Mixed: Embracing Complexity by Uncovering Your God-Led Identity

Pastor Bonilla debuts with an inspiring call for readers to embrace their identities in faith settings and beyond. In arguing that everyone is “mixed,” whether racially, culturally, or otherwise (Jesus, both “human and divine,” was no exception), Bonilla urges readers to appreciate their differences, which are formed by Christ. The author recounts struggling to navigate his own mixed-race identity (“for the first twenty or so years of my life, I checked the racial box marked ‘white’ on education and governmental forms... but if you saw my mother, there would be no questioning her African ancestry”) until the 2020 racial reckonings sparked an existential crisis. He realized that God “doesn’t dismiss our identifiers” but fashions them as part of a larger arc, even if the ends aren’t clear. Once readers are aware that God has a divine plan, they can better respect their identities and others’, as all are made “in God’s image.” To strengthen one’s identity, Bonilla recommends connecting with God by making “the essentials of Christianity your foundation” and looking to scripture to see how Jesus persevered when mislabeled by others. Bonilla’s story is illuminating, and his lessons are mostly solid—don’t put yourself in a box; see others for who, not what (race, religion), they are—though some can be a bit vague for readers looking to translate ideas into practice. Nonetheless, believers seeking a Christianity that more fully embraces diversity will appreciate this. (May)