Standing in God’s Way of Racial Integration, Part 2

Life with Jeannie Green. Your goal is not the elimination of racism is the achievement of diversification. People feel like I'm not a racist. Some totally good on this God's goal is not just the elimination of racism to congratulations not a racist. Not anywhere near what I want you to be. It wants you to stop in racist you want you to be integrated in the church with people of various cultures like as always, I'm your host Molly, but that's looked really closely at a beautiful tapestry are beautiful works of art that often date back as early as the third century BC their forms by weaving together different colored threads to create a complex and colorful picture in today on Summit life pastor JD Greer explained that the church should look like a tapestry making up a body of believers that is not only colorful but complex and culturally integrated continuing our series title in today's message is called standing in God's way of racial integration. Pastor JD is teaching from the book of acts chapters 10 are you or I standing in God's way of culturally integrating his church to be three thanks why cultural immigration is important to goal theology lesson quite as well.

We do especially quick to put your theological but boardrooms on them.

Secondly why it is so difficult.

And thirdly, I would like to offer some meager guidance here for us as a church, one why cultural integration of the church is important.

God's purpose and salvation is to bring the races back together God's purpose and salvation is always been a ring to bring the race about together the plan from the beginning was to bring back together all these divided cultures and races to be united, not around, their pride around our common knowledge of God's grace and his salvation cc little handsomeness throughout the Old Testament. This is always been God's plan to make a record for the Gentiles in the temple God, since people like Jonah to go preach salvation to the Ninevites, we see the end of all this in Revelation 5 we see representatives from every tribe and taunted nation under heaven that are around the throne of God proclaiming together in all their various cultures. Salvation belongs to our God. That's the in the middle in the middle is the church. B. A multicultural church is a powerful evangelistic witness, a group of people sharing one culture and one history come together to listen to great music and entertaining speaker that is not the manifest wisdom of God is called tailgating. By the way we do in football games River John Mayer conserves Bruno Mars or whatever but when you got a group of people who have little in common except for a common love for Jesus and experience of grace that speaks of the power and beauty of the gospel C God is glorified to a beautiful tapestry of cultures. That's why we pursuant to biblical thing on this. Some scholars and pointed out that a lot of books of the Old Testament have a counterpart in the New Testament. So for example you wisdom literature and then in the New Testament you got James got the five books of the law.

The four Gospels, one of the books that has no counterpart in the New Testament were the only ones is the book of Psalms.

Now the Psalms was the Jewish hymn book.

Why was there no counterpart, why, why did the early church right hymnbook is why Blasko saying I would agree with them because God was indicating that no one culture, not even the early churches culture should write the praise music for everybody else's culture is the Psalms are Jewish or Jewish in a meter there Yiddish in the rhythm and now you got God being glorified the multiplicity of cultures writing their own worship music said I didn't want to write one manual for everybody. So he gives you living water until you put in the cuff of your culture number two why cultural immigration is hard. Forgiveness about why it's hard will start the first A. Pride, like I said, our race has become a source of pride for us to see what constantly as human beings coming up with things that we believe make a significant but set us apart from other people. I'm smart, I'm rich to the school. CS Lewis said. He said he will bungle the ring is and always come a little rain of people that fit inside our ring and thereby also saw the rain is not as good as us and we went to school might be help you pretty you are might be a Republican on the Democrat's use of them.

It gives you is I was joking with one of our pastors this week is about restarting couple 26.2 now ran a marathon like what others think and you just brag about. It's okay. What if all the people at hundred 40 IQ just put out about it or call 140 you know people in a 200,000 year put 200 today he's like is that what the fraternity unlike its rate. You're better than all of us because you ran that night. I just did with them as I am regularly do that but the point is always coming up with something that we think makes us more significant than other people that are on the outside race is one of the worst of those and then we began to have feelings of superiority or inferiority or insecurity with one another what you gotta see is that all racism comes from fear and insecurity. I need something that will help me feel worthy and significant, because I don't pay my worth and significance from God the things they waited that all this all manifests Chris Greene pastoral Chris ring.

