Playing Favorites

“Filled with stories—many of them personal—and undergirded by Scripture, Woodworth carefully, biblically, systematically, and pastorally detangles believers from the sin of partiality to fully and unabashedly embrace other persons made in God’s image. And leaving nothing to chance, Woodworth provides discussion questions for each chapter to further help with liberating us from this partiality entanglement to freely, warmly, and impartially embrace all neighbors.”


—Luke B. Bobo, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Made to Flourish





“Playing Favorites is a helpful reminder of the call to see others not through human eyes of division but as beings made in the image of God reflecting the beauty of diversity. Woodworth recounts for us that prejudice is not what bad people have but is a condition that all people have. . . . May we have the courage, humility, and intentionality to take the lessons in this timely text to heart.”


—Todd Allen, Vice President of Diversity, Messiah College





“Woodworth shows us how powerfully the gospel bridges the gaps in our hearts that keep us from loving one another. This book is an invitation to engage our neighbors with grace-fused intention—moving toward the marginalized and disenfranchised with the powerful and transformational love of Christ.”


—Jeremy Casella, Nashville Singer/Songwriter and Recording Artist





“This book is a welcome addition to our culture’s conversation about racial inequity and personal responsibility. Biblically grounded in timeless wisdom, Woodworth’s words are as practical as they are pastoral. A good read for anyone, but especially helpful to those Christians who are looking for something that is not judgmental and offers a solid biblical approach to today’s most challenging and important issue.”


—Dean Weaver, Stated Clerk, Evangelical Presbyterian Church





“In Playing Favorites, Woodworth offers a theological vision for navigating multicultural contexts with wisdom and grace that avoids the ideological pitfalls common in our cultural moment. It’s rooted in decades of ministry experience and informed by a careful reading of the Bible. In a time flooded with polarizing opinions, we need more gospel-centered sages like Rodger to guide us toward God’s glorious vision for the church.”


—Austin Gohn, author of A Restless Age





“As Americans, we often like to refer to ourselves as color-blind. Woodworth points out that this is far from the truth. Woodworth does an excellent job of . . . weaving together personal experiences and societal research in presenting the problem of discrimination and prejudice. Fortunately, he does not stop with the problem but . . . guides us as we begin the journey of overcoming our prejudices and building bridges. It is with great pleasure that I recommend Playing Favorites.”


—Wayne Gordon, Pastor, Lawndale Community Church





“Born of his lifelong reading of the word and the world, Woodworth enters into the perennial problem of prejudice, a challenge for the church in every century and every culture. We stumble over ourselves, more often than not living with wounds of class and race that keep us from a deeper, truer unity. Playing Favorites offers another way to live, both a critique of what is, and a vision for what should be. A book for all who long to see and hear the world as it someday will be.”


—Steven Garber, author of Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good