Part of the reason we see the continued problems of racial exclusion within the church is because we are addressing it from a faulty premise. God is about His glory through culture not the glory of cultures. We forget or perhaps dismiss that God is opposed to ethnocentrism. This is the belief that my culture is better than or superior to all other cultures. However, how can one culture, made by the God who created all cultures, even begin to think that it is superior?
God does not make deficient cultures. Men, in our depravity, have made them deficient. This is because we have loved our "cultural" identity over our Christ identity. God does not love your culture, per-se, as much as He loves those in each culture who love Him. It is all about His Global Glory! Therefore, we must reject any ideology or methodology which promises or promotes unity that minimizes or domesticates God. He is not one reason for our pursuit of unity. He – His Global Glory - is the reason for it!
Those who will bring great transformation in the unity of the Bride of Christ will have to be courageous men and women. It will demand sacrifice:
· They will have to continually cast off the shackles of cultural identification and
social status.
· They will have to continually promote Christ above their cultures.
· They will have to continually delight in the Global Glory of God and the fame of
His name among the nations.
· They will have to continually support the missionary work of the Lord across the
globe by going, sending, or supporting through prayer and giving.
· They will have to continually work to show their passion for God’s glory in their
own Jerusalem.
So, to all of us who say we desire and long for racial unity in the church, here is the question:
Are our lives and passions a reflection of this reality or are they merely a profession?
In other words, is it "Creed without Credibility?" or Creed With Credibility?"
Relationships must take precedence over resolutions. We have been resolutioned to the death and the plethora of resolutions proves that the one that preceded it was not sufficient.
The only resolution that is needed is to be resolved, with God’s help, to model the life and love of the Lord Jesus Christ and, to be resolved to live the resurrected life.
My God help us!
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