introduction
I love our church family so much. Like any family, it is flawed and crippled by the consequences of life in a fallen world. But it’s also the group of people God used to reach out to me, lead me to Christ, and nurture my spiritual growth. My best friends are in the church, and many of my fondest memories are with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The church is truly my treasured family and home.
This was not always the case.
I was converted out of the world as a college student in 1981. Scripture reminds me that “…at that time you were [I was] separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12, NIV). That’s got to be one of the most sobering passages in all the Bible. I strive to never forget what it was like to be “without hope and without God in the world”.
Part of my pre-Christian lostness included a warped sense of community – one in which I categorized people by their race and prejudged them as one of “us” or one of “them”. But an early experience with my future church family obliterated that kind of thinking for me, and changed my life forever. And it all happened in one conversation…
the conversation that changed my life
This life-changing conversation took place 43 years ago. I was a 21-year-old college student studying the Bible seriously for the first time in my life, and visiting the church my new friends had brought me to. It was in a suburb of San Diego known as Poway. This little congregation of about 120 members would later grow much larger, and be known as the San Diego Church of Christ. But at the time it was small and white – very white. I only saw a handful of people of color there. And this bothered me on a visceral level.
Why did it bother me so much?
While I went to high school in an affluent, white neighborhood and had learned to adapt comfortably to it, becoming very anglicized myself, my roots were still very much entrenched in the Mexican American community that was my father’s world. My father, Pete Chacon, was a civil rights activist. He was the first president of the Chicano Federation, served for 22 years in the California State Assembly, and was known as “The Father of Bilingual Education” in California. I grew up watching militant groups, like the Brown Berets, sitting in my living room and talking about burning down buildings that had disrespected the Chicano (Mexican-American) community. I took part in protest marches on city hall, as my father and the iconic civil rights activist, Cesar Chavez, would thunder into the bullhorn: “Chicano!” and the crowd would thunder back: “Power!”.
And while I never considered myself, my family, or my father racist (we weren’t), when you grow up watching your father fight for Chicano rights your whole life, you begin to have a fighter’s mentality when it comes to racial issues.
The bottom line is this: I saw brown people as “us” and white people as “them”.
Which brings me back to that life-changing conversation I was telling you about that occurred in fellowship on a Sunday morning while I was visiting the predominantly white Poway church 43 years ago. After service, I pulled one of the few brown guys aside and asked him, “Hey, what do you think of these people?” I get choked up thinking about his response even now. He looked at me, and then looked at the mostly white group fellowshipping around us, and then looked back at me, and said, “Those people? That’s my family.” I’m crying as I write this, even though it was years ago. I had never experienced anything like that. He saw “them” as family. He identified more closely with his spiritual family than with those of his own race. That rocked my world and changed my life forever.
Two months later, I became a true disciple of Jesus, and just naturally let go of my “us” and “them” mentality. After seeing the scriptures on unity lived out for the first time in my new church family, I was eager to become part of something that was so transcendent, so real, and so different than the world.
Over the next four decades of my life, there were two things related to race that I was determined to do: One, I did my best to reach out to other people of color like myself, and raise up as many qualified people of color as I could to positions of leadership. And, two, I would work hard to forge unity in our multicultural church, so that we would never drift into the world’s “us” and “them” mentality that I was converted out of. I came from that kind of mentality, and knew very well how detrimental and divisive it is to God’s church.
which brings us to the present day
The good news is that today the ICOC family of churches I am part of is one of the few truly multi-ethnic, interracial Christian churches in America today.[1]
But the bad news is that we have not always done a good job of understanding the cultural differences between us, or raised up leaders to reflect the diversity among us, or built the kind of trust between us that can withstand any cultural storm. As a result, many minorities in our churches feel like we are diverse, but not as truly unified as we should be in Christ. And most of us, regardless of ethnicity, would probably agree that racial, social, and political division is one of the greatest challenges in our fellowship today, as we reflect some of the division and polarization of the world.
so, how do we build racial unity in our churches?
Much good work has been done in this area over the last few years, and I’m truly grateful for all who have contributed to this effort.
Here at the Anchor Point Church in Tampa, Florida, we’ve wrestled with these things, learned many lessons along the way, and eventually been led by the Holy Spirit to do some things that I believe have really helped our diverse membership to grow in our understanding, compassion, and mutual love and trust for each other.
