Invoking the Hand of God Together
By Rev. Charles Ware, President of Crossroads Bible College, Senior Pastor of Crossroads Bible Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, and ABWE Board Member
African Americans and other Christians need a united effort to inject the life-giving serum of the gospel into a culture devastated by spiritual death. In order to heal the wounds of moral decay that threaten our nation across racial and ethnic lines, we need the continual treatment of biblical truth. The church must not stand idly by during this defining moment or it will succumb to the sense that the church is rapidly losing relevance in an increasingly multiethnic and urban American culture.
Crossroads Bible College has long worked to cross cultural boundaries and build an army of Christian leaders who will work together for Christ in a multiethnic, urban world. A byproduct of this effort has been growth in a healthy cultural diversity with a biblical moral foundation. In my book, Prejudice and the People of God: How Revelation and Redemption Lead To Reconciliation,* I seek, while addressing the historic injustices and segregation, to demonstrate the clear teaching of Scripture—that God wants us to live, worship, and labor together for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom.
The church in the United States can unite in many ways to create models of biblical unity with diversity while communicating the exclusive gospel of Jesus Christ:
- Crossroads Bible College was instrumental in starting The Multiethnic Ministry Conference. From these conferences, friendships and networks were created, and encouragement and support among a diverse group of leaders evolved. Common concerns resulted in books published and other resources developed to help advance the kingdom of God.
- Churches in a community can collectively commit to pray for common needs within their community, which may include salvation, revival, and moral issues. Church leaders can identify these needs and pray with other churches in a unified effort to address these needs.
- When churches collectively identify community needs, a coalition of ethnically-diverse churches can better address these needs than one church alone. Develop a plan and implement it. In a number of cities, a cross-cultural group of pastors led members of their churches to walk the streets in neighborhoods where crime seemed to rule. Leaving the safety and isolation of their pulpits, these leaders provided hope through Christ and invited people to their churches. The community began to see that the churches had true concern for the community rather than a desire to build individual empires.
- Schedule times of celebration and thanksgiving for the diverseness of the body of Christ and the ways in which we enrich each other. Such occasions can help churches in your region become a unified team serving a community. In various communities, several churches periodically meet together on a Sunday evening to share such a “unity service,” which usually involves participation from all or most churches. A common highlight is a multiethnic choir. I also know of several churches that annually share in women’s and leadership development conferences.
If we are to demonstrate the wisdom of God in making one new man from Jew and Gentile through Christ (Ephesians 2:11-3:13), then we must find ways to unite across diverse cultural lines to proclaim one, exclusive, life-giving message: Jesus is the only Way, Truth, and Life.
*Prejudice and the People of God: How Revelation and Redemption Lead To Reconciliation, Kregel Publications. Available at www.csm.spreadtheword.com.
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