If you swear that you never tense up when talking about race, I know at least one of two things is true: you’ve never actually talked with anyone about race, or you’re not an American. If you talk about race with any regularity, you have the scars to show for it.

Isaac Adams dares where angels fear to tread. In his new book, Talking about Race: Gospel Hope for Hard Conversations (Zondervan Reflective), Adams argues that if we could just hold our beliefs—and also our tongues—loving across racial lines in the American church “could become one of the most powerful testimonies to a divided and dividing world.”

Adams serves as lead pastor of Iron City Church in Birmingham, Alabama. I love his motivation for this book. He writes, “We want to raise a generation of children who are not afraid to confront the struggles of racism in our country head-on.”

Adams joined me on Gospelbound to explain blocking, race as a “Velcro issue,” abortion, cultural preferences, and the mission of the church. That list will stoke some hard conversations! But I think you’ll find hope in Adams’s pastoral approach to a problem that often feels impossible to solve—and is, apart from God.