Christ and Race

I'm glad I get to do this this morning.

Chris introduced both my name, Gerald and Jerry, and Jerry, and Jerry.

Gravely offended.

I want to present to you this morning four facts, a process with three steps.

And we're talking overall, at least, of course, I've been sitting where you all are sitting,

Christ and culture, and culture's not as simple as we make it out to be.

There's a lot too culture.

And there's a lot of interaction with things.

Sometimes I see ecology as kind of, or geology as world ecology.

And you know that ecology was birthed in Georgia.

You know that whole concept and study of ecology was birthed right here in Georgia.

And it's that interaction between elements.

And sometimes I feel like maybe some of you or all of you, I grew up with National Geographic,

and so I've read about the ecology of plants and animals and all that exists on the face of the earth

and cultures of people.

I learned a lot when I was a kid.

That's all I had to really look forward to.

We didn't have a television until I was quite a bit older.

And Mom and Dad didn't have a colored television until I moved out of the house.

And I had to talk my dad into a telephone when I was in high school.

Most of you take that for granted.

But he hated that telephone.

And so when it was drilled through the wall, we had a concrete block house in southern Arizona.

When he drilled the hole through it, it came out behind the couch.

And that's the only place you could use the phone if he wasn't in the house,

because you had to crawl behind the couch and lay down and call your friend.

So it was a chore.

And like no time in history, we started the postmodern era, calling it the information age,

and it wasn't long that people realized, well, what is that?

And maybe that doesn't describe the whole thing that we're into.

And a lot of people have been trying to tag the world that we're living in today.

And the best anybody's come up with so far is just postmodern.

Whatever postmodern is, we're in it.

And we're still trying to decide what it is.

And like with most human history, we're better at describing it after it's gone by

than looking forward to where it's taking us.

And so cultures, for me, is not a simple thing.

And then when we talk about race,

we hear about races of people.

And we scratch our heads.

It's like there's lots of different boats.

And there are people in different boats.

Some going in the same direction.

Others going in the opposite direction.

But it's as if races of people are in different boats.

And they're captains of their own destiny.

Going across some great, vast whatever.

Fact number one.

I'm not trying to stuff this on you.

Let me not be so arrogant to call these absolutes.

For me, they're absolutes.

But you have to decide for yourself.

Did you see the Stephen Hawking programs last night?

I recorded them.

And Stephen Hawking has finally decided no God.

Because everything was birthed out of a black hole.

And in a black hole, there is no time.

So if before the Big Bang, there was no time,

then how could God be?

Therefore, no God.

Well, that's what I don't choose to believe.

And it's purely by faith on my part.

Because I have no proof.

I have a book.

And I know that my life on my own

was going downhill fast.

And I know that when I placed my faith

in what this book said,

my life turned around.

And it has felt like it's going upward.

So that's all I can tell you.

I have no proofs this morning.

I'm just telling you that fact number one

is by faith on my part.

And it comes out of the very first verse in the Bible.

In the beginning, God created.

He created the heavens and the earth.

God did it all.

He spoke words, we understand.

He didn't go down and really get dirty.

He just spoke words and everything came into existence.

I believe that.

And I believe that everything that I believe

from that point

is predicated upon that moment in time.

If I don't believe that,

then the rest of this doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Right?

It just doesn't make...

I mean, good luck.

Stephen Hawking said,

I just am so joyous that I have a mind

that I can just explore the universe.

I have absolute freedom

even though my body won't let me go anywhere.

I have absolute freedom with my mind

to explore the universe.

And it sounds like

when it's done, it's done.

And the joy of living

was about being free to explore the universe.

Well, okay.

Some folks, that would be huge.

But from where I stand

with the God who created the heavens and the earth,

that's just a puny little place.

And the fact,

and I believe this,

that He's redeemed me

and I'm going to get to share in all of that forever.

Praise God.

Huh?

I mean, if you haven't got an amen in you there,

you have no amens in you at all.

Praise God.

I get to...

No, okay.

Let me put my hands in my pocket

and then I'll be less preaching.

Fact number two.

He created not only the heavens and the earth,

but He created man

and then another man

called woman.

And the human race was born.

And there's something common

common in our likeness

among all peoples of the earth.