Lastly, the reason we have skin issues is really because we have sent issues. B. Cultural is the second reason is as hard as cultural preferences run deep. What I call the great white myth with great white myth was that when we is white people repented of our racism. All black people would come rushing back into our churches thanking their lucky stars they can worship with us again. That was the great white myth.

What we learned is that a lot of black people preferred black worship. A lot of white people preferred white worship what God wants is a multicultural church and the measurable multicultural church is that sometimes you feel uncomfortable whenever people do things outside your culture you feel uncomfortable.

A lot of times we say we want multiculturalism, but we really don't buy the way of destroying the church to everywhere.

His Bible says that man looks on the outward God looks on the hearts we all got cultural preferences, they become sin when we put too much value on them. By the way, if you just happen you wanted people to fill just about right now for your kind of lazy disengage posture and worship.

That's not a worship style that's sin okay letter three or number three how the summit church must pursue racial integration how the summit church must pursue racial integration. I have 12 suggestions, I know, but her 12 disciples, so one free jump right quick. I promise to give is like a manifesto number one, number one. Our goal is not just the elimination of racism.

Our goal is the achievement of diversification. Our goal is not the elimination of racism is the achievement of nurse diversification people feel like I'm not a racist, totally good on this God's goal is not the elimination of racism, not just the elimination of racism if the achievement of nurse work God's vision of Peter was not here stopping a racist division was go to Cornelius eat with him, worship with him do life with him say so.

Congratulations. You're not a racist. Not anywhere near what I want you to be in want you to stop in racist.

He wants you to be integrated in the church with people of various cultures. Number two. Each of us must elevate his earth or her third race.

Each of us must elevate his or her third race, first in your second race do not disappear like a said God is not colorblind, but the third race becomes weightier to you many distinctions that come from the other two races you get example, this the apostle Paul, the apostle Paul said a very curious thing in first Corinthians 9 that you might tend to rewrite over but you think about what he say but listen Paul what did you say to the Jews. I became a Jew to the Gentiles a became a Gentile to the Jews. You get out as a Jew become a Jew to the Jews as a Jew remains with his June us.

That's how you say it is June us was so light to him. That is all that. What that means is that my Caucasian us vets again.

I will you say it's part of who I am but ought to be able to get on and off like a hat is not that significant to me.

God created it right for Greg for a lot of things in my culture, my history, my bass but I take it on and off because my third race becomes more weighty to me than anything. My first or second race number three. Realize that it's not just about the music. Music matters, but there a lot of things that matter a lot more and I say that because we will never be unified because we found the perfect blend of music to tell you what I've learned. Lo these many years and ain't never gonna be perfect for everybody right before realize that it is about the music I be honest, this seems to be the biggest one is what always gets brought up to break this down for you as well as I can most likely cause of a minor school as it is exactly right.

There are some people here who feel that those of us who were not expressive in worship we are not connecting our posture of our hearts to our posture of our bodies not giving to God what he is doing were not showing God's word through watching world always compared to a football game. BLU had often a football game to show zero excitement for God and to that concern.

I say valid right then there are some who feel like aggressively quote charismatic worship leaders play on emotion building crowd dynamics, and then unjustifiably labeling that the spirit somehow the spirit of God always goes with a musical crescendo were shouting right into that concern. I say valid loud music shouting and charismatic leadership you get a crowd worked up regardless of the subject matter and unbelievers particularly are very skeptical of emotional moments they see as contrived, especially when you label that God when you call what you call God will say is especially stage musical manipulation, but you can achieve. Regardless of what you were talking about that concern. I say about we need to listen to and be influenced by each other. In general, we need to grow at the summit church in our expressiveness and worship, especially if you reach people from other cultures and we also need to be aware that outsiders, particularly unbelievers, are very sensitive to what we call spirit moments in worship that are little more than group hysteria such group hysteria can be fun for us, but it makes unbelievers feel really uncomfortable or thought we lost our minds something that Paul explicitly warns against in first Corinthians 14 DOS we want to be exuberant and worship and we want to put the glory of God and display we want to engage with God directly. As we worship, but we also have to be sensitive to do things decently and always in order prescriptive 1442 that the command, which means sometimes reining in our emotions as an active deference to those that we are trying to reach and also want to say I got acknowledges that sometimes there are genuine theological differences that shape our worship that have nothing to do with cultural preferences. For example, we do not believe in or practice allowed tongs speaking is a part of our worship services is not accompanied by interpreter is not culture, it's prescriptive. 14. Medicalize all races in all cultures. We got as we got we got we got a Bible open and we got' humility toward one another with a little warm from each other must reach our community together.

