Greg Atkinson

Today we celebrate and remember Martin Luther King, Jr. Though we’ve come a long way as a country, I still think we have a ways to go. Days like today make me think of my friend, Scott Williams and his forth-coming book on Church Diversity with a subtitle of “Sunday: The Most Segregated Day of the Week.”

I’ve written about this subject before, but I ask again: When it comes to Sunday and our churches – How diverse are we really? Yesterday, at church, I played keys as I usually do when I’m in town and I looked out and saw a total of two African-American people in both services. Do we live in a “white” town? Far from it!

My business is a member of both the Greene County Chamber of Commerce and the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce. These two counties have two very different economic situations. Both counties have luxury neighborhoods with world-class golf courses located on Lake Oconee in gated communities like Reynolds Plantation, Harbor Club, Del Webb, Cuscowilla and Great Waters. If you remember when Pittsburg Steelers QB, Ben Roethlisberger, got in trouble for sexual assault, he was in Georgia because he has a home in a neighborhood 5 minutes from my house.

Our community has one of the nicest hotels in the country: The Ritz-Carlton Lake Oconee where Carey Underwood got married and is also where many special guests, including President Bush go to get away. Not even 5 miles from the Ritz, there are people sleeping on the ground that our church has tried to help.

How drastic is the split in my community? Recently, at a Chamber of Commerce meeting, a guest speaker shared the demographic results of our community. The facts are staggering. Inside the gated communities, the average income is $150,000. Outside the gated communities, the average income is $24,000. These two average incomes live within minutes of each other.

The divide is also very evident in our school system. Our community has 2 or 3 private schools which are really nice and one charter school, which you have to live in the right part of town to get into (or else you’re put on a long waiting list). My kids go to public school at Greensboro Elementary (in Greene County) and are a minority. Each of my kids is 1 of 2 or 3 white kids in their classroom. Read that again. My kids are a part of a tiny, minority in their classrooms, yet I see only 2 black people at a church of 400 people.

Please know, I’m not picking on my current home church. I’ve seen this at each church I’ve served or attended in my lifetime. I’ve always had a heart for diversity and I’m always very aware of how many minorities attend my given church. This is something I look for when I do secret shoppers, too. I’ve never had the joy of being a member of a truly diverse church, though I have visited some in my travels and consulting.

The churches that I’ve seen that are diverse had diverse staff and diversity up on the platform during worship. This does not happen by accident and this is my personal “dream”. To see churches intentionally hire for diversity and fill the stage with color.

What are your thoughts? Do you see the need for a book like Scott is writing? Have we reached the dream that Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of or are we still short? Is your church closed today in honor of this holiday??? Read Scott’s blog from last night HERE.

Well, friends, it’s been 9 months since I made my plea “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” (a blog you must read and comment on if you haven’t already). 73 comments later (as of this writing), I’m still asking the question. The good news is I heard from some very nice gay Christians that answered “Yes – we can get along.” The bad news is there were some that felt I still needed to change my beliefs in order to show I was “loving” and thus allow us to get along.

What I experienced from some of the angrier, louder, more defensive gay Christians was intolerance – ironically, the very thing they wanted from me was tolerance – they were just intolerant of my beliefs. Simply put, some of you want me to be tolerant of you, but you are not tolerant of me. Let’s define tolerance:

tol·er·ance  [tol-er-uhns]

1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry.

I have friends that are Muslim – they don’t expect me to give up my Christian beliefs in order for us to “get along” and I don’t expect them to change their beliefs (though we strongly disagree) – that’s tolerance. Sometimes you need to agree to disagree.

To anyone reading this that may be homosexual: Please know that I love you, respect you, would be honored to be your friend and I DON’T have it all together. Yes, I struggle with  my own issues. We all have our issues and sins. Where we disagree is I consider the homosexual lifestyle (being sexually active and in a relationship with someone of the same sex) to be sinful. You might believe that it’s perfectly normal, not wrong or sinful and that’s okay. We can agree to disagree.

