Is anybody getting it?

Just so there is no confusion, I won't use the term "race", instead I'll use Thabit's Anyabwile's term ethnicity.

But yeah, I would say there is a BIG problem with ethnicity and class in the church.

I think the honest question we have to ask ourselves is our we more comfortable with a person that is like us in ethnicity, class, education and interests who is NOT a believer MORE than we are with a person who different from us ethnicity wise, class-wise, education-wise, etc. etc. etc. who IS a believer.

I think all of us at one time (or if we are really honest with ourselves, maybe some right now) it is the former.

If the local church does not represent the ethnicity and class of its surrounding or greater community, then it ought to be seriously questioning whether it's fulfilling its commission in its community and its body may even have to ask more serious questions about themselves.

I mean, look at the amazing barriers that the Holy Spirit casted away after Pentecost.

If we look at Acts 2, we see there were Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Egyptians, Libyans, Romans, Cretans, Arabs, and Jews. Obviously many of those in Acts 2 were bilingual because they were astonished asking each other how it was possible they were able to hear preaching in their own native tongues. Acts 2 describes the Spirit as a noise like a violent rushing wind and ethnicity barriers were just shattered.

We also see examples of class barriers shattered especially between the likes of Luke and the apostles. Doctors and the educated have close and kindred relationships with uneducated fisherman? That was unheard of. You also have the different Jews - hellenistic and Judean, etc. etc. etc. I mean, prior to Penetecost these different classes/ethnicities would not have a special bond they had after Pentecost.

So, you see churches today that don't have anything or very little in comparison to what the early church had which was a common unity and love and passion for Jesus that transcended ethnicity and class.

So, there is a ethnicity and class problem in churches and Whites are missing it, Blacks are missing it, the rich are missing it, the poor are missing it, the middle class are missing it, you pick your barrier and you pick your place in the world, and there is some church that is missing it.

I think it's important to note, the solution is not necessarily to ask, "okay, what do I need to do more to reach out to different ethnicities and classes. I mean, it should ask that, but that is not the core issue at hand. We notice that at Pentecost, the barriers were utterly shattered. And what happened was that different ethnicities and classes, who really had not much in common and probably wouldn't do much together otherwise had a real kindred relationship in Jesus.

So are Christians of different classes and ethnicities expected to have all certain types of things in common now that they are believers? No. But what ought to be true is that our union with Christ is so strong and so connected that our desire to be with other believers of different ethnicities and classes should be so overpowering over any desires we may have to be with others of similar ethnicities and class that are not believers.

Everyone is missing it. However, I think the issue has less to do with race and is rather symptomatic of a larger and deeper problem, namely rampant pragmatism. Go ask some people in your church about interracial marriage, a multicultural congregation, or multicultural worship. Most of their responses will be pragmatic. “It will be hard on ‘mixed’ children so I am against interracial marriage” or “it is so hard to have music that appeals to multiple generations/socioeconomic classes/ethnicities” or “it is just difficult to fellowship with people who are so different from me.” These are not issues of prejudice or racism they are issues of pragmatism, “American Christians” and numerically obsessed pastors just want things easy. But the Gospel transcends all of these trivial boundaries and following Christ is not supposed to be easy. I wholeheartedly agree with John Piper that it is going to be difficult and at times it may be a burden but interracial marriage and multicultural/ethnic congregations “will be good for us and good for the world and good for the glory of God.”