Tony Evans - Oneness Embraced: A Kingdom Race Theology for Reconciliation, Unity, and Justice

2011, 2022 by
A NTHONY T. E VANS

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Portions of this book were originally released as Lets Get to Know Each Other ( 1995 by Anthony T. Evans) and previously published at tonyevans.org and Kingdom Race Theology ( 2022 by Anthony T. Evans).

Excerpt from Kingdom Men Rising by Tony Evans, copyright 2021. Used by permission of Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Edited by Kevin Mungons
Interior design: Ragont Design
Cover design: Erik M. Peterson

All websites and phone numbers listed herein are accurate at the time of publication but may change in the future or cease to exist. The listing of website references and resources does not imply publisher endorsement of the sites entire contents. Groups and organizations are listed for informational purposes, and listing does not imply publisher endorsement of their activities.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Evans, Tony, 1949- author.

Title: Oneness embraced : a kingdom race theology for reconciliation, unity, and justice / Tony Evans.

Description: Chicago : Moody Publishers, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and indexes. | Summary: Its hard to find agreement-much less real harmony-in our polarized society. Yet Tony Evans believes the gospel offers a path to oneness. Scripture teaches a kingdom-based approach to matters of history, culture, the church, and social justice. Although oneness is a struggle, the Christian must never stop striving-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021051378 (print) | LCCN 2021051379 (ebook) | ISBN 9780802424723 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780802478337 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Race relations--Religious aspects--Christianity. | United States--Race relations. | African Americans--Religion. | BISAC: RELIGION / Christian Living / Social Issues | RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth

Classification: LCC BT734.2 .E93 2022 (print) | LCC BT734.2 (ebook) | DDC 277.308/3089--dc23/eng/20211118

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021051378

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021051379

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To Rev. John McNeal and Dr. Howard Dial. Thank you for the biblical foundation and model of unity that you gave me.

Friend,

Thank you for choosing to read this Moody Publishers title. It is our hope and prayer that this book will help you to know Jesus Christ more personally and love Him more deeply.

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The Moody Publishers Team

A special thanks to my friends at Moody Publishers for their willingness to publish this strategic manuscript, and

To my late wife of nearly fifty years, Lois Evans, for her devotion, patience, and support in the original creation of this legacy work, and

Rev. Lafayette Holland, Rev. James Womack, Bill Collins, Shari Carroll, and Greg Smith for their interaction with the original material over a decade ago, and

Heather Hair for her extensive research, as well as her excellent writing skills and insights in collaborating on both the original and current edition of this manuscript.

T he racial problem in America is the asterisk on an otherwise-respectable reputation. Whether manifesting itself overtly in conflicts between differing racial and cultural groups, or simply lurking below the surface through microaggressions, implicit bias, and other means as a suspicion camouflaging the true depth of the problem, it continues to be the one dominant area of our failure as a nation. In spite of our successes in science, education, medicine, and technology, becoming truly one nation under God continues to elude us. Instead, we function as a divided nation apart from God.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the history and contemporary reality of black/white relations in the culture at large and in the church in particular. Whether it is racial tension in Ferguson, Baltimore, Charleston, Minneapolis, Atlanta and elsewherethe issue has seemed to have only gotten worse in recent years.

While this tension can also be seen in many other ways, through swastikas painted on synagogues, Hispanics marching against the concern of racial profiling, Asians standing up to #StopAsianHateit is the black/white relationship that has set the bar of racial division the highest. Given the length and volatile history of this divide, if we can ever get this right, we will have developed a template for addressing wherever else this evil shows up in the culture. The church will have established a model on how to biblically address issues such as those found in the current tension arising out of the influx of both legal and illegal immigrants to America, among other things. The church will have put forth biblical and theological answers that have pragmatic manifestations above and beyond mere social and political dialogue about the situation.

It is my contention that the fundamental cause of racial problems in America lies squarely with the churchs failure to come to grips with this issue from a biblical perspective. The truth that has been missed is that God does much of what He does predicated on what His church is or is not doing (Eph. 3:10). In the same way that Gods purpose, presence, and power in the Old Testament was to flow from His people and through the temple into the world (Ezek. 47:112), even so today it should flow from the church into the broader society. When the church fails to act in concert with Gods prescribed agenda, then God often chooses to postpone His active involvement until His people are prepared to respond. Our failure to respond to this issue of biblical oneness has allowed what never should have been a problem in the first place to continue for hundreds of years.