The truth about this discussion is that I think it’s vitally needed, relevant and crucial to Christians today. I also think pastors and Church leaders need to be educated, informed and made aware of these real issues and how to handle them. All people need to know that they are welcome in our churches and that the Church is the one place they can turn to when they struggle, are tempted, scared, confused – you name it – you can turn to Christ and His Church.

Through this blog, I’ve had the pleasure of making a new friend: Justin Lee, founder of the Gay Christian Network. Not only have we chatted on the blog and via email and text, but on the phone as well. He’s a great guy and I consider him a friend. I’ve asked him to do some guest blogs on here to educate, inform and help with awareness of this crucial issue for the Church and hear his heart and perspective. He’s conservative theologically and showed me tolerance – which means the world to me. He’s a great example of being tolerant of another’s beliefs and his answer to my question was “Yes, we can get along.”

I still ask the same question to the rest of you – now 9 months later – in light of this issue of tolerance: Can we get along?

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:30 (NASB) Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on John 3 tells the story of a Presbyterian pastor in Melbourne, Australia who introduced J. Hudson Taylor by using many superlatives, especially the word great. Taylor stepped to the pulpit and quietly said, “Dear friends, I am the little servant of an illustrious Master.” If John the Baptist in heaven heard that statement, he must have shouted “Hallelujah!”

Wiersbe points out that the word must is used in three significant ways in this chapter. There is the “must” of the sinner (John 3:7), the “must” of the Savior (John 3:14), and the “must” of the servant (John 3:30). We, as servants, have our “must” – it’s the profound and passionate statement of John 3:30 – “He must increase. I must decrease.”

How do these words hit you? I struggle with them frequently. This is the cry of my heart. I want more of Jesus and less of me. When I serve, minister, share, write, speak, consult – I have nothing of myself to offer. What I can do is point people to Jesus and encourage them to be led by the Holy Spirit. This is my calling and my ministry and something I live to do. I hope you sense that I point you to Jesus and not man’s wisdom or answers. What Scripture verse rings your bell?

The following is a guest blog from Eric Bryant, Navigator at Mosaic

In an article called “More Minority Babies Will Be Born In 2010 Than White Babies, Demographers Predict,” Hope Yen writes:

Minorities make up nearly half the children born in the U.S., part of a historic trend in which minorities are expected to become the U.S. majority over the next 40 years.

In fact, demographers say this year could be the “tipping point” when the number of babies born to minorities outnumbers that of babies born to whites.

The numbers are growing because immigration to the U.S. has boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years. Minorities made up 48 percent of U.S. children born in 2008, the latest census estimates available, compared to 37 percent in 1990.

“Census projections suggest America may become a minority-majority country by the middle of the century. For America’s children, the future is now,” said Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire who researched many of the racial trends in a paper being released Wednesday.

To read the rest of the article, go here.

Rather than fighting this diverse future, we should be at the forefront of our quickly-changing world to love, serve, and create diverse communities.

For more thoughts, check out “The Human Mosaic,” “Enjoying Diversity,” “Loving Foreigners is Hard for Former Foreigners,” “The Minority Majority,” and the posts filed under diversity on my website.

I had to say it at least once. I received some pretty mean email from gay Christians. Just as I have called out Steven Anderson several times for being mean, off-base and just plain wrong, I simply called out the billboards that were posted around Dallas for misrepresenting Scripture.

I thought I made it pretty clear that I’m not anti-homosexual and I’m not a person without unconditional love and grace and mercy. Is it not humanly and spiritually possible for me to love and welcome a gay person to my church without agreeing that their lifestyle is not a sin?

Do I really have to compromise my view and understanding of God and Scripture in order to not be called anti-homosexual or homophobic? I’m not anti-liar, anti-thief, anti-adulturer, anti-gossipper, anti-glutton, anti-pride – or any sin you want to pick. BUT, though I love, accept and see them with eyes and a heart of grace, I lovingly encourage them to, as Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.” He didn’t preach, shame, ridicule or punish. He simply said “Go and sin no more” (to a woman caught in adultery).

Can I not look a gay man or woman in the eyes and say I love you even though I don’t agree with your lifestyle? Do I really have to condone what one is doing to be seen as loving? I have friends that struggle with pornography (most men, if not all, have looked at porn at some time in their life – women, too). Can I not hang out with, love, accept and be a good friend to my friends that struggle with porn and still encourage them to keep pure eyes and day by day give it over to God?

