Episode 119: With Dr. Derwin Gray: How God’s Plan for a Multiethnic Family Can Heal our Racial Divide

Not a week goes by that the US isn’t rattled by a racially-charged news story. Just last week we reeled and lamented the shooting of young Ralph Yarl, a black teen boy who went to the wrong address in Kansas City to pick up his young brothers.

It’s tempting to think such headlines have nothing to do with us, or that we as individuals have nothing to offer our national strife. Christians especially might want to shrink back from the conversation, not wanting to become too political. The racial distance and even division we see in our Christian communities testifies that ethnic unity is not a high priority for us as a whole.

Dr. Derwin Gray, a pastor of a multiethnic church in North Carolina and author of How to Heal Our Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew, About Racial Reconciliation, says pastors and seminaries have failed to disciple our generation of Christ followers when it comes to God’s Word and our diversity.

Dr. Gray says, “In western christianity we've turned the gospel into 'Jesus died for your sins and you can go to heaven when you die.’ The gospel is more than simply saving individuals. It's saving individuals who are of different ethnicities to bring them into a family… What we've done in America is we've made a package of ‘here's how you can go to heaven when you die’ versus ‘how do we become the redeemed new people of God for all time.’”

On this episode of All Things we’re diving into both the Bible and culture when it comes to ethnic unity and disunity. Dr. Gray refuses to be siloed into one political camp or the other. Rather, his insight and comments are nuanced and laser-focused on the Kingdom of Jesus.

We talk about:

- Derwin Gray’s fascinating life story: how he played football at BYU and then the NFL, how he came to Jesus, his rigorous theological pursuits, and how he—a chronic stutterer—came to establish multiethnic megachurch with his wife in Charlotte, North Carolina.

- How our vertical reconciliation to God requires our horizontal reconciliation to all people.

- How the Bible is saturated with God’s plan for a multiethnic family.

- How there are indeed demonic powers at work in the world, seeking to keep us divided.

- The cost and joy of pursuing multiethnic ministry.

- Identity in Christ alone, especially when you preach against the cultural grain.

- How to respond to the shooting of Ralph Yarl—you might be surprised by the multifaceted response Dr. Gray gives here. Like I said, he refuses to be siloed and I really appreciate that!

- The benefits of detoxing from media and social media and feasting instead on God’s Word.

- How the church of Jesus is over 2,000 years old and political parties are new and temporary. Let’s be rooted in what will last forever!

Recommended Resources:

How to Heal Our Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew, about Racial Reconciliation by Dr. Derwin L. Gray: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9781496458803/how-to-heal-our-racial-divide-hardback

https://www.derwinlgray.com/