Elusive Grace

“Scott Black Johnston offers us an important invitation Elusive Grace. He brings to the conversation his experience as a pastor and as a teacher of preaching. We see this throughout the book as he brings in stories and experiences that highlight the message. It’s accessible for congregational use. That is by design. It is rooted in Scripture and theology, but also in real life. It is my hope that congregations might pick up this book and use the study guide to have important conversations that could begin the process of healing the world’s divides by bringing healing to the divides present in our congregations so that together we might become agents of justice and voices of healing. Mainline Protestant churches may never reclaim their former status as the primary molders of the moral conversations in our nation, but we can be witnesses to God’s Elusive Grace, and in doing so contribute to the work of justice in the world.” – Word&Way

“It is at the same time both exhilarating and frightening to realize that we are invited by God to help shape what lies ahead. Johnston understands this, gently but firmly reminding us that we must allow ourselves to be changed if we are to be agents of change in these polarized times. We are called to stop strategizing for survival and instead risk loving the way Jesus did and taught. ‘You can’t know the truth about anyone until you love them,’ Johnston says. He walks with us through the basic yet radical Christian principles that lead to the deepening of love—a love that can embrace the enemy even while doing justice; a love that will revive the world.” –Cynthia Rigby, W. C. Brown Professor of Theology, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“An engaging summons to the intersection of faith and contemporary social concerns! Johnston draws from a deep well of resources — history, scripture, the arts, congregational ministry and life — to reflect on this fraught season of incivility. Honestly serious and winsome, hopeful and grace-filled, he considers how folks might grow in Christian witness and service with this helpful guide for discernment and discussion.” –Agnes W. Norfleet, Senior Pastor, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church

“In the chaos of modern life, there are a few voices that I turn to with regularity for honesty and wisdom; Johnston is at the top of that list. With a scholar’s mind, a pastor’s heart, a prophet’s insight, and poet’s pen, Johnston speaks to the critical issues of faith and society. He is honest about how hard things are and hopeful about how things might become. By the end of this book, grace, as elusive as it is, feels closer and more reliable.” –Tom Are Jr, Senior Pastor, Village Church, Prairie Village, Kansas

“Elusive Grace is the medicine we all need to take right now. It is incisive in identifying what is truly ailing our nation while offering a way forward of healing and hope. And like any good doctor, Johnston doesn’t sugar coat the truth but speaks with grace and love. He reminds people of faith not to despair, but to seize and share that which is most powerful yet elusive: the grace of God.” –Charlene Han Powell, Senior Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, California

“There are some guides that can only be written by people who truly love justice. Well-researched facts about the good and the right can ring hollow if one senses that the writer has no soul commitment to justice. Johnston has skin in the game; his deep-seated desire for a better world splashes across each page. His work overflows with hope and promise for both justice and grace in our time. The book and its author are gifts that light the pathway forward for our troubled and hurting world.” –Cleophus J. LaRue, Francis Landey Patton Professor of Homiletics, Princeton Theological Seminary