Number five.

We need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable using the makeup more write that down is like this is going to be one of the new credos of the summit church. Number six we got a prioritize diverse leadership like that in Luke 13 – 13 is how it goes. We want those on our stage and leadership to send a welcome signal to all races. Knowing the things that people always bring up we start, this averted life is what spoken it.

He is putting a lesson I've read a lot about estimates, and I'm an expert for tokenism is is is two things. Tokenism is a when you have no intention of actually giving away authority to people of other races, which is you simply want a pretty face in front of it to make you look like you are as tokenism be when you put an unqualified person in a position of leadership simply because of their skin color. That's different than what we are doing and intentionally pursuing racial diversity. We are asking God to give us qualified leaders from every race, whether it's Latino, black, white, Asian, Arab, we want to reflect the beauty and the diversity of the church in every possible way. Number seven, Revelation 5. Racial diversification has its limits free.

Revelation 5. Racial diversification has its limits.

I say this because I want to help you and me manage our expectations. If for no other reason language puts barriers between us.

That means that certain outreaches are best done sometimes on homogenous grounds athletes auto boundary Catholic to the best professors reach professors, Latinos reach Latinos. That's not wrong Gennaro everything is gotta be multicultural all the time expecting people to act mature in Christ before they've even been saved. We can do that even corporate worship has its limitations. We have to adapt to our contacts in the amounts of the kinds of people that God has given us to reach the church as a sign told it is not the actual fulfillment Revelation Bible never get there like really getting a Revelation 5 were assigned, which means as much as we can. We pursue cultural diversity while balancing it with all the other assignments and God has given us.

Number eight multicolor the switch is heavenly state multiculturalism is not our primary goal gospel proclamation is multiculturalism can never become the primary goal. The church because the great commission is to make disciples not diversify the earth. There are times just say this because there are times when I can do things fast.

Some of you would like us to do the and the reason when I do miss classes you would like for us to do them is because were trying to lead people to Jesus which means including majority community people around us and I did say this humbly for many people. Multiracial diversification is taken on too much weight to become the one telltale sign whether or not your church is in a good multiracial diversification is one of the things that we pursue in our church, but it would be unwise and unfaithful for us to do undo damage to other parts of our mission in order to accomplish that one.

Number nine is a really important each of us must devote ourselves to humility and patience. We had to devote ourselves to humility and patience. Humility means we gotta be quick to hear and slow to speak.

Patience means there were a lot of dumb things to each other is a poor family all dumb things in your family keep moving right now is my family everything similar, gossiping with her so that you know you just keep going because were committed to each other when not like mom offended.

I'm leaving prices were family will have to learn to teach each other in humility and patience.

Number 10 non-Lisa Tim was given benefit of the doubt. Whatever we can both give the benefit of the doubt whenever we cannot talk about this a few weeks ago, but we should assume the best about others intentions until they prove that they have bad once I would suggest to you that we need this principle on this issue, maybe more than any other that there is one of our campus pastors told me that it was a lady who was a non-note race was nonwhite and she was complaining to him that she's really having trouble getting connected here at the summit church and the reason she speculated was because she was not white tortillas pastor said well in are you on or are you volunteering no small group.

No starting point. No, it does not matter what color you are.

If you are not under three things you're going to feel disconnected from the summit church and postulating one problem is not helpful because you not given the benefit of the doubt. See, this is a different amount says if you think that if you're terrified of snakes.

