Getting to Know You

Sports have a way of connecting diverse people around a common interest or team. But we should ask, Why has the local church been unwilling or unable to do the same, that is, to connect people of varying ethnic and economic backgrounds around the cross of Jesus Christ?

Today in the United States, diverse people have to go to school together, for according to law, our public schools cannot be segregated. We must also work together with those different from ourselves, for the law mandates a workplace free of discrimination. In addition, homes in our neighborhoods must be sold to anyone with the desire and means to purchase, for, again, the law demands it. Yet have you ever stopped to consider that the local church is the only major institution in our society in which segregation is allowable by law, in light of the judicial principle known as the “separation of church and state?” Indeed, the segregation of the church is not only allowable but seems quite acceptable to the vast majority of believers and church leaders throughout the United States who see nothing at all wrong with this picture. Is it not, however, the law of love (Matthew 22:36–40) that should inform us in the matter?

To experience sincere and mutual respect across ethnic and economic divides and in order for the church to walk worthy of its calling (Ephesians 4:2), we will have to develop cross-cultural relationships with others different from ourselves. And to do so, we should move intentionally, humbly, and lovingly toward diverse brothers and sisters in Christ. With this in mind, we would do well to remember the words of the apostle John, who wrote,

"If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this is the commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also." (1 John 4:20–21)

Excerpt from the book, Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church by Mark DeYmaz (Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network, 2007).