Undivided Church: A Second Chance to 'Do Justice'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Hundreds recently took to the streets of Cleveland to protest a judge's decision to clear a white police officer in the deadly shooting of a black couple. But that is just the latest in a string of tense demonstrations that have unfolded in American cities within the last year.

Massive protests followed the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Eric Garner in New York, and Freddie Gray in Baltimore. All three were unarmed black men who died at the hands of police office officers.

That unrest has now sparked a movement inside one of the world's largest church groups. The Southern Baptist Convention is pushing to heal America's growing racial divide.

Perfect Moment for the Church

Minister and long-time civil rights activist John Perkins sees a picture-perfect moment for the Church.

"I think we are feeling we can't go on like this," he told CBN News. "I think there is too much fresh light and these young people are ready to develop, both black and white, these multi-cultural churches."

At 85 years old, Perkins has fought to desegregate schools and lunch counters. He's also written books, such as Let Justice Roll Down, to help Christians respond to racism.

Perkins has also started The John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation.

Moore spoke with CBN News at the denomination's Racial Reconciliation Leadership Conference.

"Right now, often what happens is we have African-Americans saying we have a problem here and white people saying we don't see a problem," he said.

A Shift in Perspective

Moore is the driving force behind this push for reconciliation, and it comes with a challenge for Southern Baptist leaders to return home and integrate their churches.

"The biggest obstacle I think we have among white Christians is that white is normal and that white people are to minister to everybody else," Moore noted.

"What we need to see are white people being ministered to and being led by African-American Christians, Latino Christians, and Asian-American Christians," he said. "That is the sort of mind shift change that we are going to have to have because most of the body of Christ is not white," Moore said.

Racial reconciliation was not the original focus for this Southern Baptist Leadership Summit. It was bioethics. That changed when Moore found himself unable to sleep the night before beginning to plan.

"We were going to do racial reconciliation next year," he said. "But when various things started happening around the country, I spent a sleepless night one night and woke up the next morning and walked into our executive cabinet and said, 'I really believe the Lord is leading us to deal with racial reconciliation and the Gospel now.'"

"All of them had had a similar sleepless night," he added.

Moore's team forced a year of planning into just two months, as images of unrest continued to play out in cities across the country.

Pastor Tony Evans

Pastor Tony Evans spoke with CBN News about the time of the demonstrations.

"The issue is just under the surface. All it needs is a little match and you wind up with a forest fire because it has never gone away," Evans said.

"And the reason it has never gone away in the culture is because it has never gone away in the Church," he explained. "And the failure in the Church house has led to confusion in the White House."

Evans has a plan for the church to correct its failure. His Urban Alternative ministry calls on churches to first unite, then adopt schools in their community to provide mentoring and support services, and finally, stand together to speak on issues facing their community.

It's a strategy reminiscent of the Civil Rights Movement.

"When the movement was in its height, God was at the center of it," Evans told CBN News. "God was the motivating force. That was bathed in prayer. Marches were held based on the word of God and God acted on our behalf."

Today, however, it's a different story.

"God is now a word," Evans said. "He is no longer the central motivation for a movement."

A Second Chance

This candid conversation is meant to be just the start of uniting believers and reconciling them to the plan of God.

Moore is happy the Southern Baptist Convention is helping to lead it.

"Our history is a history that includes the fact that this denomination was founded in part to defend the interest of slave holders," Moore said.

"God is giving the Southern Baptist Convention a second chance to do right and to do justice, where we previously had done wrong and injustice."