In fact,

I've had the privilege,

not as much as others

and more than some,

to travel to...

I've preached

crusades in South America,

Central America,

Mexico.

I've preached in Canada.

I've been to Korea preaching.

I've had the opportunity

to work with peoples

from every continent

on the face of this earth.

And I believe

we're all on the same boat.

I don't believe

there's a whole bunch of boats.

Now, maybe some folks

are on the Aledo deck.

I've never been on a cruise ship.

What other decks,

kind of decks are there?

What are some of the names?

All I can remember

is Aledo.

But what are some of the names

of the other decks?

Luau.

But there's something common

about all of us

that we hold in common.

There's some things

that we hold in common.

And one of the big things,

I think,

is that we have a need

to be loved

and to love.

I've not met a human being

that doesn't share that.

All human beings everywhere

seem to share that.

So fact number two for me

is that there's only one race.

There's not races.

There's only one race

and it's human.

So if you are a racist,

you're working against yourself.

They're against you.

Now,

there were a lot of folks

coming to exist on the earth.

And God looked out over them

and said,

these are violent folks.

In fact,

he felt so bad about it,

you know,

it says in the very first part

of Genesis,

he wished he hadn't even created it.

He wished he was

languishing over the fact

that he even created

a man in the world.

And he has it in his mind

to just take his big eraser out

and erase it all.

Now,

he could erase it

just as quickly

as he created it

in my mind.

Y'all with me on that?

You believe that?

You think he could undo it

with a word

just like he did it

with a word?

And yet,

he sees this

one man,

Noah,

who says,

here's still righteousness

on the earth.

So I'm going to take

this one man

and his family

and I'm going to gather up

what I want to carry on

in this big boat

that he's going to build for me

and then I'm going to take

my eraser

and erase everything else.

I believe that's what happened.

Then man

starts populating again

and it says in the Bible

that there was one language.

They all spoke the same words.

And the people on the earth,

they traveled on.

Let me read it here

and we'll get it precise.

They traveled east,

it says.

Now the whole earth

used the same language

and the same words.

And it came about

as they journeyed east

that they found a plain

in the land of Shinar

and settled there.

Well, you remember the story.

They create a city called Babel

which later on became Babylon.

And they built a tower there,

the Tower of Babel

or Babel's Tower.

And they were going to

reach up to heaven.

And God looked on that.

He came down to see

what man was doing

and he said,

Oh man,

they're doing it again.

I clean the slate.

I find one righteous man.

I set it all in motion again.

And they're still doing it.

Is that not the history

of the world?

God said,

Okay,

but

I'm dedicated to this process.

I'm going to redeem man.

This wasn't his original plan.

His original plan

is that we would multiply

and come out of the garden

or even just live

in one great big garden

and it would go on

forever like that.

But man is

constantly disobedient.

And so what God does then,

He said,

Okay,

we're going to confound

their languages.

The Greeks would say,

Well,

they must have all spoke Greek

and He left that with us.

The language of the intellect.

Those who spoke Latin

would probably have said,

Yeah,

He confounded the language,

but He left Latin

that original language

with us.

Some Americans might even say,

Well,

no,

it was English.

I had a Hebrew professor

that was dead sure

it was Hebrew.

I don't think

that language exists

because

then God would have left

in the hands of

one group of people

an arrogance

that could have said,

Ah,

it all began here

with us.

I think He undid

that one language

and everybody

jumped off

and went off

to other languages.

I was in Seoul,

Korea

with a Navajo

brother of mine

and he was poking around

and found

it had to be

a God thing.

He found

as he was conversing

with Koreans

a word

in Korean

that has exactly

the same pronunciation,

spelling,

and meaning

in Navajo.

and he said,

Whoops,

here's the land

bridge here.

He saw a connection

to something

very ancient

that he felt

that his people

had come.

And finally,

man was starting

to do what God

had told him to do,

go out

to the four corners

of the earth

and multiply

and fill

this earth

up.

And they did.

But God

didn't create

more races.

The Greek word

is ethnos.

It's the word

we get ethnic

from.

God created

by confounding

languages,

any missionary

will tell you

that when you're

going to reach

a people

of a different

culture,

you must

speak

their

language,

for their

language

is the language

of the heart,

what they grew

up with.

