"Filled to be Emptied" is a study on Kenosis, taken from Philippians 2:5-11, and it is thought provoking, insightful, and worth your time. Although I do not agree with every angle mentioned by Robertson in this book, it truly was enlightening in many aspects and opened my eyes to the privilege sometimes not fully understood in Christian churches today, especially here in the USA. If you want to be challenged in your thinking and have a teachable mindset, this book is for you! Thank you to Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is a breath of fresh air amidst all the fear and oftentimes disgust in the church surrounding the word "privilege". This is a book I'd recommend to people on both sides of the spectrum of how conservative or progressive their church is, so long as the congregants are willing to listen to someone who may have opinions different from theirs. However, there are discussion questions, which provide adequate room for opinion giving and reflection (I didn't agree with everything or how Robertson exegeted certain material either, but the central points merit continued wrestling and reading). Robertson uses the example of Jesus, mostly through the Kenosis Hymn, Philippians 2:5-11 (as well as the Beatitudes in one chapter) that privilege itself is neutral--what you do with it and how you empower those who /have less/ is paramount to being the body of Christ. Privilege doesn't mean you haven't been dealt a rough hand at life, or haven't had to struggle to get by. It does mean that there are certain areas of life that the dominant society/system has been built around in favor of mostly unchangable (or, sometimes changable e.g. religion) identifiers of yourself/family. Robertson unpacks his own privilege as a cis white Protestant man but how his sexuality is limiting. However, because of his privilege within the US framework as well as the LGBT community, he can leverage his privilege in advocating for justice of the marginalized. Jesus goes even farther for us. Jesus enjoyed the ultimate privilege of /Godship/, yet didn't lord it over others or use it for his own gain. Rather, he used his power for the marginalized and dedicated his humanity towards the undoing of empire and unjust power. A beautiful example we can and should follow!

This is an amazing, powerful book. So many privileged people rail against the idea that the might be such, but looking at the teaching and actions of Jesus show these ideas in a new light. Do we want riches and fame, or justice and love? Highly recommended.

FILLED TO BE EMPTIED - Brandan J. Robertson

I was sent this by Net Galley free for the purpose of review.

In reality I struggled to read this and be focused. While I agreed with some of his thoughts and tried to finish the book but the overarching of the term "Privileged" was negative and attacking.

Can I explain all the different circumstances of life? No, but rather than attack; how about focusing on gratitude for God's work in your own life and live that out.

#Net Galley #Goodreads #Filled to be emptied

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself . . . (Philippians 2:5-7a)

These words are not only ancient, but timely to our world.
Christians wrestling with their place in the world, workplace, church... there is much discernment to do, biblically and prayerfully based, in a world that is upside down. The Kenosis Hymn celebrates Jesus for his willingness to unselfishly put aside his divine Kingship, instead humbling himself to serve the oppressed and outcast of His society.

Breaking open the Kenois Hymn challenged me to read the book over and over again, and approach it as a study, rather than a narrative. My suggestion is not to rush through this rich text, but take it slowly and absorb it, truly accepting the challenge it presents.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the honor to read this.

I found this book to be timely, with important topics discussed. I did not agree with everything in this book, but I felt the author did presents his arguments well. I was grateful for the chance to read this book, despite the fact that there was a lot, I didn’t agree with.

GRACE TO LIVE OUT PRIVILEGE
I reviewed this book expecting the same rhetoric and propaganda against white privilege that I have encountered in other books trying to force their ‘wokeness’ onto the church. I was pleasantly surprised as I started to read the Author’s position. Although he comes with ‘white male privilege,’ his personal story is not one of ‘privilege,’ which I could relate to as a woman. He uses the Kenosis Hymn (Philippians 2:5-7) as his thesis, which states that Jesus stepped down from his role of ‘privilege’ to become human and live like us.
The book is sensitively written, using Jesus as our example who came from a place of privilege and power to end up as a felon on the cross. This book is about living the Jesus Way. Salvation is not just for life beyond the grave but bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth to be lived out in the here and now. The Biblical truth that this Kenotic love casts out fear was the point where I was convinced that this is the only way justice can occur, by addressing fear in all groups of people before the focus on privilege and power can be shifted. People will take on the mindset of Christ. What I found most refreshing was that the book does not morally judge anyone but makes a sacred space where you can discuss these questions. Readers can open their hearts to being led by the Spirit to how they can embrace living the Christian life with the grace that they have been given as they examine their own lives in the light of the Kenosis Hymn.
I would recommend this book to anyone who genuinely wants social change but is unsure how to apply Scripture to the modern Christian way of life—a beneficial addition to any Library and personal collection of books on Spirituality and Social Justice.

This book was just okay. I didn't really get into it. I have done a lot of reading about these types of topics and this was not one of the best. I guess I was expecting more given the description.

I wouldn't say this is the greatest book, but it surely challenged done of my thoughts. I can see the issues many extreme right wing Christians would have with the ideas found herein, but I felt challenged to think of how Jesus would want those of us with privilege to interact with others in our everyday lives.

The book was challenging, informative, and eye opening. I do plan to give done friends this as an idea for some community book discussions centered on race relations in my small community.

Interesting premise which I haven't seen recently. I recommend for those wanting to study societal issues, especially on liberation theory.

Filled to Be Emptied is a phenomenal book for Christians who have been struggling to reconcile what they read in the bible with what they see in American church culture. As a person who feels traumatized by the White Christian Nationalism that has been demonstrated so violently in the past few years, this book was a call to arms. Filled to Be Emptied reflects exactly how disenchanted I've become with the church from the local level to the global enterprise of modern Christianity. It perfectly captures the dissonance between Jesus's teachings and how the scripture is portrayed in our pulpits on Sunday morning. The idea of following Jesus in example and principle instead of blindly perpetuating the privilege and violent of white colonized Christianity is a concept that shouldn't be as radical as it is.
I enjoyed the author's perspective and his admission of conflict in challenging his own systems of privilege and prejudice. His research and clear language allowed me to draw on my own experiences with white privilege and church culture as I read the truths he unpacked. Filled to Be Emptied is a must read for anyone undergoing their own death and rebirth of faith in Jesus.

Most impactful quote:
Christianity today has become one of the most power ful tools to promote and protect racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Christian supremacy, and so much more. Christianity bears almost no resemblance to the Christ it claims to worship. If our world is to begin to experience the resurrection that we long for, it must begin with followers of Jesus being willing to abandon Christianity for the sake of following Jesus. If your faith is more concerned with doc trines, dogmas, and upholding traditions than with daily seeking to use your time, energy, and money to undo the damage that your own privilege has wrought, then can you truly claim to be following Jesus?

This book is truly so interesting and a lot of the points Brandan brings up are extremely valid. But unfortunately, I don't think we believe in the same Jesus. Brandan's view of Jesus is of a "religiopolitical revolutionary", whose main goal was to rescue the oppressed from the Roman Empire here on earth. He claims he aimed to do this by slowly presenting subversive ideas about who the power should belong to and how to make earth a better place.

While I don't believe that was Jesus' primary purpose on earth (in fact, I believe that's exactly who the Jewish people thought He was, and when He turned out not to be that, they were cool with killing Him...) I do really appreciate the encouragement to the Church to do better, be better, realize and let go of our privilege, and help the orphan and widow. If we agree on nothing else, I'm glad we agree on that.

I'll be thinking about this book for a long time, and discussing the ideas addressed inside.