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When Michael Card first started attending an African American church, he was struck by how the congregation worshiped Jesus as "Master." He soon learned that during slavery, calling Jesus "Master" was a subtle way of saying that their earthly masters were not their true Master. This insight led Card on a journey of discovery, as he wondered, "What did it mean for African American slaves to acknowledge Jesus as Master? What did Paul, Peter, Jude and James mean when they acknowledged themselves as Christ's slaves? What would it mean for you and me to take upon ourselves the title 'slave of Christ'?" A Better Freedom explores the biblical imagery of slavery as a metaphor for Christian discipleship. Michael Card shows how the early church saw Greco-Roman slavery as a window into understanding Jesus both as the Savior who took on the form of a slave, but also the true Lord and Master who sets us free from our own slavery to sin. Come, let yourself be captured by the Master. And discover how you can be truly set free.
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Short review: Michael Card works through what it means to be a slave to Christ in light of historic Roman era slavery (when the New Testament was written) and in light of race based slavery in the US. This is largely a book of scriptural exploration and context, but includes significant reflections on what we can learn from the Black Church's development out of slavery. Michael Card attends a historic Black congregation and the themes and teachings of that church are reflected throughout the book. There are not many books by White authors that focus on what the broader church can learn from the historic black church, but this is one of them.
I wish I had read this earlier. But I also wish is was a bit more academically focused. This is a popular level book and I think quite helpful. But there were times I wanted more, both in length and academic content.
My slightly longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/better-freedom/