“It can’t be done.” “They won’t come.” “Don’t underestimate the power of culture.” For the past 18 years, I’ve heard these comments more than a few times from people on the outside looking in. But God said different, and God has done what some say is the hardest thing in the world to do: He has brought people from the black community and white community together with the objective of becoming devoted Christ Followers.

When CrossPoint Community Church of the Nazarene launched in 1999, it looked like your typical, racially homogeneous congregation, in that its members were all white, even though the community at large was a racially diverse mix of African American and Anglo people. Today, CrossPoint is a blended church. When I say blended, or mixed, I do not mean a white church with a few African Americans attending. I mean a church that has maintained about a 50/50 ratio of blacks and whites for the past five to six years. (The experts say you can’t maintain this kind of ratio.)

People often ask how we’ve been able to make the transition and maintain the diversity.

I once spoke to a leader of a large, mixed congregation and asked him the same question, “How did you do it?” The essence of my question being, “What principles and tips can you give me that I can use at my church?” His answer, “It’s a God thing!” That’s it. That’s all he had to say. Of course I agreed with him – we believe that all Kingdom success is a “God thing.” So, if a mixed church is a God thing, how do the people of God cooperate with this thing God wants to do?

If you’ve ever inquired about a cross-cultural or multi-cultural church before, you have heard the “I” word -- Intentionality. The Nazarene church that existed at 10508 Hillcrest Road pre-1999 had, for some time, been expressing its sense of need to reach out across the racial line but didn’t know how. In 1999, we embraced intentionality saying, “We are going to do this, whatever it takes, however long it takes, and we will adjust ourselves to make it a reality.” If a predominately white church is serious about reaching African Americans, it has to accept the fact that what it has done in the past cannot be what it does in the future. Key to this is the pastor and the core leadership. To help the congregation be intentional, leadership must be intentional. We are talking resolve here. Anything less will only produce more of the same. Of course, this intentional outreach has a critical congregational process, but I need to move on.

Now let’s talk about the Net. I am thinking of Jesus’ words in Matthew 4:19. “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Every church has a net it uses to catch people. When a church of one cultural/racial group begins to talk about reaching people of other ethnicities, it’s existing net and use of that net isn’t usually conducive to reaching people, other than the people they’ve been reaching: people who look and think like them!

So a church must use a new net. That net and its effectiveness may be relatively small at first, but that’s okay, if you are committed to expanding it over time. No church that already exists should think it can suddenly and completely become relevant to a whole group of people from another ethnic group! What it must learn to do is widen the net. Thinking “success” means that every black person who comes to your church must want to stay, is like thinking that every white person that comes to your church must want to stay! It doesn’t happen that way, even in Mega churches (do the math)!

This expanding net helps us move away from the error of assimilation, because an expanding net is the equivalent of becoming more and more in tune and relevant to another culture. A predominately white church committed to reaching African Americans must reject the natural tendency to want other cultures to assimilate into who they are (talking culture here, not theology), and how they do things. My experience tells me that African Americans are accustomed to doing things the way the dominant group in our society does them, and in being longsuffering with the establishment. This means that if you are in the honest process of changing, there are African Americans who will give you credit for it and be open to the Gospel message you represent. Some will. Some will not. That’s a fact. Some will embrace the vision of being a fellowship together in Christ, some will not. Again, your commitment has to be to keep widening the net, keep becoming more and more a church that reflects the blend you say you want, when you say, “We want to reach the people in our community!”

Another key bridge builder to the African American community will be the investments you make in the community at large. One unspoken question you should assume is coming from our African American brothers and sisters is, “What are you really about?” Are you about numbers and swelling your attendance, or do you really care about the hurts and needs of the community around you? What kind of investment do you plan to make among the people you say you want to reach? This is not about buying the trust of the Black community; it’s not that easy! It’s about your awareness, empathy, and willingness to be a part of the community. How well do you really want to know the community? How committed are you? Are you here for the long haul, or will you leave when things get tough? The African American Community isn’t looking for white approval, but they are open to being true brothers and sisters in Christ with the white community. But, if we are unwilling to “share life together” they, like anyone else, will know it and find the true hand of fellowship elsewhere.

So, what is it like to pastor a fellowship like CrossPoint? It’s beautiful, like the kingdom of God. The beauty of the kingdom is that it leads us to one another. In asking us to surrender all, God helps us make space for one another in our hearts and lives. This dynamic is one of the greatest ways we show the world what it means to be a follower of Christ. When cultures unite, they become more, not less. Our lives are enriched by the additions that come to us through unity in Christ! Church growth experts and others will always find reasons why Blacks and Whites can’t, or won’t, be in fellowship together. The kingdom of God gives us one reason why we should -- Love.

When we first launched our new vision of outreach, one particular member, we’ll call him Jim, was very skeptical about the whole cross-cultural thing, and he made it clear to everyone. But to his credit, he stayed on and continued to serve. In the days that followed, we worked hard to reach our neighbors and started seeing people from the African American community come and stay. I can still see the smile on his face, as he expressed to me his new awareness of what God could do, and how God could bring people together to become a new community in Christ. At his funeral, a number of his African American brothers and sisters celebrated his life and gave God praise for their friendship with Jim. So I say, watch out for the “God thing!” It just might change your perspective.