We walk in whatever they look like a snake now was the looming cynicism and minimum size of the really important. We gotta get the benefit of the doubt, use of, what if you give them the benefit of the doubt. But if you have bad motives.

What you give the benefit out of the doubt really is in the Bible says love covers a multitude of sins waterways that we change each other is not a crying foul and political incorrectness at every possible point chessmen change our society the way God changes is by showing grace. Listen, listen, there is racism in our church is waiting is simple. Some of you have experienced that and I am deeply, deeply sorry, but I know that we can do so much farther if we give each other the benefit of the doubt whenever we can. We overcome one another's evil with good.

And we fall short.

Someone was asking a few of our non-majority passers will call if they experience racism in our church and some of them gave a few examples. But what struck me was that these pastors had a difficult time coming up with examples why because were to start looking for everywhere. Now I realize that there are people with experience. Actually, minimizing that but understand, listen, these guys are happier because they've risen above the sin of racism that is in all of our hearts and they called us all up to a higher level. Pastor Waddell one of their says this if I'm secure in who I am in Christ and I'm not as offended by everyone. You might think less of me and so I will be a sensitive number 11. This is important to acknowledge that your sinful flesh is racist John ON this way, the seed of every sin is in every human heart.

And until you recognize that you're just blind to your blindness. You have acknowledge of the problems our first year that that is in your heart not to smile so you end up after the thing you and I meet you adopt the posture of humility and repentance. Martin Luther said all the Christians life is repentance, which we dumped tingly before God. Listen, it's in me and I should be patient with me.

I need you forgive me. I need you to bear with me because I recommend that my sinful flesh every sin. The seed of every sin is in every human heart. I got acknowledge that and I got asked for your grace and forgiveness is not something I'm instructing you I'm asking us. We know of one another. Number 12/some of you should consider this a calling. I call the mission's were all called to missions in one central some of us more specifically are called some of you need to make this a simple part of your ministry focus to leave your community and enter another right here in Raleigh-Durham. Let me use this moment. If I could to acknowledge that we have some people in our church from other races who entered a mostly white church.

They are pioneers who should be celebrated. We should be grateful for them because they are a gift to us because they are helping us be a better reflection of the beauty of the gospel to our community. Some of you are called specifically to this not calling you is just a specialization in responsibility. Given all Christians. So having said that some of you are specifically called, we all must intentionally form relationships with outside of our comfort zone on all sides of the Pastor Chris in the last multicultural events with a multicultural to demonstrate real amazing unity in a way that defies the power of the gospel are you Internet mission.

Let's show the world what love truly looks like you're listening to Pastor JD Greer on summit like biggest themes and acts is the idea that every believer is called to be on mission. I think sometimes when we hear the word mission for the pastor or the youth group or someone else, but not the case.

Right, JD, what you come to understand is yeah the word mission applies in a special way to those that go cross-cultural but in another, and maybe even more fundamental sense, all Christians are are sent to live on mission. We always say that the question is no longer if you're called in the mission. The question is simply where and how. So what we've done is we created a companion Bible study to go along with the series on this Bible study will take you deeper into the pages of the stories of the better there.

The book of action show you how they apply to you now offer part two that covers chapters 9 to 28 and beyond. I want to make sure that you have a chance to get volume 2. It's available right now@jdgreer.com and there's a few copies of a volume 1 still left if you are not there. How you get that one if you missed it does get both want you to be able to study the book of acts, and have it transform you like it impacted us to just go and get either of these@jdgreer.com being a missionary in your everyday life may be pretty foreign thought better understanding of what the Senate like Bible study that complements the series answer some of the questions you may have Been right where you volume to a personal Bible study called, it's more than just a book study actually designed to help you discover your own personal role in the great commission. If you miss volume 1 earlier this spring not too late to get your copy our way of saying thanks for your support this ministry. Ask for St. study guide suggested that nation $25 or more today by calling 866-335-5228 35 or go online and request your copy. We're not leaving events back to when Pastor JD asked some people for more than others. The question we went to, be sure to join us Thursday JD