Last week, I had the opportunity to attend Willow Creek's Leadership Summit. One of the more captivating speakers from that event was Harvey Carey. Harvey pastors Citadel of Faith Covenant Church, a congregation of 650 in Detroit, Michigan. What makes Harvey's work intriguing to me is that he left an associate pastor position at a church that paid him a six-figure salary, and an offer to double that salary to stay there. Harvey gave that up in order to move to one of the poorest zip codes in the nation, so he could follow God's vision of starting an intercultural church there.
Personally, I love to see inter-racial/intercultural churches. It's been said that Sunday mornings in America are the most segregated times of the week. Each race goes to churches where the majority of folks are from the same race. In some locations, this can't be helped if the general population is nearly 100% in favor of a particular racial background. But, the segregated worship service is common in areas where the racial mix is more evenly distributed.
No matter the house of worship, the doors should always be welcoming to people from different racial backgrounds. In fact, a well-balanced congregation will reap huge benefits, since people of different cultures are able to bring with them new ideas that you or I hadn't considered before. Additionally, a multi-racial church becomes much closer to the walk Jesus walked, and the example of the first churches. Consider that in the early churches, Christianity broke down ethnic, political, cultural and status barriers. It would've been common to see a slave worshipping alongside a Roman centurion in the early church. And, neither would've thought anything about it. They both shared in the joy of salvation through Jesus Christ.
That being said, one of the things that Harvey told us that really ripped my heart was a story of a meeting he had with nine other black pastors in the Detroit area. They informed him that they didn't like the fact that he had white folks coming to his church. They didn't want white people moving back into the neighborhood, and so they told Harvey they would be praying that he would fail. Astonishing!
Perry Noble, from NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina, recently pointed out in a message that if you aren't on God's team, you're on the other team...Satan's. In Luke 16:13, Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other." Friends, lets ensure that our hearts and minds are fully on God's team.
Tomorrow, I'll talk a little more about what I learned from Harvey's teaching. What are your thoughts on multi-ethnic congregations?
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