means having gentleness, patience, and humility. That tone is the hallmark of The Offensive Church and indicative of the type of culture the church must have if we are to find unity.
September 22, 2023
What an incredibly amazing read. Pastor Lorritts has an awesomely gifted way to express what God has given him. This book is a true love letter to the body of Christ on ways of living out our Christian faith together in unity. This is what comes to my mind, “Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful]. There is one body [of believers] and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when called [to salvation]— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all who is [sovereign] over all and [working] through all and [living] in all.” Ephesians 4:3-6 AMP.
What does living in unity look like in your surroundings? Within your scope of influence are you an active agent in the area of ethnic unity or do you sit idly by on the sidelines? Do you truly believe all humankind has the imago dei of God or certain groups are held in higher esteem?
This is an excellent book. I highly recommend reading it.
What does living in unity look like in your surroundings? Within your scope of influence are you an active agent in the area of ethnic unity or do you sit idly by on the sidelines? Do you truly believe all humankind has the imago dei of God or certain groups are held in higher esteem?
This is an excellent book. I highly recommend reading it.
March 18, 2024
If you're interested in taking steps in understanding with compassion the "others" side in the racial divide and in taking steps towards understanding your own role in the "why" and also how to take clear steps towards healing, read this book. It was not an easy book to read. Rather, it was an eye-opening, heart convicting, sometimes angry-making (in a healthy, productive way), discussion starting book. The study guides/question prompts at the end of each chapter were especially helpful. It was not a quick read because it promoted a lot of thought.
December 3, 2024
Incredibly proud of my pastor for writing this. He is just as talented a writer as he is a teacher. He asks the hard questions and is not afraid to share controversial opinions on the specifics. I found his perspective biblical and balanced on such tender issues. This would make a great study for a church small group and I may use this in the future with my own small group.
November 29, 2023
It is one of the best books I have read on church planting, but it is also a book that is for the future of the church.
June 3, 2025
a great book on leading racial reconciliation conversations in the church
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews