High-Definition Leadership in a Multicolored World

He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

— Ephesians 2:15–16, NLT

The Tsunami Is on Its Way

Times are changing. You can feel it. You can sense something in the air. America is starting to look and feel a whole lot different. For the first time in the country's history, ethnic and racial minorities "are projected to make up the majority of students attending American public schools this fall, ending the white-majority population that has existed from the beginnings of the public education system."

In 1960, the population of the United States was 85 percent white; by 2060, it will be only 43 percent. The face of America is no longer just black and white, like those old televisions from back in the day. America is in high definition now, filled with different colored people. America is now a beautiful mosaic that includes Asian and Latino brothers and sisters.

Since 1965, forty million immigrants have arrived in the United States, "about half of them Hispanics and nearly three-in-ten Asians." In addition, "Intermarriage is playing a big role in changing some of our views of ethnicity." I know this to be true from personal experience; my wife is a white girl from rural Montana, and I'm a black guy from urban San Antonio, Texas. We have two stunningly beautiful children. When our children are asked to fill out an ethnicity questionnaire, they write, "We are first children of God who happen to have a black father and a white mother."

Not in Mayberry Anymore

What do all of these statistics mean? They mean we no longer live in a black or white America. We live in a colorful, high-definition America. It means we are not in Mayberry anymore. It means that the ethnic diversity of New York City, Los Angeles, and Houston is coming to a neighborhood near you much sooner than you think. Pastor, are you and your church ready to embrace this new community, or will you futilely attempt to maintain a homogeneous ministry in a multicolored world? The church needs new kinds of leaders, cross-cultural leaders who can guide the church into a multicolored America and world. Are you that leader? For the sake of the gospel and Jesus' church and glory, I sure hope you are this leader. Or at least desire to be this kind of leader.

Just Before a Tsunami

Before a tsunami hits land, the water level drops as water pulls away from the shore, leaving a wide chasm and exposing the seabed. Denominational leaders, pastors, church planters, and elders of homogeneous churches, I want you to know that the seas of change have pulled back from the beach and the tsunami is coming fast. The church needs a new kind of leader who can see this sea change coming and prepare the church and God's people for it. Don't let the tsunami crush Jesus' church.

Blackberry Churches in an Android/iPhone World

Blackberry used to be synonymous with the word smartphone. From 2000 to 2007, Blackberry phones were considered cool and were nick- named "Crackberries" because of their addictive nature. Celebrities and Fortune 500 leaders clamored to own one.

But times changed quickly for Blackberry. In 2011, this once innovative global company had more than 17,500 employees; in 2014 they were down to 7,000. What happened? How did Blackberry go from dominating the smartphone world to being a relic of the past? Google and Apple happened. Blackberry was blinded by its past success and was out-innovated by Google and Apple. As happened with the typewriter and the VCR, the Blackberry was left behind because the company did not adapt to changes in demand and technology happening around them.

We are no longer in a black or white America. We are in a multi-colored, high-definition America. Therefore, we need cross-cultural leaders who act as ambassadors of love, reconciliation, and unity across ethnic and generational lines. I believe the fastest growing, most innovative, community-transforming local churches in the future of America will be multiethnic, Christ-centered, gospel-shaped churches.

Won't Diversity Just Happen?

Just because America is becoming more ethnically diverse doesn't mean that local churches magically will become ethnically diverse along with it. As humans, we tend to be tribal and ethnocentric. We like being with our kind. Our kind is like us, and it's easier to love someone who is like us.

One of my great concerns is that we will find ourselves in a multi-colored environment throughout the workweek, yet worship in monocolored, monoclass churches on the weekend. Perhaps you're thinking, What's wrong with that? That's a fair question. My prayer is that as you read this chapter and the chapters that follow, your heart would be captured by God's dream of filling America and planet Earth with churches that reflect the ethnic diversity, unity, love, and reconciliation that we will find in the new heaven and the new earth. God desires the church of today to be a picture of that great eternal tomorrow.

Blinded by Success and Imitation

Often the leaders of homogeneous local churches are blinded by success. A homogeneous church is a church where 80 percent or more of the individuals are of the same ethnicity. Often what we view as ministry success blinds us to God's perspective of successful ministry. Ministry success is an opiate that can take you so high you won't even see the storm of epic change that has already arrived. I believe that God, in his providence, has seen fit to raise up leaders who will plant and build multicolored local churches that will challenge the status quo and disrupt the norm. I believe these new high-definition leaders are measuring successful ministry by a different standard.

We Reproduce Who We Are

As leaders, conference speakers serve as examples and models for others to learn from and emulate. Overwhelmingly, I began to realize I was about the only African American pastor–church planter at the conferences at which I spoke and the only pastor–church planter who had planted a multiethnic, gospel-driven, missional local church. I chose to stop going to conferences as an attendee for several years and only went when invited to speak. I felt as though I was hearing the same stuff from different leaders that produced the same result: homogeneous, middle-class, predominately white churches. In this context, I...