I’d like to humbly offer these practical tips and resources to you in the hope that they may be useful to you.
here's what's worked for us
We’re doing three things that are bearing the good fruit of genuine unity in our congregation over the last few years:
1. A functional Cultural Unity Team set up for success
2. A set of Guiding Values to help us
3. Periodic teaching and conversation about racial concerns
I’ll share a little more about each of these…
cultural unity team
We started with a Cultural Unity Team (formerly known as “Diversity Team”) that was truly diverse – not just racially, but also ideologically. Too often, the volunteers for teams like this have the mindset of activists who come from one socio-political group of our fellowship. But since the group is not ideologically diverse, they don’t represent, and therefore fail to understand, connect with, and influence the larger church membership.
Our leadership team fasted and prayed and then carefully selected a racially and ideologically diverse team that had to be humble, spiritual, and able to work together as a team, since we knew that neither uniformity of thought, nor unspiritual fighting, would accomplish the goal of Christ honoring unity in our congregation.
At the end of this article, you will find the “Mission Statement” that we put together in order to guide our selection of the Cultural Unity Team, as well as the standards of behavior we expect of them.
As a result, God has blessed the team’s vigorous and honest dialogue and debate, and produced a genuine unity forged among them that they model and help teach the rest of the church.
our guiding values
After much discussion, the Cultural Unity Team came up with 10 biblical principles we call “Our Guiding Values” so that the church would know where we stand on some of the main issues that have come up over the last few years, and so that we could use them to be our biblical compass in times of racial turmoil.
At the end of this article, you will find “Our Guiding Values” and notice a few things about it:
· It’s built on scripture
· It’s balanced
· It doesn’t shy away from controversial subjects
· It’s clear and direct
A representative group from the Cultural Unity Team took just over a year to visit every House Church in our 350-member church to listen to our people’s thoughts, teach Our Guiding Values below, and open the doors of communication so that every member has access to us.
periodic teaching and conversation
In addition to all of this, we intentionally preach and teach periodically on topics that address cultural unity from the pulpit, including, but not limited to, our annual Multi-Cultural Day service which includes a big, international potluck and relevant preaching and sharing about the racial issues we face.
We also provide ongoing opportunities for biblical training and discussion among the Cultural Unity Team itself, including studying resources together like the book, Wildfire, by Daren Overstreet, that addresses many of the philosophical underpinnings of the racial and social strife that plague our churches today, and gives us a deeper biblical understanding of how to understand and address them.
close
I’m sure most of you reading this article love and cherish our church family like I do. And I’m sure many of you have been led by the Holy Spirit to find ways that are effectively addressing the racial tensions in your local church family as well. Praise God for that!
There are many different ways to do this. I hope my story and the practical resources I’ve offered here will help as well. (Please check out those practical resources below.)
Let’s continue to build greater understanding between races and diverse people in our fellowship, leading to deeper compassion for each other, and a stronger unity between us that Satan and the world can never destroy.
And let’s be passionate about our unity in God’s Church, because when we think of the beautifully diverse group of people that make up our family of churches, we should not see “us” and “them”, but instead say, “That’s my family.”
Anchor Point
Cultural Unity Team
Mission Statement
· Purpose
o Advocate for members who come to us with a racial or cultural concern in the church.
o Advise the Leadership Team how to navigate spiritually through issues of race that affect our church and to communicate the needs of our members in this area.
o Assist in meeting those needs through building cultural unity in the church.
· Role
o Listen to our members
o Educate ourselves first, and then others
o Discuss among the team in order to learn from each other
o Unite the team in order to model
o Reproduce the forged unity of the team in our church
· Qualifications
o Spiritual (Acts 6:3)
o Wise (Acts 6:3)
o Diverse (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)
o Temperate (1 Timothy 3:11; Titus 2:2; Proverbs 29:11)
o Communicators (Ephesians 4:15; 1 Timothy 4:12)
· Expectations
o God’s Word is the standard for everything
o Prayer and reliance on God
o Spiritually Minded no personal or political agendas
o Team player work together and be solution-oriented
o A Safe Place for all
· Theme passage
o Ephesians 4:2-3 = “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
Our Guiding Values
Anchor Point
Cultural Unity Team
1. We see every person through the biblical lens of equality, value, and worth in the sight of God.
a. Genesis 1:27 (all scriptures NIV unless otherwise noted) = “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
b. Additional Scriptures:
i. Galatians 3:26-28 = “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
ii. 1 Peter 1:18-19 = “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
2. We stand against racism, prejudice, discrimination and favoritism in any and every form.
a. James 2:1-4, 8-9 = “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? …8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”
b. Additional Scriptures:
i. Acts 10:34-35 = “Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.”
ii. 1 John 3:15 (NLT) = “Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.”