Now,

the most diverse

people on the

face of the earth,

or at least

in America,

are white folks.

Folks tend

to put white folks

all in one

great big pile.

So,

okay,

here's white folks.

They're all

the same.

Well,

I assure you,

we're not all

the same.

I come from

southern Arizona

down on the

Mexican border.

I ain't like

southern at all.

I knew

coming to the

south,

I was going to

have to deal

with sweet tea.

I figured that

one out before

I ever got here.

I grew up

without sweet tea,

and so,

you know,

I don't like

sweet tea.

So,

when we went

to the restaurants,

I knew,

I had to

specify,

unsweet tea.

That's all I

drink.

But what I

didn't know

was that in

the south,

lying is

permissible.

Where I come

from,

you don't tell

any kind of

lie.

lie.

There's no

such thing

as a white

lie,

or a big

lie,

or a little

lie.

You know

what I'm

talking about,

don't you?

Somebody says

to you,

hey,

come on over

to my house.

Come on over

and visit me.

And then you

show up,

and they look

at you like,

where'd you

come from?

Well,

you told me

to come over.

I'm just

being polite.

I didn't

really mean

that.

So one

southerner

told me,

he said,

it's okay

to lie

as long

as it's

not going

to hurt

anybody.

Somehow

that's got

mixed up

in southern

Christianity.

It mixes

a whole bunch

of folks

up.

It certainly

wasn't the way

I grew up

and I

didn't

grow up

in a

Christian

home.

Where I

grew up,

a lie

was a

lie

was a

lie.

This

issue

of

ethnicity

is

really,

really

diverse.

And

any

trained

missionary

knows

that

when they

go to

a new

place,

you can't

automatically

assume

that

everybody

there

is like

you

are

or

thinks

like

you

do.

So

the

old

missionary

thing

was

you

go to

India

or you

go to

some

jungle

place

and

people

are

running

around

in

loin

claws

that

really

say

they'll

wear

pants.

And

we took

superficial

things

from

our

culture

and

imposed

it

upon

the

Christianity

of

others.

Instead of

letting

the

Holy

Spirit

build

out

of

that

culture

we

imposed

on

that

culture

our

preconceived

notions

of what

Christianity

looks like

or doesn't

look like.

And so

we haven't

been highly

successful.

William

Carey

is the

father

of the

what's

called

the

modern

missionary

movement

and he

took

his

clues

from

the

Catholics

and when

he went

to what

is now

modern

Bangladesh

then it

was

India

and he

started

a work

the first

thing he

did is

he built

what in

the west

we would

have called

a fort.

And

then you

set up a

medical

clinic or

school

and everybody

comes to

you.

Imagine

how they

looked at

Hudson

Taylor

when he

went to

China

and he

said

this is

dumb

this is

wrong

the gospel

is supposed

to go

to the

people

not go

and build

a fort

and say

y'all

come

and hear

the gospel

and yet

we do

it over

and over

and over

again

with

buildings

and property

and

look at

and want

to be a

lighthouse

y'all

come

it's

safe

here

Hudson

Taylor

said

not

we

got to

become

a part

of the

people

that we

want

to reach

he

began to

dress

like the

Chinese

did

he

grew

his

hair

like

the

Chinese

men

would

grow

his

hair

when he

would go

back to

England

to

speak

on his

work

a lot

of people

quit

sending

money

to him

about

the only

guy

that really

supported

him

big

time

was

George

Mueller

looked

past

the

surface

stuff

to the

stuff

that

God

was

looking

at

number

three

God

created

ethnos

ethnos

number

four

it ought

to be

obvious

to us

but it

isn't

obvious

to

every

believer

today

that

God

is still

at work

he

really

is

for

many

believers

in the

missionary

parts

of

the

work

of

God

they

see

Jesus

standing

on the

mountain

and there's

a whole

bunch

of folks

around him

some say

you know

twelve

some say

a hundred

and twenty

but there

was more

than twelve

I believe

and there

was a whole

bunch

of them

and Jesus

is there

and he's

about to

ascend

and Jesus

says

all y'all

some

believe

he said

and commanded

go

I don't

believe that's

what the

bible says

I believe

that when you

dig into the

original language

what he

did is he

assumed

we were all

going to go

somewhere

how many of you

have been to

walmart

!