As to those that emailed me about the 2 billboards referencing the Roman Centurion and the Eunuch. Let’s make a HUGE leap of logic and historical understanding of those passages and say that both the Roman Centurion’s servant and the eunuch were gay – that’s a a big “IF”. But let’s say they were, all that implies is that Jesus healed a gay servant (I don’t think anyone Jesus healed was sinless or perfect) and that Philip baptized a gay man. We don’t have to clean ourselves up to come to Jesus, as we all know.

So, if we go along with their interpretation of Scripture, a gay servant got healed and a gay man got baptized. Neither case affirms their lifestyle. You can be gay and get healed and you can be gay and accept Christ and get baptized. That doesn’t mean that “Jesus affirmed” them as the billboard says.

However, when the Bible does speak up on the issue of homosexuality (not leaps of logic or guessing or assuming – really speaks) – it’s crystal clear on it’s view of homosexuality as a sin (in both the Old and New Testaments).

Hear me: if a gay person said “Let’s go hang out… watch a movie… go bowling… catch a Texas Rangers’ baseball game… watch the Cowboys” — you name it. If a gay person wanted to be my friend, they could with no problem whatsoever. They would know my view of Scripture and that I didn’t approve of this one area of their life and would love to see them live a pure and holy life before God – but, it wouldn’t keep me from hanging out with them and being their friend.

I am a person FULL of grace. I have been forgiven much in my life. I do NOT have it all together. I sin all the time. I screw up. I blow it. I need grace and mercy in my own life, therefore, I freely give it to others.

Ask me to be your friend, love you, pray for you, be there for you – whatever – just don’t draw a line in the sand and say if I don’t cast aside Scripture and believe that your lifestyle is okay before God, we can’t be friends or I’m anti-homosexual – that’s being intolerent and not respectful of my personal beliefs.

I want to hear from all of you, but especially the gay Christians that don’t agree with me. I  don’t delete comments on here unless they’re spam or vulgar. If you have something to say, say it. If you want to email me, email me. If you want to meet me in person (leaders from the 5 DFW churches), then meet me. Do you think of me as antiquated or mean because I hold to one understanding of Scripture? Have I not made myself very clear that I would love you and treat you with respect? Is that enough?

I go to a lot of Texas Rangers games. I also went to watch the Cowboys practice at their new stadium (which is across the street from Rangers Ballpark). On the interstate drive to the 2 major stadiums there have been put up highly controversial billboards by 5 churches in the DFW area. Below are the 2 billboards that I saw on my drive to the stadium.

These billboards caught my eye and I immediately pulled out my iPhone and looked up the Scripture references. Talk about twisting Scripture! Please hear my heart – I love ALL people. I know gay people. I treat them kindly and with respect. I know every week that I’m at my church that there are gay people in the congregation. They are welcome at our church and we believe in unconditional love and grace and mercy.

BUT to twist Scripture like these billboards do and take advantage of clueless people driving down the road that think their references are true and don’t have the ability or desire to actually look the verses up and read them for themselves is wrong.

Several times in the past I’ve started to blog about the issue of homosexuality and the Church. I’ve written drafts of blogs, but never posted them. You see, I usually err on the side of grace and think there are a lot of cruel and mean people in “the Church” that need to see gay people as Christ sees them.

However, I still believe that homosexuality is a sin (just as I sin all too often myself and have my own struggles). Where I disagree with my homosexual brothers and sisters is when they twist, remove or lie about Scripture. The Bible is very clear on this issue and that’s not going to change – even if it’s the 21st Century.

I would love to meet with these 5 DFW churches and their leadership (this is the website for the campaign). I would like to hear their reasoning and explain how they can take two very well known stories in Scripture and use them for their basis of their campaign. I’m extremely disappointed in their misuse of Scripture and what I believe is a type of deception.

Hear me people of DFW: the characters in the stories listed on the billboards were not gay – it’s simply not true. What are your thoughts?

