Biblical churches make disciples of all races and ethnic groups without distinction. Some mistakenly believe the Great Commission sends Christians out to evangelize the world. Correct exegesis commands Christians to go to the ethnic groups and cultures of the world. In the city, it is easier to disciple ethnic groups and cultures, baptize them, and mentor them to obey all Scripture; this is especially true during their first year in a new city. Baptism is the outward symbol of one's inward decision to “obey everything the Lord has commanded” and is the foundation for one-on-one mentorship. The great failure of the urban church is its lack of discipleship and mentorship. Corporate praise and worship are important, but without comprehending the foundational teachings of our Lord, the construction of one’s faith crumbles as the allegorical house built upon the sand.
Biblical churches make disciples, are multicultural, and mentor believers. These believers then go out, make other disciples of all people groups, and mentor them. The church incorporates multiple cultures as part of its ministry, and embraces and celebrates the different cultural groups. Biblical churches do not relocate, but rather transitions as their communities’ transitions. Wal-Mart does not build different stores for Blacks, Whites, Hispanic, and Asian, nor would the public support any company that did, and yet separatist churches exist throughout our urban centers and believers continue to support this unbiblical action.
Urban centers around the globe are multi-ethnic, with each homogeneous unit having its own subculture. Charlotte North Carolina (where I live and minister) is the eighteenth largest city in the United States. Only forty-six percent of its residents were born in the State of North Carolina. Charlotte is the sixth largest city in the migration of people in the United States. Twelve percent of its residents were born outside the United States and there are 660 airline flights daily in this city. People are on the move and urban churches have to learn to thrive in an environment where needs are great, resources limited, and the people are transient.
Wal-Mart designs its stores and develops its offerings to attract transient ethnicities and cultures to spend money in their stores. The early Christian church effectively engaged transient ethnicities, made disciples and mentored them, and as the disciples of Jesus moved throughout the world, the gospel spread. The first century church turned the world upside down. Paul went to the urban centers because that was where large he could disciples the largest numbers of people from many different cultures. Jew and Gentile, Asian and African, rich and poor all came together in the early Christian church – this was the biblical model given to us in Acts. The early church reflected the teachings of Jesus and the Great Commission.
Motive is always important to God. Many denominations have long adhered to the homogeneous unit principle for evangelism. They make the argument that multicultural churches are not necessarily better or more spiritual than mono-cultural churches and that multi-ethnic churches often find it harder to reach people for Christ. The New Testament does not support the homogeneous unit principle and it is not what Paul practiced. The New Testament Church consisted of believers from several cultural origins. It consisted of believers of wealth and poverty, and educated and uneducated, young and old joined to worship God. This is still true today of a biblical church. The aim of church growth is not how many people we can assemble on Sunday morning. The aim is to see how many disciples the church can create in partnership with God.
So what do you do if you discover that you are not in a biblical church? First, commit to serious prayer about your church. Admit to God that the church is unbiblical in its practice and is not conducting itself like a first century church and confess your part in the church’s unbiblical behavior. Second, talk with your pastor about your need to be part of a multicultural church that unashamedly makes loves other cultures and seeks to disciple them. Third, pull together like-minded people and begin making disciples, baptizing them, and mentoring other cultures. Visit the Wal-Mart closest to your church and notice the people groups and cultures represented in the store; the shoppers should be representative of your church congregation, and if not there is much work to do. Fourth, if negative tension develops with other members, support your pastor in dealing with it immediately. Churches cannot move to being a biblical church if ungodliness and disobedience exists and your pastor will need your support in correcting overt disobedience, which can be messy. Fifth, intentionally diversify the leadership and staff of the church. It is important for other races and cultures to see “like faces” in the worship service and other church events. Churches can make this change when vacancies naturally occur or when the church adds additional staff, but urban churches should not remove existing staff to create diversity. Purposely removing staff to create a diversified staff is always counterproductive.
Be patient, change takes time. However, working together believers can move the Church to a more biblical foundation. I hope you will be a part of this great movement!
