1) Obey God's Mandate.

The Scriptures are so clear. God has commanded us to obey "the word of reconciliation" and God has commissioned us to fulfill "the ministry of reconciliation." In the past few years Church leaders have affirmed the Church's obligation by endorsing strongly stated resolutions and by issuing calls to action.

America's largest Protestant church, the Southern Baptist Convention, passed a historic resolution acknowledging that racism played a role in the formation of their denomination. In the early 1800's a divisive problem arose within the American Baptist Union when some southern slave owners wanted to become Baptist missionaries. Some leaders, especially pastors from the northern states, said that slave owners weren't qualified to be missionaries. So, the American Baptist Union separated over this issue and the Southern Baptist Convention was organized in 1845. But now the Southern Baptist Convention has recognized that they were on the wrong side of this issue. Here is a portion of the resolution passed in Atlanta in June of 1995:

WHEREAS, Our relationship to African-Americans has been hindered from the beginning by the role that slavery played in the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention; and

WHEREAS, In later years Southern Baptists failed, in many cases, to support, and in some cases opposed, legitimate initiatives to secure the civil rights of African-Americans; and

WHEREAS, Racism has divided the body of Christ and Southern Baptists in particular, and separated us from our African-American brothers and sisters;

Be it RESOLVED, that we hereby commit ourselves to eradicate racism in all its forms

Be it further RESOLVED, that we commit ourselves to be doers of the Word by pursuing racial reconciliation in all our relationships, especially with our brothers and sisters in Christ, to the end that our light would so shine before others that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

We salute the Baptists who were right in 1845 and the Baptist who did right 150 years later in 1995. I read the Baptist resolution to my multi-cultural congregation in Englewood. As soon as I was done reading it God brought me under conviction. I said, "The Assemblies of God needs to do the same thing." You see our Fellowship was also formed under the dark cloud of racism. Having said that aloud I also felt convicted to call headquarters the next day. I was greatly blessed to discover that we had a resolution pending for the General Council in August, 1995. The original resolution lamented the fact that our Fellowship lacked in the area of integration. However, it did not give the history that explained what brought this about. It was my privilege to work with the resolution's sponsor, Rev. William Douglas, and offer a friendly substitute resolution that gave both the history and launched a plan of action.

One morning a few days before General Council, I believe God put a definition for reconciliation in my heart: Reconciliation comes to terms with the past in the light of the present for the sake of the future.I believe nothing less than the future of the Assemblies of God is at stake in this issue of proclaiming the finished work of reconciliation and pursuing opportunities to implement that blood-bought reconciliation. Here is a portion of the Assembly of God resolution:

WHEREAS, The Gospel of Jesus Christ declares God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life; and the Scriptures promise that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh; and

WHEREAS, The foremost exemplary model of Pentecostal community in the 20th century is the Azusa Revival where leadership and people joined together without regard to ethnicity, providing a divine rebuke against racial discrimination and throwing a shining light of God's intention for His church where the blood of Christ washes out the color line; and

WHEREAS, Because of the deep stain and sin of racism following the Azusa Revival, predominately black and white Pentecostal denominations went their separate ways for a season; and

WHEREAS, The Assemblies of God was established during that time of separation so that our Fellowship became one from which black persons were mostly absent; and

WHEREAS, Our testimony to the world has suffered as a result of this separation and our Fellowship has been deprived of the rich blessings which could have been made by our black brothers and sisters; and

WHEREAS, It is right that we repent of racism and ask our black brothers and sisters for forgiveness for failing to keep and treasure the ideal of the Azusa Revival; and

WHEREAS, We are committed to removing every last vestige of racism from our midst and restoring to the work of the Lord and blessing of an integrated Fellowship; and

WHEREAS, Toward this end we encourage from our hearts the full participation of black persons within the Assemblies of God in fellowship and leadership; and

WHEREAS, Action is needed to give impetus to our districts, ministers, and people for the full inclusion of black brothers and sisters throughout our Fellowship; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this General Council ask the executive and general presbyteries, the executive presbyteries of districts, pastors and local church boards and congregations to take whatever actions are necessary to enhance and accelerate the progress being made in our Fellowship for the inclusion of black brothers and sisters throughout every aspect of the Assemblies of God.

This resolution reflects the fact that Jesus died to make the Church God's Antidote for the sin of racism. The General Council of the Assemblies of God has resolved that 11:00 Sunday morning should be America's most integrated hour. Church leaders nationwide should accept and act upon this mandate, it's our marching orders.

Full Text of 1995 General Council Resolution 25, "Use of Black Ministries"

Text of 1989 General Council Resolution, "Racism"

Out of this resolution the New Jersey District of Assemblies of God established a Committee for Ethnic Reconciliation. This committee determined that the most important initiatives are Theological, Relational and Practical. In commending the work and the report out of this committee, Executive Secretary George Wood wrote, "I think what you are doing in New Jersey will be a helpful model to the rest of our Fellowship."

I ask AGTS to take the lead in articulating and disseminating a Theology of Reconciliation to our Bible Colleges, Districts, and Churches. Jesus died to reconcile man to God and man to man, and upon this bedrock of truth God will build His Church to be all that He ever intended for it to be.

2) Proclaim the Truth

Whereas we talk about the plurality of races, the Bible teaches that there is only a singular race, the human race.

Acts 17:2—"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth."

On Christian radio I heard a woman call in and ask, "Don't you men know your Bible? Why are you talking about interracial this and that when the Bible says God created only one race of men?" She was right! The word inter-racial is unscriptural and unscientific. The prefix inter means among, and so the word inter-racial means among the races. The truth is found in the word intra-racial. Intra is a prefix meaning within, so the word intra-racial means within the race. Science joins Scripture in proclaiming the truth that all of us belong within the one race of men.

In early 1990's scientists discovered all humans are descended from a common female they called, Eve. This made front page news in the New York Times. The scientists also concluded that everyone is descended from a common male they nicknamed, Adam. Duh?!

Scientists are like mountain climbers, and when they reach the peak they discover the seminarian with the Bible in their hands. We have this truth in our hands and the world needs this truth to set them free from a racist past so we can move forward into a reconciled future.

In February, 2001, one of the most amazing scientific breakthroughs was announced. Headlines read: Scientists Map the Human Genome, and, Scientists Discard Notion of Race. Newspapers heralded the findings: "Thanks to spectacular advances in molecular biology and genetics, most scientists now reject the concept of race as a valid way to divide human beings into separate groups." A Yale scientist said, "Race has no basic biological reality." A Stanford scientist observed, "The characteristics that we see with the eye are in reality skin deep." A University of Michigan scientist declared, "There is no such thing as race." A Harvard Scientist revealed, "The DNA of all human beings is 99.9% identical." No wonder Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Your neighbor is 99.5% the same as yourself!