Steve Murrell's Blog, page 31

What Is Blessing?

One of the most misunderstood themes in the Bible is the concept of “blessing.” Too often Christians equate being “blessed” with attaining individual financial and career success and having the material possessions to show for it. Others swing the pendulum the other way and spiritualize the idea of blessing so that it never can have a material, real-world manifestation.

Today, I’m going to look at the first mention in the Bible of the concept of “blessing” (Genesis 1) and unpack five descriptions of divine blessing that will help us avoid common misconceptions. From Genesis 1, we learn five things about divine blessing that will all be expanded upon throughout the scriptures:

Blessing is plural.Blessing is spoken.Blessing is a call to growth.Blessing is global.Blessing is a promise for provision.

Far More

As you consider God’s call for you personally, for your church and/or campus ministry, or for your city, region, or nation—do you believe that God is able to do far more abundantly than you could ask or think?

No matter what challenge you’re facing today, I want to remind you of the following:

God is able to do more.We have to ask.We must think.Do it in community. 

Creating a Culture of Discipleship

I couldn’t be happier to be teaching on a topic that I spent decades practicing as a local church pastor. All the way back to our original outreach in 1984, discipleship has been at the very heart of what we do at Victory—and I hope it’s at the heart of what you do in your local church.

Though most pastors want discipleship to happen in their churches, many feel like they can never get momentum. Discipleship feels like a chore that they can never seem to motivate people to engage.

In this video, I’m going to talk about how to build a discipleship culture in our churches—how to cultivate a community of disciples who follow Jesus, fish for people, and fellowship with other believers.

Some Gave All

I was recently reading through Mark and paused at the story of the poor widow who gave two coins to the temple treasury. Almost every Christian is familiar with this story: the widow gives away a few pennies—all that she has—while others throw in much more from their abundance. Jesus gathers his disciples and tells them that the widow has given more than anyone else.

What’s clear from this story is that Jesus doesn’t do math the way we do. How does the one who gave the least get defined as the one who gave the most? 

It’s obvious that this story is about much more than what was in the offering plate. This story is about what each person kept—what remained in their pocket after they gave.

Let’s apply this concept to our lives. When we think about our passions, aspirations, dreams, and resources, are we surrendering none, some, or all to God?

Tasteless Salt and Invisible Light

Jesus told his original disciples, “You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–16).

In today’s message, we’re going to talk about how salt and light reflect exactly how we are supposed to be as disciples of Jesus.

Thanks Dad, See You in Heaven

Not every country celebrates Father’s Day in June, but as the United States and the Philippines prepare to honor it next Sunday, I have been thinking about my dad, his legacy, and how leaders can prepare others to celebrate and honor their parents.

While we often think of honor as something that’s earned, in Exodus 20 (a.k.a. the Ten Commandments), God tells us to “honor your father and mother.” He doesn’t tell us to decide if we think they have lived honorable lives; he simply tells us to honor them.

How do we do that? For many of us, honoring parents starts with forgiving the bad and remembering the good.

America: A City on a Hill?

As the cofounder and president of a global family of churches and campus ministries, I try to avoid commenting on local or national events. That is the role of local church pastors and regional team leaders. However, the violent and tragic events that transpired in the United States Capitol on January 6th have shaken not only Americans but people around the world, and I would like to offer a global, theological, and missional perspective to leaders who are trying to make sense of what happened two days ago.

Unprecedented?: A Global Perspective

As I watched in stunned silence live footage of thousands of rioters breaking down metal barriers and storming the United States Capitol building, I heard words like “unprecedented” and “unimaginable” over and over again from news anchors and on social media. 

For many Americans, these events did seem unprecedented and unimaginable; but for others watching around the world, these events echoed the horrors they have experienced in their nations in very recent memory. For example, in just the last eighteen months, protesters have breached and occupied legislative and government buildings in Hong Kong (July 2019), Serbia (July 2020), Kyrgyzstan (October 2020), and Armenia (November 2020). Even if we look back into America’s history, we find many more instances of civil unrest and political violence—and even breaches of the Capitol building (as recently as 1954). 

These events should be a sobering reminder of the historical reality that all human governments will come to an end—even the American experiment, with all its brilliant successes (and tragic failures) over the past two centuries. 

A City on a Hill?: A Theological Perspective

More importantly, these recent events should be a hopeful reminder of the theological reality that, contrary to what American presidents often claim in their speeches, America is not the “city on a hill.” The Church is. 

