are allowed on our property.” I left my first appointment
because I couldn’t abide by that policy. I would have told
you at the time my willingness to take a public stand at
personal cost was clear evidence I was doing my part to
stand up for racial unity. Today I would tell you it was just
one more step in my journey of learning what racial unity
really means.
In 1997, God led Pam and me to the Free Methodist
Church and an appointment to plant Christ Community
Church in Columbus, Georgia. From the start, one of
our aims was to be a racially diverse church. Though
that was almost unheard of in our city, I was convinced
my background had prepared me to lead such a church.
Once again, I had no idea how complex the next phase
of my journey would be or how much work God still had
to do in me. But it was here, as we ate together, visited
each other in our homes, bared our hearts and bore one
another’s burdens, and risked having those really hard
conversations, that I first experienced the gift of racially
diverse community. Without question, we made mistakes
and missed opportunities, but when I was elected as a
superintendent in 2018, Pam and I left a beautifully diverse
congregation that enthusiastically embraced an African
American as my successor.
A Few Discoveries Along the Way
I hope I’ve made it abundantly clear I haven’t “arrived”
when it comes to my understanding and experience of
racial unity. I’m still on a journey and learning all the time,
but I will happily share a few discoveries we have made
along the way (so far).
The first thing we learned at Christ Community when
it comes to racial unity was the power of prayer. Honesty
compels me to admit we saw almost no progress in racial
diversity in the first two years in spite of intentional efforts
to target racially diverse neighborhoods. In our frustration,
pg. 8 — lightandlifemagazine.com
we cried out to God in a week of sacrificial prayer,
specifically asking for a breakthrough in racial diversity.
Over the next few months, several African Americans
showed up for worship, most of them saying they came
“because God told me to come to this church.” In some
cases, even they didn’t know what they were getting into
as they walked through our doors and discovered an
overwhelmingly white congregation. God was answering
our prayers!
We also learned that growth in racial unity happens
best in the context of relationship. One of the greatest gifts
of diverse community is that we can help each other see
our blind spots, those areas of sin, brokenness, and wrong
thinking that are so deeply engrained we can’t see them.
But helping each other see our blind spots is only a gift
when it is offered in the context of trust. And the only
way to build trust is to get to know one another at a deep
level. Hearts soften and minds open as we hear each other’s
stories. At the same time, we begin to realize how much
our own life experiences have shaped the ways we see the
world and respond to each other. Little by little, our eyes
are opened, and we begin to see as God sees. That’s when
transformation begins.
Another discovery along the way is that we had to resist
the urge to pursue diversity for diversity’s sake. To begin
with, people want to be known and loved as persons, not
notches on the belt of a cause. More importantly, while it
is right and good to value diversity, we must never lose
sight of the fact our mission is to make disciples. If we turn
the value into the mission, we will inevitably fail because
Jesus is the only One capable of delivering us from sin and
making us whole. But if we lead people to Jesus, help them
understand what it means to live a Spirit-filled life, and
teach them to obey God’s Word, love of others – all others
– will be the fruit.
One of the most challenging things we learned is that
doing diversity is more powerful than talking about
diversity. It’s challenging because God’s Word often
demands that we speak prophetically to one another and
to the world, but I’m convinced we see more fruit when we
do it more than we talk about it. Talk tends to stir up things
“I was convinced
my background had
prepared me to lead
such a church. Once
again, I had no idea how
complex the next phase
of my journey would be.”
“People want to be
known and loved as
persons, not notches on
the belt of a cause.”
/lightandlifemagazine.com