(BTW, I am white, and it does matter to the discussion…)

1. I was blown away by the comment that black churches are afraid of whites taking over. I had never thought of that, and it almost argues to me for continuing segregation: if the church is the only institution where African-Americans can experiment with and learn about organization, teamwork and leadership, I think that's a pretty valuable thing.

2. Do we have a duty to value racial diversity over worship style when choosing a church? For that matter, where do we rank it among all of our criteria in choosing a church, and does that ranking reflect our society's influence on our interpretation of scripture?

3. The comment from one pastor who said the real tipping point was when his congregational balance shifted to where everyone was a minority made a lot of sense to me, but it's not mathematically possible to see that in every church, unless a whole lot of white people stay home.

So, the question can be asked: what does it take to change that church growth value into something else that more completely reflects the heart of God, e.g. for God so loved the WORLD?

It's not merely reading the Bible. Our theology and the culture in which we live colors the way we read the Bible, and the way we discuss and work out its implications.

So, if we only read the Scriptures only with people who look like us, and only read the gold-standard systematic theologies of a particular time and history, that colors one's convictions of how to do church. How can that be changed, eh?

Another thought: a growing number of voices are saying that the how we measure success in a church cannot be attendance numbers. Developing a scorecard that better quantifies God's values and God's priorities is one thing that's desperately needed.

Huh?

I love those guys tremendously, but I have NEVER understood – biblically speaking – that line of thought. So, DJ… how do we help our brothers see the importance of this… for our church, and for our world?