When Jesus spoke these famous words in Matthew 5:14—“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden”—He was talking to His disciples and by extension the people from every tribe, tongue, and nation who would follow Him after His resurrection. Whenever we confuse the Kingdom of God with earthly kingdoms, we not only set ourselves up for disappointment but we have unintentionally set up an idol. 

While I am deeply saddened that America has reached this low point, I am hopeful that some American Christians will see their idolatry of the nation and its political messiahs and will remember that we are citizens of an “everlasting Kingdom” (Daniel 4:3). And, as a result, our ultimate allegiance belongs not to Caesar or any other political leader but to King Jesus alone. I am also hopeful that nations around the world who see America in some way as a promised land will realize that America is often more like Babylon than the New Jerusalem. 

Light of the World: A Missional Perspective

As an American, I am praying that the tragic events that happened in Washington D.C. a few days ago will be a wake-up call for politicians of both parties and will result in political renewal and a depolarization of American politics and society.

But as a global Christian, my prayer is even more ambitious and more hopeful. I am praying that in these dark times—not only in America but around the world—Christians will remember we are the “light of the world;” we are the “city set on a hill;” we are “the salt of the earth.”

The mission hasn’t changed. 

We’ve just been reminded that it’s our job—not America’s. 

My Top 10 Books of 2020

Three times in the past week, different leaders from around the world have asked me to recommend books on various topics pertaining to leadership. I took that as a gentle reminder that it is time to post my annual top ten book list. 

As you peruse my list, may the words of my favorite doctor inspire you to read more in 2021 than in all previous years. Because, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” —Dr. Seuss

Here’s my list for 2020.

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1. You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit by James K. A. Smith

If you only read one book from this list, read this book. If you only read one book in 2021, read this book. If you have read all of Smith’s books, including this book, read this book (again). 

Summary quote: “What if, instead of starting from the assumption that human beings are thinking things, we started from the conviction that human beings are first and foremost lovers? What if you are defined not by what you know but by what you desire? What if the center and seat of the human person is found not in the heady regions of the intellect but in the gut-level regions of the heart? How would that change our approach to discipleship and Christian formation?”

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2. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology by Eugene Peterson

This book was a Christmas gift from a friend. I recommend reading it slowly so you don’t miss anything. I started this one in January and finished in August, reading a page or two or ten each morning before reading my Bible. 

Overview (from B&N): “Lamenting the vacuous, often pagan nature of contemporary American spirituality, Eugene Peterson here firmly grounds spirituality once more in Trinitarian theology and offers a clear, practical statement of what it means to actually live out the Christian life.”

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3. Free at Last?: The Gospel in the African American Experience by Carl F. Ellis Jr.

Ellis started his ministry in 1969 as a campus missionary with Tom Skinner. He currently serves as professor of theology and culture at Reformed Theological Seminary and as senior fellow at the African American Leadership Initiative. 

From the foreword: “There are well-natured Black practitioners who were baptized into a one-sided orientation of White evangelicalism that was void of a biblical view in social justice. However, some Black practitioners who were educated in liberal institutions have a high regard for addressing systemic injustice but a low regard for biblical authority. Praise God for Carl Ellis Jr. and the courage to speak grace and truth no matter the subject. This book lifts up a gospel that not only renews hearts but also renews institutions.”

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4. Let Justice Roll Down by John M. Perkins

Born into poverty in segregated rural Mississippi ninety years ago, Perkins is a church planter, pastor, preacher, civil rights leader, entrepreneur, reconciler, bridge builder, and peacemaker. He is the recipient of sixteen honorary doctorates and the author of fifteen books. If you are not familiar with this living legend, this book is the place to start. After reading Let Justice Roll Down, you’ll want to read the other fourteen. 

From the book jacket: “His brother died in his arms, shot by a deputy marshal. He was beaten and tortured by the sheriff and State Police, but through it all he returned good for evil, love for hate, progress for prejudice and brought hope to black and white alike.” 

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5. Is God Anti-Gay? And Other Questions about Homosexuality, the Bible and Same-Sex Attraction by Sam Allberry

I had the privilege of discussing this book with Sam over breakfast in Nashville before COVID. I learned much. Like a conversation with Sam in person, his book is clear, biblical, and gracious, with classic British “humour” popping up at just the right moment.  