3. We believe that God has a special heart for the minority, marginalized, and poor among us and are committed to pursuing biblical justice for them.
a. Deuteronomy 10:18-19 = “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”
b. Additional Scriptures:
i. Leviticus 19:33-34 = “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
ii. Proverbs 31:8-9 = “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
4. We choose compassion instead of indifference, and acceptance instead of judgement, as we make it our goal to have equal concern for each other in the body of Christ.
a. 1 Corinthians 12:26 = “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.”
b. Additional Scriptures:
i. 1 Corinthians 9:22 = “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (This applies to strengthening each other in the church as well.)
ii. Romans 15:7 = “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
5. We reject humanistic solutions to spiritual problems and choose to follow the ways of God instead of the ways of the world to build unity and love in the church of Jesus Christ.
a. Colossians 2:8 = “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces [or basic principles] of this world rather than on Christ.”
b. Additional Scriptures:
i. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 (NLT) = “but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.”
ii. 1 Corinthians 1:18-19 = “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
iii. James 3:13-18 = “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”
6. We stand against oppression of all kinds, but refuse to categorize anyone in America as oppressed or oppressors based on what sociological group they happen to belong to, and refuse to assign preconceived ideas to anyone based on their group identity (race, gender, etc.)
a. Isaiah 1:17 = “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
b. John 7:24 = “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
c. Romans 14:10 = “You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.”
d. Additional Scripture:
i. 1 Samuel 16:7 = “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
7. We will confront racism, prejudice, discrimination and favoritism in the church as sins that must be repented of, and then forgive the repentant offender, extending the grace of God to them and believing they can change, as opposed to the popular notion that people cannot change and diverse groups cannot be united in love. We believe in the power of reconciliation bought by Jesus’ blood on the cross.
a. Luke 17:3-4 = “…If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
b. Additional Scriptures:
i. Colossians 3:8-15 = “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.”
ii. 1 Timothy 1:13-14 = “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
8. We reject the popular notion that one group of people has the moral high ground over another and therefore more of a right to speak and be heard than another group, but embrace the biblical principles of mutually healthy communication.
a. James 1:19-20 = “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
b. Additional Scriptures:
i. Proverbs 12:18 = “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
ii. Proverbs 18:13 = “To answer before listening—that is folly and shame.”
iii. Proverbs 29:11 = “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.”
9. We believe that we must get to know each other better in order to truly understand where we’re coming from. Therefore, we are committed to practicing humble curiosity about the things we don’t know, in order to grow in our understanding, compassion, and love for each other.
a. Proverbs 20:5 = “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.”
b. Romans 12:15 = “…mourn with those who mourn.”
c. Additional Scriptures:
i. 1 Corinthians 12:22-23a = “On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.”
ii. Proverbs 18:2 = “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”
10. We embrace the unity that Jesus bought with his own blood on the cross and commit to forging that unity and connection between our diverse members in the church.
a. Ephesians 2:14-16 = “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”
b. Additional Scriptures:
i. Philippians 2:1-4 = “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
ii. Ephesians 4:3 = “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
Jeff Chacon served in the full-time ministry as an Evangelist for over 30 years before retiring in 2022, and now serves as an Elder on the leadership team of the Anchor Point Church in Tampa, Florida, as well as the leadership team of the Florida Region of Churches, as well as being one of our designated Florida Peacemakers to help with conflict resolution around the state. He just finished a book called "A Fool's Journey," a biography of Jeff's experience with the transformative gospel of Jesus. You can order it HERE. He also wrote the book “Dare to Dream Again,” an excellent resource for helping Christians overcome disappointment and setbacks. You can order it HERE.
[1] Research by sociologists at both Duke University and the Pew Research Center point out that of the 300,000 or so religious congregations in America today—all religious groups, not just Christian—only 7.5 percent of them would qualify as multi-ethnic, defined as a congregation in which no single ethnicity makes up more than 80 percent of those who attend. Look at just Christian congregations, and that number falls to below 3 percent. It's normal, in other words, for churches in America to be all-white, all-black, all-Asian, or all-Latino…” (“Racism in Church: How American Christians Rebuilt the Wall that Jesus Tore Down”, Dr. Jeff Ebert, Newsweek.com, July 4, 2018)