Perhaps Thabiti Anyabwile hit the nail most squarely on the head at T4G 2008...
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household."
(Eph. 2:19)
Christ consistently taught about a harmonized kingdom, welcoming little children, widows, orphans, poor & poor-in-spirit, Jew & gentile. The Holy Spirit led the biblical authors to reveal a heavenly multicultural eternity together. Moreover on earth, Christ clearly indicated that our unity would be a testimony to our testimony. And He consummately taught us how to pray daily, re such things as: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven".
We know Heaven will be completely integrated -- people from every tribe and language. Thus how shall we then live, when Christ teaches us to pray for things to BE on earth like they are in heaven?
So for any of us in our Indianapolis churches to PRAY the Lord's Prayer, and yet DO NOTHING about it... seem nothing short of hypocrisy.
"It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing: 'In Christ There Is No East Nor West.' " ~Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958
Until the Church at Indianapolis more effectively embraces kingdom values, do we REALLY expect to make a dent in the Great Commission here? If the multicultural church hasn't yet happened by accident, do we really think it'll happen by accident in the future?
Prayer & Intentionality... our keys to the future together in Christ & Indianapolis!
Measurable Outcomes: Any Multicultural Churches in Indy?
(using Emerson's definition = better than 80-20 ethnic mix)
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