Quote: “When someone says they’re gay, or for that matter, lesbian or bisexual, they normally mean that, as well as being attracted to someone of the same gender, their sexual preference is one of the fundamental ways in which they see themselves. And it’s for this reason that I tend to avoid using the term. It sounds clunky to describe myself as ‘someone who experiences same-sex attraction.’ But describing myself like this is a way for me to recognize that the kind of sexual attractions I experience are not fundamental to my identity. They are part of what I feel but are not who I am in a fundamental sense. I am far more than my sexuality.”

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6. A Bible and a Passport: Obeying God’s Call to Make Disciples in Every Nation by Jun Escosar

Jun is one of the first Filipinos I met in 1984 when a bunch of clueless Americans attempted to plant a church in Manila’s University-Belt. A year later, Jun was the first full-time staff member of Victory Manila. From then until now, Jun has served in almost every ministry role possible: worship leader, campus missionary, church planter, pastor, teacher, evangelist, mission strategist, and others. Jun earned a doctor of missiology degree from the Asia Graduate School of Theology, and beginning in January 2021, he will serve as the first president and professor of missiology at Every Nation Seminary. I can think of no one better to write a book about the global vision and mission history of Every Nation Churches & Ministries. This is a read-straight-through book. 

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7. A Public Missiology: How Local Churches Witness to a Complex World by Gregg Okesson

Gregg was one of the Asbury Seminary professors responsible for talking me (and other Every Nation leaders) into returning to seminary, and I am forever grateful. The classes Gregg taught went by way too fast. All his students sat there silently pleading for him to keep on teaching. Forget about lunch. Forget about bathroom breaks. Just keep talking. His lectures were that engaging. So is his book. Gregg is a great teacher and a better man. 

Book quote: “We moved to Tanzania to plant churches, but I quickly realized one could not do evangelism, nor discipleship, nor ecclesiology of any kind, without taking seriously the public realities surrounding the people . . . How does church planting relate to poverty, or evangelism to health, or religion to development? I did not have good answers to those queries, but the questions lingered with me and resulted in this book.”

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8. Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything about the World by Tim Marshall

Although this book is not written from a religious perspective, anyone passionate about maps or global mission will enjoy and learn much from Marshall’s geography philosophy.  

Quotes: “What is now the EU was set up so that France and Germany could hug each other so tightly in a loving embrace that neither would be able to get an arm free with which to punch the other . . . Africa’s coastline? Great beaches—really, really lovely beaches—but terrible natural harbors. Rivers? Amazing rivers, but most of them are worthless for actually transporting anything, given that every few miles you go over a waterfall. These are just two in a long list of problems that helps explain why Africa isn’t technologically or politically as successful as Western Europe or North America.”

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9. Stop Taking Sides: How Holding Truths in Tension Saves Us from Anxiety and Outrage by Adam Mabry

Adam has written another must-read book that can definitely save you from anxiety and outrage.

My official endorsement: “In the age of social media, it has become easier than ever to share opinions (informed or not) without considering how they may affect others. In light of our mandate to make disciples, it is vital that Christians understand how and when to engage one another (and the world) in truthful and gracious conversation. Adam’s book offers significant wisdom and points us back to what really matters. My suggestion: buy this book, read it, and stop taking sides.”

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10. Race, Injustice & Discipleship: A Small Group Discussion Guide by Justin Gray and William Murrell

Knowing that Justin (Every Nation Music) and William (Every Nation Seminary) had been co-leading successful discipleship groups that addressed racial reconciliation, in hope of facilitating gospel-centered conversations about racial injustice, I asked them to create a six-week Bible study and devotional guide for our Nashville office to engage in the conversation. Our outcomes included relational trust, genuine repentance, and gospel hope. For a free download, click HERE.

Responding to the unsolicited input about this material, Justin and William are writing a book on the topic that will, hopefully, make next year’s top ten list.

As always, I hope this post inspires you to read a wide variety of authors and topics. And, for some of you, may it inspire you to write. Maybe one day your book will make the list!

 

Here are some previous lists: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016.

A Post-Election Post: Kings and Kingdoms Will All Pass Away

While my wife was watching the USA election results last night, I was on a Zoom call with an Every Nation leader who serves as our national director in a restricted nation, where the military and police regularly harass Christians, arrest pastors, and close churches.

 

Everything our pastors do in that nation is strictly underground and illegal, but they continue to joyfully honor God and make disciples, despite the danger. As a result of exercising what many around the world consider basic religious liberties, some of our pastors in that nation have been recipients of what they jokingly call “overnight accommodations in government facilities courtesy of the police.” Most of us would call it jail or prison.

