Scripture and science agree—There is only one human race, but within the race are distinctions. Jesus prayed that despite our differences, we would be One as God the Father, Son and Spirit are One. The Trinity is unity in diversity and that's a mystery. Jesus prayed for His people to have unity in diversity.

From one race God made all nations. Anthropologists divide the human race into three distinct main divisions: Caucasian (European); Negroid (African); and Mongoloid (Asian). Where did this three-fold division of man come from? Those who believe Scripture (or now, science) know that all of us are descended from Adam. However, there is another man who is a common ancestor of us all. Every one of us also descended from Noah

Noah, his wife, Noah's three sons and their three wives won the biggest survivor challenge of them all—they were the only humans to survive the Flood. All of us are descended from Noah and his wife and all of descend from one of Noah's three sons

The fact that Noah starred in this early edition of, "My Three Sons," seems to provide the most plausible explanation for the distinctions that exist within the human race. God either made Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japeth, very different, or God arranged for each of them to marry outside their ethnicity to produce diverse offspring, or as their descendants settled in different climates they developed distinct characteristics.

Acts 17:26—"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings."

God made the "times and the boundaries" to allow for a variety within the human race. Seasons and climates affect diet and appearance. Noah was apparently from the Middle East. But after the Flood, Ham's descendants settled in Africa, Japeth's descendants traveled to Europe, and Shem's descendants migrated to Asia. It's probably not coincidence that just as Noah had three sons, the human race has three main groups. Just as God is 3 in 1, man is 3 in 1. Jesus prayed that though we are 3, we would be 1. God ordains unity in diversity, and God blesses diversity that is in harmony, Psalm 133.

Be proactive. Catch the vision and pursue intra-racial friendships, fellowships, and churches. Peter, who I call "the reluctant Apostle of ethnic reconciliation," proclaimed the truth we must embrace when he said, "I perceive that God shows no partiality," Acts 10:34. Proclaim the truth that sets men free from prejudice and racism.

3) Create Symbols of Reconciliation

Springfield has a unique National Cemetery. It's the only one in America that has both Union and Confederate graves that are separated by a dividing wall. In 1984 a portion of that dividing wall was torn down. A plaque says the tearing down of this wall was done to provide "a symbol of reunification of purpose..., without regard for past differences." God is calling you to put your hand to the task and tear down remaining walls of division in your community.

The beautiful stained glass depiction of William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Mission is a great symbol of reconciliation right here in this AGTS chapel.

Two months ago the plaque that was dedicated in our city square is a symbol that we are moving beyond complacency and denial and are moving toward honesty and reconciliation.

There is a great symbol of reconciliation in Memphis, Tennessee. The Loraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, has been recreated into a Civil Rights Museum. A few years ago I brought my wife and four children there. That tragic place has been transformed into a powerful teaching tool and symbol of reconciliation. I encourage you to go and plan to spend a few hours absorbing all that is on display there.

Your church can be symbol of reconciliation in your community. In Englewood we had deacons and deaconesses from a dozen varied nations. On staff we had an African-American youth pastor and a Latino assistant pastor. Now in Park Crest Assembly of God here in Springfield, we have an African-American Board member for the 1^st time in our 35 year history. We've also had a part-time Latino pastor. We are thrilled that as our community slowly changes, the makeup of our congregation is also changing. With the truth entrenched in our souls, the welcome we extend to these not-so-distant cousins isn't done in the spirit of toleration but in the spirit of jubilation. Diverse Christian fellowship brings joy and blessings.

When a young black man became the victim of racial hatred and was stabbed in a restaurant in Springfield last year, we organized a "Card and Prayer Shower." We publicly declared that hate and racism is not a Springfield value, and we openly shared God's love with this Muslim. The front page of the Springfield News Leader showed a picture of "dark brown" and "light brown" hands clasped together in the common cause of Christ's love. That picture created a visible symbol of reconciliation.

Our Assembly of God Fellowship has some wonderful symbols of meaningful reconciliation in place. For the first time, we have an African-American sitting on the Executive Presbytery of the General Council of the Assembly of God. For the first time, an African-American was elected to the General Presbytery. For the first time, an African-American elected Assistant District Superintendent.

These God-ordained changes are creating powerful symbols of reconciliation. Redeem the time and look for the opportunities God may give you to create a symbol of reconciliation.

4) Represent Your Community

God scattered the nations at Babel and then God gathered the nations at Pentecost. The Pentecostal Church, that international and intra-racial gathering where there is no respecter of persons, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, where God's Spirit and blessings fall like rain on the mountain top of man's highest aspirations, that Pentecostal Church is the best representative of heaven on earth.

The best early church was Antioch. The leadership and membership at Antioch were Jew and Gentile, African and European. No wonder it was at Antioch where the disciples were first called Christians. The best modern church was Azusa, where the shed blood of Jesus washed away the color line and where the outpoured water of the Spirit heralded the promised latter rain. Antioch and Azusa present models and ideals of what your church should increasingly become.

