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So let me pose a few questions.

White Christian, you have people of color on your staff, but are you seeking their ideas and perspectives? Does your corporate culture reflect sensitivity to the feelings and concerns of nonwhite individuals? You've spoken to the black people who attend your church, but have you had them over to watch the game after service? Have you invited them to join your small group?

Black Christian, have you been keeping at an arm's distance those white acquaintances who have attempted to get to know you better? Have you written off some whites as racists because of silly comments they didn't realize were offensive? Have you taken the time to educate them about your culture, answering all of their probing questions about your hair care or your opinion of some black celebrity?

White Christian, you hugged and apologized to that nameless black person at an out-of-town conference, but have you made any new friends across racial lines since you've returned home? Are you now more attuned to the subtle ways society treats whites differently from blacks?

Black Christian, are you hanging on to unresolved bitterness against whites? Are you harboring bigotry of your own? Have you been ignoring God's command to extend grace? Are you resisting his call to become a bridge between the races, because you realize that bridges, by definition, must be stepped on?

As Christians, it's possible for us to do wonderfully holy things cross-culturally without ever experiencing a fundamental change in our thinking. To break out of the monochromatic status quo of today's evangelical movement, we must confront hard truths about ourselves and about the things that truly drive our institutions. If we don't, we'll never find ourselves in that place of total freedom and faith and unity that allows us to be used by God in radical ways.

As evangelical leaders, are we trusting in God to use us to build his kingdom—in all its glorious diversity—or are we busy trying, in his name, to preserve our own? If we expect to see God move us toward a place of true and lasting unity, we cannot do business as usual.

Nor can we simply wait. The cost of maintaining the status quo is too high.

Edward Gilbreath is editor of Today's Christian and author of Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity (InterVarsity, 2006), from which this article was adapted.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Edward Gilbreath's book, Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity, is available at Amazon.com and other retailers.

Other Christianity Today articles on race and reconciliation include:

Behold, the Global Church| It's time we figured out how to talk—and listen—to one another. (November 17, 2006)

Catching Up with a Dream| Evangelicals and Race 30 Years After the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr. By Edward Gilbreath (March 2, 1998)

CT Classic: Catching Up with a Dream (Part 2)| Church as Conscience (January 1, 2000)

CT Classic: Catching Up with a Dream (Part 3)| Just Not Getting It (January 1, 2000)

We Can Overcome| A CT forum examines the subtle nature of the church's racial division—and offers hope. (October 2, 2000)

Divided by Faith?| A recent study argues that American evangelicals cannot foster genuine racial reconciliation. Is our theology to blame? (October 2, 2000)

Matters of Opinion: Racial Reconciliation: After the Hugs, What?| The next step for racial reconciliation will be harder. February 3, 1997)

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February 2007, Vol. 51, No. 2