Here’s part of my conversation with my friend that I’ll call “Pastor X.”

Pastor X: “We are praying for America while you elect your new president.”

Me: “Thanks for praying. We definitely need your prayers! How does voting happen in your nation.”

Pastor X: “Hmmm. What is voting? We have never experienced that here.”
 

We both laughed at my friend’s tongue-in-cheek remark, then talked about the expansion of the gospel in his city and region through church planting and campus ministry. Many Every Nation churches in his country have actually grown during the COVID-19 lockdown and quarantine.

Because they have been shut down so many times by the police over the past fifteen years, they have learned to do ministry without large public worship gatherings. Because of the uncertainty and danger of public worship services, they do evangelism in the marketplace, rather than inviting people to a weekly church service. And while they do underground worship services whenever they can, they also do discipleship, worship, fellowship, and leadership in small groups all the time.

 

As always, when I got off the call with my friend, I was encouraged and inspired. Then I watched the news reports of the USA election results and I was instantly the opposite of encouraged and inspired.

 

When I woke up this morning, America was still counting votes and still uncertain who would be her next president. And the gospel continued to advance in nations that never have elections.

 

My conversation with my friend last night helped clear my mind about the USA election, no matter the result. With my newly cleared mind, I jotted down a few thoughts that might help Christian leaders navigate our current political situation in America.

 

1. GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. No matter who ends up being America’s next president, I am grateful that I get to do life and ministry with amazing people from all over the world—people who give me a global perspective that makes me a better person and a better leader. A global perspective also helps me think more clearly about local and national politics. My friend, “Pastor X,” lives in a nation that persecutes Christians, restricts free speech, and offers him no opportunity to vote his leaders out of office, yet his family is thriving and his church is growing. The political parties that proclaim messianic promises every four years to save America do not exist in his nation, yet God’s kingdom continues to advance, and God’s promises continue to be fulfilled despite the persecution. That tells me that even if your candidate or party of choice did not win in the 2020 election, God’s kingdom will be just fine.

 

2. AMERICAN PRIVILEGE. No matter who ends up being America’s next president, millions of Americans got to vote. Too many of us take the privilege to vote for granted. Billions of people in history never had that privilege, and billions living right now will never experience that privilege. So, no matter if your candidate won or lost, at least you got to experience the American privilege of voting. My presidential candidate definitely did not win, as my conscience would not allow me to vote for either of the top two. I voted for one of the other three candidates on the bottom of the Tennessee ballot. My guy was a distant last, but at least I got to vote, and that’s a privilege many only dream about.

 

3. DIVINE PROVIDENCE. No matter who ends up being America’s next president, God is still God and Jesus is still building His Church. Winning candidates and political parties come and go, but the Church endures. Presidents, senators, and governors are but vapors, mist, and minor footnotes in history, but Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords for all eternity. My eternal and temporal hope is in King Jesus, not in a presidential candidate. My ultimate loyalty and allegiance is to the Kingdom of God, not to an American political party. Because I believe in human responsibility, I voted like a Wesleyan, and because I believe in divine sovereignty, I slept like a Calvinist. No matter who ends up in the White House, I believe that “the Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:19) That means the Church will probably outlive a bad political leader or two.

 

It looks like the 2020 United States presidential election will drag on for the next few days, maybe the next few weeks. It will probably get more and more contentious. Accusations will fly, tempers will explode, and numbers will be exaggerated. Hopefully, violence will not happen and lives will not be lost.

 

No matter how Americans respond in the next few days, God will continue to offer the free gift of salvation, not through a victorious president, but through his sacrificial Son. He will continue to offer his perfect peace, whether or not we receive it. And he will continue to rule and reign in our nation, whether or not we acknowledge it.

 

Hopefully, our spiritual leaders will continue to lead, our preachers will continue to preach, and our pastors will continue to care for God’s people. The nation needs the Church now more than ever.

As I am bombarded by election news, there’s an old song I can’t get out of my mind.

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; there’s just something about that name.
Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain;
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all Heaven and earth proclaimKings and kingdoms will all pass away,
But there’s something about that name.”

 

Why don’t you pause a few minutes and think about those last two lines?

“Kings and kingdoms will all pass away,
But there’s something about that name.”

“Daddy, Am I Black?”

