A church elder once told teenage Jim Wallis, "Son, you've got to understand: Christianity has nothing to do with racism; that's political, and our faith is personal."

Wallis left the church and his faith that night.

Then, years later, he came back with a righteous anger to change white Christian America.

Wallis is president and founder of the Christian magazine Sojourners and has served President Barack Obama as a spiritual advisor. He has authored 12 books as well as columns for The New York Times and The Washington Post.

His newest book, "America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America," is an indictment of white Christian apathy and inaction towards systemic racism.

"The political and economic problems of race are ultimately rooted in a theological problem," he writes.

Modern white Christians might not own slaves or even all walk to the other side of the street to avoid passing a young black man, but they do benefit from white privilege, he said, whether they're aware of it or not.

"To benefit from oppression is to be responsible for changing it," he writes.

Wallis will be in Portland early next week as part of his book tour, which he's turned into a series of town halls by inviting faith leaders in each city to join him for a public conversation about racism. Wallis and local pastor Leroy Barber will speak at Powell's City of Books at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22.

Ahead of his visit, we talked to Wallis about a few major issues raised in the book. His responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

You argue that racism - not just personal feelings of hate, but allowance of systematic injustice - results from problematic theology. What theological misconception do you identify at the core of modern white churches that are apathetic or inactive with regards to race?

In Galatians, 3:28, it says there is no Jew or gentile, slave or free, male or female - we're all one in Christ Jesus. If churches are just silos of people like each other, we're really not doing what it we're supposed to do. Martin Luther King Jr. called people of God the "beloved community." We're supposed to be the ones who are demonstrating a diverse "beloved community." Our theology is supposed to trump our sociology.

If you don't want to do that, you'd better go somewhere else. This community is all about braking down those barriers. If churches are just silos of people like each other, we're really not doing what it was supposed to do.

In the book, you list five ingredients - intentionality, diversity, spirit of inclusion, empowered leadership and adaptability - as keys to creating a successful multiracial congregation. Do these steps need to happen in order? If a white pastor comes to you, convicted by this book, what do you recommend he do first?

The most important of those points is intentionality. It begins with conversations and hearing each others' stories. The book is being used by lots of people in small groups to study it together with people from other communities or churches. They're asking, "How do we build relationships and then take action?" The new generation wants to do this. They are multiracial, multicultural, interfaith. The spiritual but not religious are interested in being a part of this, too. The book talks about how we can begin that conversation.

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So, hopefully he already knows some black, Hispanic or Asian pastors. If not, it's time to make some friends. It begins with relationship and conversation.

You call on white Christians to "die to whiteness," saying that "whiteness" is an idol that separates white Christians from God. What does "dying to whiteness" mean?

Whiteness is a myth. Race was created as a social construct to justify oppression. How do we get our souls back? It's an idolatry, really. Idols separate us from God.

Dying to whiteness means to be aware of white privilege. For example, I tell a story in the book about being a little league coach. Parents of my black players had to have "the talk" with their kids, and my white parents were clueless. It's unacceptable that my kids' classmates and teammates had to be told they couldn't trust their law enforcement officers. That's a problem for me and white parents, not just black parents.

Some white Christians might feel they don't have the time, personality or capability to be activists. They might look at systematic racism and feel overwhelmed. Does repentance mean becoming an activist?

Repentance doesn't mean feeling sorry and hanging your head. It means as parents, workers and congregants, not being oblivious to the white privilege that we have and using our influence in conversations and workplaces and churches and schools to call out the racism that we see. Learn to see it, and trust the stories of our black brothers and sisters.

It's not about being activists, it's about being good Christians - to call out areas of policing, criminal justice, immigration reform that need change - and being willing to say, "This is wrong, and this has to change." We're not all activists. But in our lives, where we have influence, use that influence.

-- Melissa Binder

mbinder@oregonian.com

503-294-7656

@binderpdx