in the last

month

come on

raise your

hand

come on

this is

a participatory

you're going

to go

somewhere

aren't you

tomorrow

tomorrow

afternoon

I'm going

to go

drive a

school bus

take kids

to me

we're all

as we're

going

then he

commands

disciples

teach them

all that

I've commanded

you

not just

some things

not the

convenient

thing

but everything

I've commanded

baptizing

them

oh I'm

with you

always

to the

end of

the age

God's

still at

work

some believe

he just

said

ok y'all

go

and

create

good

things

to bring

glory

to my

name

go out

there

and build

beautiful

crystal

cathedrals

and y'all

have heard

what happened

to the

crystal

cathedral

the man

that built

it died

and they

couldn't afford

to keep

the glass

clean

so they

had to sell

it to

another

church

this is

what God

would have

said go

to go

do

I don't

think so

so

I have

to believe

forcefully

more

fact is

that God

is still

at work

so the

issue is

not oh

God come

help me

the issue

is God

what will

you include

me in

in what

you're doing

we don't

have to go

out and make

it up for

God

we don't

have to go

out and

bang on

doors

we don't

have to go

out and

raise the

roof or

bring it

low

I don't

have to

when set

free

sets out

we don't

go out

looking for

black folks

we don't

go out

looking for

white folks

we don't

go out

looking for

people of

color

Martin Luther

King

I think

said it

the best

in his

I've got

a dream

he said

he said

let's not

judge

he said

I dream

of a day

when we're

not judging

one another

by the

color of

our skin

our socioeconomic

status

or our

educational

levels

or any

of that

stuff

but by

the content

of our

care

my wife

keeps telling

me I

am

she says

you are

a character

that's not

what I'm

talking about

for when

the power

of God

comes within

us

from the

inside out

he is

generating

and creating

a character

quality

that is like

Christ

in us

through us

to us

by us

and for us

the great

truths of

the New

Testament

is not

what I

can do

for God

but what

God is

willing to

do

in me

through me

to me

by me

and for

me

see

it is not

my work

it's his

work that's

important

so the

process

how do you

tap into

that

and here

I am

63 years

old

finishing up

my 63rd

year on

the face

of the earth

I was

saved when

I was

25

out of a

bunch of

drunkenness

and partying

and all that

kind of stuff

in the

60s

God gloriously

saved me

out of all

this stuff

I'm going

to give you

the irreducible

minimum

of what

all that

has made

over this

40

year

I've been

involved in

church planting

I've somehow

or another

been involved

in probably

over 3,000

different churches

whether mentoring

or providing

resources

or some

way or

another

I've had

and have

tucked over

3,000 new

churches being

birthed here

in the United

States alone

and in other

parts of the

world

and I say

to you that

God's invitation

to you is

real

first to get

saved

it all

begins with

salvation

some point

you've got to

believe that

God

created

the heavens

and the

earth

and he

has a

purpose

for your

life

God is

one of the

great works

that he's

doing today

if you read

about it

it's the

works he's

doing with

Chinese people

underground

church

they're sending

out mission

they're sending

out mission

to Mongolia

and to India

they don't

have no

money

people that

are going

out are

walking

not jumping

on jet

planes and

being jetted

off and

and creating a

mission center

and establishing

if they're

sneaking off to

these lands

them

because in

some places

like North

Korea

they'd be

killed

I have an

acquaintance of

mine who

got in

spent time

in North

Korea

was helping

feed people

in North

Korea

and got

out just

in time

the

the

Mexico

the

policia

were chasing

him

he didn't

really know

it but they

were following

him and

got across

into China

before they

caught up

to him

God

didn't want

to include

you in

what he

did

he really

does

that isn't

for a select

few that's

for all

of us

but isn't

that where

we get

fearful

oh no

oh no

I can't

see myself

in

in

Africa

now

if you

send me

to

Ireland

maybe