NASHVILLE—Back in 2013, I wrote a book called 100 Years From Now about Every Nation’s mission, values, and culture. One of the chapters addresses Every Nation’s intentional commitment to building a multiethnic and multicultural family of churches. With all of the recent conversations about race, injustice, and reconciliation in the United States, I thought it could be helpful as you navigate this season as a minister and leader. 
Steve

“Daddy, Am I Black?” (An excerpt from 100 Years From Now) 

ELEVEN YEARS AGO, my friend Robert was at home in Manila watching a movie with his three-year-old daughter, Betthia. The movie, Finding Forrester, was about a brilliant, underprivileged African-American teenager who was being mentored by a reclusive Pulitzer Prize–winning writer played by Sean Connery. Great movie. Anyway, Robert told me that every time the movie featured a close-up of the young African-American actor, Betthia would look at the screen, then turn to him, then the screen, then him. Her head was turning back and forth like she was watching a tennis match. After a couple of scenes, Betthia said, “Daddy, I have a question. Are you black?” Robert smiled at his eldest daughter and replied, “Yes. And so are you.” Betthia immediately responded, “No, I’m not black. I’m brown, like Mommy.”

Robert is what is known in the Philippines as a Fil-Am—half Filipino and half American. His dad, an African American, was in the US Navy and stationed at Subic Bay when he met Robert’s mother, who is a Kapampangan from Pampanga, Philippines.



Unity, Diversity, and Confusion
A similar question was asked by a curious five-year-old in Nashville who approached his mother and asked, “Mommy, are we black?” Unlike Betthia, who has a multiethnic dad and a Filipina mom, this Nashville boy has two totally Caucasian parents, Rice and Jody Broocks.

Jody’s answer was classic, “Wyatt, you’ll have to ask your father.” Growing up in a multiethnic church, surrounded by Asians, Africans, Latinos, and Euros, Wyatt was momentarily confused about his own ethnicity. Diversity was his reality. And diversity is the Every Nation reality. Whether you’re in Dubai, New York, Singapore, Toronto, London, or Johannesburg, you probably noticed that we’re intentional and aggressive about diversity.

 The same way Betthia and Wyatt inquired about family ethnicity, many times when people visit an Every Nation church, they wonder if it’s a black church, a white church, a Latino church, an Arabic church, or an Asian church. It’s difficult to label us, because we embrace diversity as a key component of our church culture. Sometimes I forget that not everyone embraces diversity the way we do.


Bad Advice from a Good Pastor
I’ll never forget the bad advice I received from a missionary-pastor of one of the largest churches in Manila. It was about fifteen years ago, and we were beginning to reach hundreds from Manila’s Chinese community. “Steve, if you keep reaching Chinese-Filipinos, you will have to start a separate Chinese service for them.” I tried to clarify. “There’s no language barrier. They all speak English, so they attend the same service as the Filipinos.”

Now it was his turn to clarify. “I’m not talking about language. I’m trying to warn you that if you mix Chinese and Filipinos, you will eventually have a church split. I’m speaking from experience. It will never work.”

I’m glad I ignored his well-meaning but unbiblical warning. We now have thousands of Filipino-Chinese, Chi-Noys, Malaysian Chinese, Singaporean Chinese, and every other type of Chinese in our Metro Manila congregations. And we don’t have a separate Chinese congregation or service. We are one church that is multi-site, multi-service, multigenerational, and multiethnic.

Every Nation Dubai has people representing over thirty nations worshipping together including Indians, Iranians, Sri Lankans, Filipinos, Nepalese, Nigerians, Kenyans, South Africans, Russians, Americans, and others. Every Nation London looks a lot like Every Nation Dubai. So does Every Nation New York and Every Nation Toronto. Every Nation Singapore includes almost every ethnicity in Southeast Asia, along with a few Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans, and Americans thrown in the mix.

Why do we intentionally and aggressively build multiethnic congregations? Here are two biblical reasons:

Jesus died for everyone, not just for people like us. If Jesus only died for Filipinos or South Africans, then I guess having a Filipino-only or South African-only church is okay. But, if Jesus died for every nation, every tribe, and every language, then shouldn’t our church reflect that diversity? In Revelation 5:9, John writes, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

 



Jesus called us to disciple every nation, not just our own. In the past, in order to fulfill the Great Commission, people had to ride camels or board ships to get to remote nations. Today, the nations have gathered in major cities around the world, so it’s possible to go to the nations without leaving the city. Some will need to actually leave and go, but many can “stay and go” because the nations have come to us. Matthew 28:19 reads, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”



Ethnic Diversity Is a Gospel Issue
Ethnic conflict is not a recent church problem. Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul addressed racial segregation in his letter to the Galatians. I realize that along with the hypocrisy of racial segregation, Paul was also correcting theological and cultural issues in his epistle, but the racial issue was certainly part of the problem.