Last Friday, with some friends in Oklahoma City, I saw The Soloist (with Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx). Going into the movie, I knew I would love it because I’m a musician and it seemed the movie was about a man’s love of music (which is a big part of it). 

What I left blown away by was the spotlight it shined on the areas/issues of homelessness and mental illness. These are true realities that we all come across and many are working to minister to people in these situations. I loved the brilliance of the movie. It was beautiful and brilliant in its messiness. 

They showed places in LA that I have actually been to and walked – rough, scary, real places. They involved the homeless in the movie and told their story. I thank God that someone is now putting the rawness of poverty on the big screen (like I raved about Slumdog Millionaire) and am now thankful for The Soloist. 

I encourage you to go see the movie and get a healthy dose of reality. Homelessness is real. Mental illness is real. How music can encourage, bring hope, bond and transcend is a gift from God and a beautiful part of this true story. Have you seen it? What did you think?

My friend, Scott Williams, has been preaching this for a while now, but I really believe we must move past just tolerating other races, to embracing and enjoying them. When I posted my last post, I felt I hit a nerve and started to just leave it up for a while longer to see if/who would comment. I think many are complacent and don’t realize or don’t want to think about this issue that I’m raising.

If you look at it from a Biblical and heavenly perspective, it really is something that I believe is close to God’s heart. Jesus was not white. God is not either. The Bible speaks of every nation and every tribe. I can’t wait to experience what Heaven will be like. I’ve had a few (3 total) memorable experiences in my life where I thought I saw a glimpse of what Heaven will be like. It was amazing. 

My kids go to a public school and I smile everytime I visit and witness the diversity of their classmates – from black to white, to Asian, Hispanic and Indian – my kids are surrounded by a beautiful picture of God’s creation.

My best friend is black. His wife is white. Their child is the cutest child you’ve ever seen. I see beauty in the various people around my city and around the world. I started to show a picture of my son’s desk in his Kindergarten class with his deskmates and friends that are black and Hispanic, but my wife wouldn’t let me post a picture of someone else’s kids on the web. 

From the National Policy Institute – DID YOU KNOW?

As a percentage of world inhabitants, the white population will plummet to a single digit (9.76%) by 2060 from a high-water mark of 27.98% in 1950.

The big population story of the 21st Century is shaping up to be the status reversal of whites and blacks and the Indian baby boom. A side bar will be the single digit minority role that whites will assume. Of the 7 population groups studied, only whites are projected to sustain an absolute decline in numbers.

In 1950 whites and blacks were respectively 27.98% and 8.97% of world population. By 2060 these figures will almost reverse as blacks surge to 25.38% and whites shrink to 9.76%. From 2010 the white population will decline while blacks will add 1.2 billion to their numbers. In this time frame the the Indian subcontinent will gain 1.2 billion people.

* So – what comes to mind when you hear and read about “every nation and every tribe”. What do you think about the concept of embracing diversity, rather than simply tolerating it?

This is a blog that’s been a long time coming. I think about racial diversity often and last week I was reminded of how white my church is. I went to visit another local church that is also predominately white, but more diverse than my congregation and it jumped out at me (again).

I’ve said it countless times. I don’t understand why, but Sunday is the most segregated day of the week. I’ve had lengthy discussions with various friends (half of my friends are either African-American, Asian or Indian). I’ve discussed this with various Church leaders and friends/bloggers that have similar interests, passions and desires to see the Church embrace diversity – friends and bloggers such as DJ Chuang and Scott Williams.

Because I grew up in the South, I should be used to an all-white church service. I was brought up in an all-white church, even though I played several sports and had several black friends. When it came to Sunday, we went our separate ways and worshipped with “our own”. Now, 20 years later, I still see that going on.

I know great and gifted white pastors, but they have predominately white congregations. I know great and gifted black pastors (TJ Jakes and Tony Evans come to mind), but they lead predominately black churches. I know great and gifted Asian pastors (Dave Gibbons comes to mind), but they lead a predominately Asian congregation.

Soon I’ll blog about the concept of diversity and share some thoughts, but as for today, I’d just like to hear your thoughts, insights and reasons on why you think most churches experience this sort of segregation when it comes to worship. I think about this EVERY single week at my church. God help us!