on a

beautiful

island

somewhere

beautiful

beach

process

how do

you

engage

with

God

so that

he

can

invite

you

into the

things

that he

is doing

and

include

you

not

because

he

has

to

because

he

wants

to

include

you

in

the

things

he

does

so I'm

saying to

you

our

challenge

is not

to go

out

and

reach

all the

ethnics

in

North

Georgia

some have

said

you know

because of

our

unwillingness

to go

to other

lands

to help

the gospel

get to

those other

lands

God's

bringing

them

here

I

believe

that

sometimes

I

stood

on a

corner

in

in

Flushing

New

York

usually

when

the

new

waves

of

immigrants

come

to

the

New

York

City

area

they

start

in

Flushing

where

they

settle

down

to

you

can

tell

what

last

ethnic

group

lived

in

Flushing

by

the

funeral

homes

you

can

tell

who

the

new

ethnic

group

is

by

the

grocery

stores

and

I

stood

on

a

corner

in

Flushing

and

there

were

four

Hispanic

grocery

stores

on

this

one

corner

why

my

Hispanic

friend

that was

with me

said

well

he said

that

one's

from

Spanish

speaking

but

they're

from

the

Dominican

Republic

and

that

one

over

there

it's

from

Venezuela

and

this

one

over

here

represents

Mexico

and

this

one

over

here

yo

I gotta

know

all that

stuff

I'm

just

telling

you

you

don't

have

to

know

anything

I'm

telling

you

God

already

knows

that

stuff

and

what

we

need

to

engage

in

as

a

church

and

you

as

individuals

is

only

what

God

invites

you

into

he's

doing

a

whole

lot

more

than

this

church

could

ever

get

involved

in

he's

doing

a

whole

lot

more

than

any

of

you

as

individuals

could

ever

say

yes

to

how

do

you

decide

how

do

you

know

the

will

of

God

at

the

point

of

engaging

with

God

in

his

work

the

cost

of

discipleship

Matthew

how'd

you like

that

for an

introduction

Matthew

16

24

you all

know

these verses

I'm sure

my Bible

here has

a little

heading

for this

section

calling it

the

discipleship

is

costly

Matthew

16

24

then

Jesus

said

to

his

disciples

if

anyone

wishes

to

come

after

me

let

him

deny

himself

take

up

his

cross

and

follow

me

earlier

in

Matthew

he said

those

that

will

not

take

up

their

cross

and

follow

me

are

not

worthy

of

me

sound

like

that's

an

option

for

us

does

it

sound

like

if

you

say

I

believe

in

Jesus

I

believe

God

created

I

believe

the

Holy

Spirit

lives

within

me

that

it's

an

option

for

your

life

no

way

Jose

not

an

option

it

does

cost

something

it

always

starts

with

death

Jesus

says

in

the

gospel

of

John

several

times

about

six

times

I

take

no

initiative

of

my

own

I

take

no

initiative

of

my

own

I

only

say

what

I

hear

the

father

say

I

only

go

where

the

father

sends

me

I

didn't

even

come

on

my

own

initiative

he

sent

me

but

then

in

one

spot

he

says

but

this

one

initiative

I

can

take

because

the

father

already

told

me

prior

that

I

could

take

this

one

initiative

he

said

I

can

die

that's

where

we

all

start

the

fear

starts

welling

up

within

us

because

Jesus

says

as

the

father

sent

me

so

so

send

I

you

oh

we

know

what

happened

to

Jesus

at

the

end

of

his

run

right

could

that

happen

to

you

and

the

process

you know

I've

discovered

one

thing

through

the

word

God

makes

no

hesitation

to

take

that

which

belongs

to

him

and

use

it

for

his

own

purposes

first

missionary

story

I ever

read

was about

the

missionary

going

to

the

Aka

Indians

cannibals

headhunters

in

South

America

and how

they died

landing on

a beach

with a

piper

cub

after having

made

attempts

by air

to

touch

the

Aka

people

and

the

Aka

men

came

and

killed

the

pilot

and

this

missionary

and

thought

no

way

Jose

I

ain't

going

back

there

some

months

later

here

comes

a

woman

out

of

the

jungle

from

Aka

India

have

you

read

that

the

gates

of

splendor

God

says

you

know

when

God

invites

you

and

what

he

doing

it

is

always

as

big

as

he

is

as

small

as

he

is

or

it