Too many of our churches choose to move out of a community when the complexion of their community changes. Those decisions can leave spiritual black holes in our urban areas. When William Douglas got out of the service at the end of WW2 he was saved in an Assembly of God in a large city in New Jersey. Fifty years later he came back to visit the church, only to discover that a fried chicken restaurant stood on that land that had formerly been redeemed from the territory of man for the Kingdom of God. William pointed to the dumpster behind the restaurant and sadly, "That's where the altar was that I got saved at." The neighboring pastor who took him to the site said, "This is one of the busiest drug dealing street corners in the city." The church in the suburbs is thriving, but the church in the city is dying. Certainly God could have provided for both to have thrived.

Growth forced Englewood Assembly of God to make a decision. We chose to renew our commitment to reach the community God called us to reach. We renovated the Sanctuary and increased seating by 15%. We purchased and renovated an adjoining house for offices and parking. The church recently bought an adjoining half acre and has torn down the house to make room for an expanded Sanctuary and increased parking. The saying, "Where there's a will, there's a way," applies here. Since it's God will to reach the urban community, then God will provide a way where there is no way if we are willing. Englewood also supported the planting of numerous churches in the communities around them. God is building His Church and getting the glory.

God provided a vision to one congregation that built a new Sanctuary in the suburbs. First Assembly of God in Cape Girardeau came under conviction that it wasn't God's will for them to sell their old Sanctuary in the city center. The church sponsored a young pastor with a burden to reach the lost and establish a new work in their old Sanctuary. Today that inner city multi-cultural church is thriving. They have experienced great miracles of provision. God will work miracles for His ministers of reconciliation.

Winston Broome, born in the Caribbean, is a reconciler. He doesn't need Coppertone to get dark brown skin; he was born that way. Winston was pastoring a fine integrated church in Connecticut when he received an invitation from the New Jersey District of the Assemblies of God. Winston was asked, "Would you be willing to come to Atlantic City and pioneer a black church?" Winston replied, "I don't know anything about a black church or a white church or a yellow church or a green church or a purple church. The only Church I know is the one purchased by the red blood of Jesus. If you want me to build that Church, the answer is yes!" Winston and his wife Gloria took a chance and went to Atlantic City. Their gamble paid off. God has helped them build great multi-cultural church just blocks from the casinos.

I've preached there several times and can tell you it's a piece of heaven on earth.

It is not God's will for 11:00 Sunday morning to be the most segregated hour in America. It is God's will for His Church to reconcile man to God and to reconcile man to man and for His people to worship together. Jesus told us to pray, "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The question should be, "How is it done in Heaven?" The answer is in Revelation 7:9-10—"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"

In heaven people from every nation (Greek ethnos) are together worshipping God. People of every ethnicity join their voices in unison giving Jesus the glory due His name. Therefore, I am convicted that it is God's will for people of every ethnicity to worship together on earth. If the future Church in heaven is integrated, then shouldn't your present church on earth be integrated to the degree that your community is integrated? The Revelation of what heaven is like goes beyond the call for toleration and trumpets the call for jubilation ¯ thank God when heaven comes down and God's glory fills our churches.

Be encouraged to follow through on the Revelation and take these actions:

• Obey God's Mandate
• Proclaim the Truth
• Create Symbols of Reconciliation
• Represent Your Community

What Springfield and what your city needs most is for the Church to bring a little more of heaven down to earth through the ministry of reconciliation. Take hold of the ideal of integration without further hesitation or moderation so that Jesus receives the magnification. May God give us the grace to pursue it in the reconciling name of Jesus. Amen.

Suggested Books on Racial Reconciliation

• A Mighty Long Journey: Reflections on Racial Reconciliation. Edited by Timothy George and Robert Smith, Jr., (B and H, 2000)
• Breaking Down Walls; A Model for Reconciliation in an Assemblies of God of Racial Strife. Raleigh Washington and Glen Kehrein, Moody Press (1993)
• Let's Get to Know Each Other. Tony Evans, Thomas Nelson (1995)
• Developing Cross Cultural Fellowships. Tony Evans, Moody Press (1998)
• Winning the Race to Unity: Is Racial Reconciliation Really Working?. Clarence Shuler, Moody Press, (1998)
• More Than Equals: Racial Healing for the Sake of the Gospel. Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice, Inter Varsity Press  (1993)

Suggested Small Group Study Guides on Racial Reconciliation

• Break Down the Walls: Biblical Reconciliation and Unity in the Body of Christ. Raleigh Washington and Glen Kehrein, with Promise Keepers, Moody Press (1997)
• One Nation Under God: Toward Race Reconciliation. Donna Saunders and Jean Leak, Turning Point, Chattanooga, TN (1999)

If you contact me, I would be glad to email a copy of the 24 page report by the New Jersey District of the Assemblies of God Committee for Reconciliation (1997). Included in this report are suggested initiatives, helpful quotes, and other resources. I also have a 6 cassette tape sermon series entitled, "The Doctrine of Reconciliation," available for $10.

Scott Temple, Director
Intercultural Minsistries
1445 Boonville Ave
Springfield, MO 65802
(417) 862-2781
stemple@ag.org

Springfield News-Leader articles:

"Church Leaders Join to Cast Out the Demons of Racism"

Coming Together For Something Besides Hate.