A defining paradox shapes the spiritual landscape of our time.
Across the United States, Jesus remains widely respected, even among those who do not identify as Christians. Most adults believe He existed, regard His teachings as good for society, and describe Him as compassionate, inclusive, and worth emulating. Many spiritually open skeptics, especially those raising children, remain curious about Jesus and open to learning more about Him.1
Yet that openness often disappears the moment the conversation shifts from Jesus to Christianity.
For a growing number of Americans, the problem is not Christ. It is the church.
Nearly half of U.S. adults say experiences connected to Christianity contributed to their decision to deconstruct or abandon the faith of their youth. Among Gen Z, disillusionment with church is even more pronounced. Hypocrisy, judgmentalism, politicization, and exclusion consistently rise to the top as reasons people disengage.2
The result is sobering. Jesus is admired, but Christians are distrusted. And when trust erodes, the church’s witness suffers.
A Credibility Crisis the Church Can No Longer Ignore
For much of the 20th century, evangelism assumed a shared baseline of trust. If Christians could clearly explain who Jesus is and why Christianity is true, people would listen. Public crusades, doorstep conversations, and apologetic resources were generally welcomed. Evangelism often took place at what might be called the bridge of Christ’s divinity.
That world no longer exists.
Today, many outside the church are not hostile to faith so much as resistant to Christian voices. The question is no longer whether Christianity is true, but whether Christians are credible and the church can be trusted. People are less interested in hearing apologetic arguments about the divinity of Jesus than in observing whether Christians actually reflect what they claim to believe about Him.
In this environment, what we say about Jesus is filtered through what people experience in us. Too often, they conclude that the message and the messengers do not align. When lived behavior contradicts proclaimed belief, skepticism deepens. This is not merely a communication problem. It is a credibility problem, and credibility has become the currency of mission.
From Proclamation to Demonstration
Jesus anticipated moments like this.
In the Sermon on the Mount, He did not instruct His followers to persuade the world with arguments alone. Instead, He called them to live visibly faithful lives marked by good works that point unmistakably to God. The credibility of the message would flow from the integrity of the witness.
That distinction matters now more than ever.
In today’s context, demonstration more than explanation opens hearts. Acts of kindness, generosity, justice, humility, and reconciliation create relational space where conversations about faith can eventually take root. Faith and love expressed through action invite curiosity rather than resistance, lowering defenses, and breaking down walls.
This does not diminish the importance of gospel proclamation. It reframes how the gospel is expressed. In the 21st century, people are far more likely to explore the claims of Christ after they encounter the character of Christ in His people and His church.
Why Peacemaking Is Central to Gospel Credibility
This is where peacemaking moves from a personal virtue to a collective necessity.
Biblically, peace is not merely the absence of conflict. It is the presence of reconciliation between God and humanity and among people once divided. The gospel announces that Christ has torn down walls of hostility and formed one new humanity. (Ephesians 2:14-22) Reconciliation, therefore, is not peripheral to salvation, but one of its intended outcomes.
When the church fails to reflect that reality, it unintentionally undermines the message it proclaims. When the church embodies reconciliation, it strengthens gospel credibility in ways sermons alone cannot.
In a painfully polarized society, peacemaking is not political positioning or social accommodation. It is gospel consistency. It demonstrates that the reconciling work of Christ is active and observable here and now.
Why Multiethnic Churches Are Essential to Peacemaking
Peacemaking at the individual level matters deeply. Personal repentance, forgiveness, and humility remain central to discipleship. But peacemaking at the collective level, across lines of color, culture, and class, is where the credibility of the gospel is either strengthened or undermined most visibly.
In a society fractured along cultural and ideological fault lines, churches that remain homogeneous while preaching reconciliation unintentionally reinforce skepticism. The message of unity sounds hollow when lived experience tells a different story. In such cases, the church’s words outpace its witness.
Healthy multiethnic churches offer a counter narrative the world cannot easily dismiss.