In the introductory pages of his commentary on Galatians, Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians, N.T. Wright notes, “Imagine you’re in South Africa in the 1970s. Apartheid is at its height. You are embarked on a risky project: to build a community centre where everybody will be equally welcome, no matter what their colour or race.” Wright’s parable continues with the original builder leaving and a new group taking over. However, the new leaders are not committed to diversity. Eventually, the original project builder returns and is shocked to find that unity with diversity has been replaced with segregation. According to Wright, this is the situation in Galatians. Paul, the Jewish apostle and his Greek assistant, Titus, started a church that welcomed Jews and Greeks. But after Paul and Titus left Galatia, the the church forgot about its cultural value of diversity. Paul wrote the letter of Galatians, in part, to rebuke ethnic segregation and division.

Notice the apostle Paul’s strong views about diversity in the church:

Paul saw ethnic diversity as a Gospel issue. Peter the Jew ate with Gentiles until other Jews arrived, then he only ate with Jews. Paul saw this as a Gospel issue, not a cultural or dietary preference. “We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you” (Galatians 2:5). “When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’” (Galatians 2:14).God does not show favoritism. At this point, some of the Jewish believers still thought that God liked them more than He liked the Gentiles. “As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism” (Galatians 2:6).The Gospel should be preached to all ethnicities. “They recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised [Greeks], just as Peter had been to the circumcised [Jews]. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles” (Galatians 2:7–8). Paul rebuked Peter for the “hypocrisy” of ethnic segregation. This was no minor disagreement between Paul and Peter. Because it was a Gospel issue, Paul felt compelled to rebuke Peter publicly for his hypocrisy.

“When Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” (Galatians 2:11–13).

Why a Healthy Church Requires Diversity
I’ve spent most of my adult life as a white guy in a brown world—an American missionary in the Philippines. After twenty-four years living in Manila, Deborah and I now split time between Manila and Nashville, where Every Nation’s North American office is located. As I have re-engaged American church culture, one of the more shocking experiences is the realization that so many churches are still basically white or black or Latino. That’s not good.

In the spring of 2012, I had the privilege of participating in the Lausanne Strategic Working Group in Orlando, Florida. I learned a lot from the forty brilliant strategists, theologians, and missiologists in the room. The meeting ended with an evaluation question: “What was missing that could have made this meeting more effective?” My answer required no deep thought or prayer. It seemed obvious to me that the missing ingredient was diversity. That Strategic Working Group was basically a room full of middle-aged, highly educated, white men — plus three Latinos, an Indian, a Korean, a Nigerian, and a Lebanese. Forty white dudes with a little color can create good strategy, but increase the diversity and the ideas go from good to great.

When the church gets serious about diversity, good things happen. “The color line was washed away by the blood.” That’s how Pentecostal historian Frank Bartleman described the early days of the Azusa Street Revival a century ago. During one of the most racist periods of American history (1890–1925), most early Pentecostal churches were bold exceptions to the culture of segregation. Sadly, it didn’t take long for religious people to redraw the color lines that had been washed away by the blood.

In 1897, several years before the Azusa Street Revival, the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) became the first legally chartered Pentecostal church in America. COGIC founder C.H. Mason grew up hearing about the vibrant faith of Southern slaves from his parents who had recently been freed. He would build COGIC on the foundation of prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, and racial unity. For many years, COGIC had as many white ministers as black. Read that sentence again, and remember we’re talking about one of the most racially divided periods in American history. This unity and diversity effectively ended in 1914 when most of the white COGIC pastors broke off to establish the Assembly of God (AoG). Undaunted, Mason continued to work on both sides of the racial divide, often speaking at AoG conferences for many years.

My favorite Mason quote is as true today as one hundred years ago: “The church is like the eye. It has a little black in it and a little white in it, and without both, we cannot see.” Without racial diversity, the church cannot see. That explains a lot about the blindness in the church today.

The Hundred-Year Question
If we want correct vision and fresh revival, maybe we should take a page from the Azusa Street playbook and embrace unity with diversity. What will Every Nation become in the next one hundred years if we do not build diversity into our culture and only reach people who look like us? What will Every Nation become in the next one hundred years if we intentionally, aggressively, and strategically embrace ethnic diversity as a lifestyle?