Why I Wrote the Book

Advance orders of Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church are now shipping from the warehouse and the book will be in stores by the end of the month. Recently, I was asked to comment on why I wrote the book. Here's what I said ...

"I wrote this book with a concern that individuals, church planters and reformers establish healthy mutli-ethnic churches built on the solid foundation of the word of God, i.e., a theology (or, ecclesiology) of church planting and development through which Jews and Gentiles walked, worked and worshipped God together as one.

"For more than fifty years, however, church planters and reformers have been encouraged to establish local churches built on the homogeneous unit principle, a principle which states that churches grow fastest when they are homogeneous. And despite the integration of public schools, the workplace and neighborhoods, the local church still stubbornly clings to homogenity. Yet as America grows increasingly diverse, it will be forced to adapt in order to remain relevant and effective in the proclamation of the gospel. Good intentions will not be enough to inspire systemic change.

"So while churches do indeed grow fastest when they are homogeneous, I am not at all certain that they do so biblically.

"In the twenty-first century, I believe it will be the unity of diverse believers walking as one in and through the local church that will proclaim the fact of God’s love for all people more profoundly than any one sermon, book, or evangelistic crusade. And I believe the coming integration of the local church will lead to the fulfillment of the Great Commission in this century, i.e., to people of every nation, tribe, people, and tongue coming to know him as we do."

This, then, is the core of the book's message. This is the prayer of Christ (John 17:20-23ff.).

Comments

[Eric Bryant]

Congratulations on the release of your book!

[david]

I look forward to reading your book.