When people of varying ethnic and economic backgrounds choose to walk, work, worship God together as one, the church embodies the reconciliation it proclaims. Unity in diversity becomes tangible. Peace becomes visible. The gospel becomes meaningful rather than theoretical, bringing hope to everyday life and not only to the promise of heaven.
The multiethnic church is not merely a demographic outcome or a sociological trend. It is a theological witness. It demonstrates that Christ’s reconciling power is not aspirational or postponed, but transformational and present. It shows that the gospel is strong enough to overcome real divisions, not just spiritual abstractions.
In what I believe to be a Matthew 5:16 century, healthy multiethnic churches accomplish what words alone cannot. They put the gospel on display, allowing people to experience the reconciling outcomes it proclaims.
A Necessary Challenge to Pastors and Church Leaders
If multiethnic peacemaking is central to gospel credibility, pastors must wrestle honestly with three questions.
- Why does this matter for my church?
Because peacemaking cannot remain aspirational. If congregations reflect only one segment of the community while the surrounding population grows increasingly diverse, the church risks signaling that reconciliation is optional or unrealistic. A healthy multiethnic church communicates that unity is not simply nice but necessary, not only hoped for but achievable through Christ. - How does a church move in this direction faithfully and sustainably?
Not through tokenism or cosmetic diversity. Healthy multiethnic churches are built intentionally over time through accommodation rather than assimilation. They cultivate shared leadership, mutual submission, cultural intelligence, and a theology that places reconciliation at the center of discipleship. This work requires listening before leading, learning before launching, and repentance where needed. It also requires recognizing the multiethnic church not as a strategy to implement, but as obedience to Jesus and identification with Him in the work of peacemaking. - What can I do now?
Begin by prayerfully pursuing personal formation before attempting to reform systems. Build relationships beyond church walls, especially with those historically overlooked or marginalized. Study the biblical foundation and New Testament mandate of the multiethnic church. Internalize the call to lead a church for all people, not just some. Engage your leadership team, articulate the vision clearly to your congregation, and redefine how success is measured. Examine preaching calendars, leadership pipelines, partnerships, and budgets through the lens of peace and reconciliation.
The Witness That Opens Doors Again
I once drove a group of white pastors through an apartment complex directly across the street from an established church. When I asked a young African American woman who lived there what she thought about the church, she replied without hesitation, “What church?”
The building was visible. The sign was clear. Yet she did not even know the church existed.
By contrast, another man long disenchanted with Christianity later visited a church that had repurposed a former retail space into a hub of community care. He encountered showers for people experiencing homelessness, medical services for the uninsured, counseling for those in crisis, and tangible support for neighbors in need. After touring the facility, he asked rhetorically, “Where’s the church?” His question was not born of confusion, but conviction. What he was really saying was, this is what a church should look like and this is what a church should do. The answer was obvious. It was everywhere.
Your Church, an Instrument of Peace
Taken together, these realities call for clarity and resolve. Collective peacemaking is not a program the church adopts, but a posture it must embody through prayer, patience, and persistence.
Indeed, if the church is to regain credibility in this century, it must be seen advancing the peace it proclaims. In a world longing for credible hope, a healthy multiethnic church stands as one of the primary means that God is using to open hearts once more to Christ. The work is demanding, yet it rebuilds trust, brings shalom to the community, and represents Jesus faithfully before a watching world.3
NOTES
- BrandHaven, internal research findings for He Gets Us, April–July 2021 and McQueen Analytics, internal follow-up research findings for He Gets Us, presented by Carl McQueen at the Jesus Now Summit, Dallas, TX, December 2023.
- Ibid
- For pastors seeking to lead their congregations more deeply into the practice of peacemaking, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace: Becoming More Like Jesus Through the Prayer of St. Francis by Mark DeYmaz (Colorado Springs: NavPress, March 3, 2026) provides a biblically grounded framework for teaching, preaching, and small group formation. Designed for both sermon series and group study, the book equips Christians and churches to identify with Christ through peacemaking. See https://www.navpress.com/p/make-me-an-instrument-of-your-peace/9798898020170.
