This article originally appeared at Standing For Freedom.

Ferguson marked a turning point in the evangelical world on discussions about race and the Church — and not in a good way.
On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was lethally shot by a white policeman, Darren Wilson, in an act of self-defense. Officer Wilson was found justified in his actions in every follow-on investigation, including one undertaken by President Obama’s Department of Justice, then led by Attorney General Eric Holder. CBS News reported that “Federal officials concluded there was no evidence to disprove Wilson’s testimony that he feared for his safety.”
Furthermore, the official DOJ investigation concluded,“…nor was there reliable evidence that Michael Brown had his hands up when he was shot.”
It was almost a year later, and the false narrative of “Hands up, don’t shoot” had already turned into a nationwide rallying cry, but even the progressive Washington Post columnist, Jonathan Capehart, ultimately conceded this fact.
Writing in response to the DOJ investigations that cleared Officer Wilson, Capehart admitted that the reports “forced me to deal with two uncomfortable truths: Brown never surrendered with his hands up, and Wilson was justified in shooting Brown.”
That’s right: “Hands up, don’t shoot” was a lie. Always has been. I wonder how many Christians realize that?
Sadly, the obvious answer is “not nearly enough.” Because as we look back over the last eight years, it’s clear now that the lies of Ferguson served to kindle the raging, destructive fires of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Far more than the death of Trayvon Martin, it was the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson that birthed the current (though fading) “racial reconciliation” craze that swept across American Christianity, smuggling in all kinds of unbiblical beliefs and practices.
This was a movement that completely suckered many evangelical leaders and pastors (Voddie Baucham being a notable exception)—a triumph of pathos over logos—who happily repeated the slogan, put #BLM in their bios, marched in the rallies, and began to chastise their white congregants for not being committed enough to this ill-defined and extra-biblical notion of “racial reconciliation.”
How many pulpits were filled with pastors who lamented another instance of “racial tragedy” the Sunday after Ferguson, even though no evidence existed to support such a claim? Those prayers were lies; those pastors should repent.
The way that so many evangelicals fell hook, line, and sinker for the “Ferguson narrative” is all the more appalling when you consider that the official BLM organization is committed to disrupting “the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure,” as well as being a “queer‐affirming network.” While they claim they exist for the sake of racial justice, The Heritage Foundation explains that “a closer look reveals BLM to be a revolutionary movement, rooted in Marxism, that wants to dismantle Western society.”
Has BLM made life better for black Americans? Of course not. Their movement is arguably to blame for disastrous policing shortages in major cities, like Chicago, where homicides, violent crime, and gang activity have hit levels not seen in decades, while arrests are at record-breaking lows. And the founders of BLM are under investigation for potentially misusing millions in donations for personal benefit.
Why retread this ground now? Because this history is an indispensable background for the continuing conversations about the role, purpose, and priority of diversity in the Church — and in Heaven.
Given that the conversation about “systemic racism” in America and in the Church is largely built on lies like Ferguson, it’s not surprising that the resulting — and continuing — conversation is confused and unbiblical.
This was on clear display this past week when megachurch pastor Rick Warren sent a tweet that concluded with this rather remarkable claim: “If diversity scares you, you’ll hate heaven.”
It was one of those comments that made me stop and go, “Beg pardon?”
The entirety of his statement read: “In Heaven, YOU will be a minority! Get used to it. Most Christ-followers in the world don’t look like you, think like you, or vote like you. They’re saved by grace thru faith, Jesus-lovers from every era of time & place. If diversity scares you, you’ll hate heaven. Rev. 5:9.”

In Heaven, YOU will be a minority!Get used to it.Most Christ-followers in the world don’t look like you, think like you, or vote like you. They’re saved by grace thru faith, Jesus-lovers from every era of time & place
If diversity scares you, you’ll hate heaven.Rev. 5:9
— Rick Warren (@RickWarren) July 22, 2022

While it’s not clear what this comment was prompted by, it’s a good example of what I am calling “divisive diversity rhetoric” and a great example of how Revelation 5 is often misused.
The first way this is divisive is that implies that we know who will be a “minority” in Heaven. No one, to my knowledge, has any reliable data on the demographic composition of the Celestial City. God saves who He will. Yes, in Revelation 5:9 we are told that Jesus Christ “purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” — but we aren’t given a percentile-based breakdown of this redeemed gathering. God saves according to grace, not according to race.
Second, I do know this: No one in Heaven is going to care about things like “being a minority” or a “majority.” Those are manmade terms and concepts, the “things of earth” that “will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” The hope of Heaven isn’t that it’s going to be a super diverse gathering, just the kind to make all the closet racist Christians squirm. No, the hope of Heaven is that we will all experience perfect, unceasing fellowship with our Triune Creator God.
Christians aren’t going to be gathered around the throne of God, glancing around at each other and trying to size up apparent ethnic allotments. Rather, we will all, in unified spirit and wonder, behold our God face-to-face. We will be worshipping Him with our glorified bodies, free from sin, sickness, and death, and praising Him for His goodness, love, and majesty forever.
No one in Heaven is going to care about things like “being a minority” or a “majority.” Those are manmade terms and concepts, the “things of earth” that “will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
The hope and focus of Heaven actually isn’t Revelation 5:9, its Revelation 21:3-4:
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’”
Third, and finally, here is another fatal flaw with Warren’s comments and this broader way of thinking — as informed by lies like Ferguson. This misstep gets at the shoddy philosophical foundations of the statement, the overall lack of coherent logic, and the theological mistake.
It’s as simple as this: Hell is a very diverse place, too.
This isn’t just a throwaway point; it’s crucially important. Along with tweets like Warren’s, I hear people say all the time, “I want my church to reflect Heaven more by being more diverse.” Okay, well, Hell is also diverse. In fact, Hell might be the most diverse place in existence. Consider the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14:
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
The hard reality is that Hell is every person’s default destination. This is because we are all born sinners, inheriting guilt from the shared father of all humankind, regardless of your race, the first man — Adam.
In Adam, all fall. All Europeans. All Asians. All Africans. Everybody.
Your race plays no part in your damnation — your sin does that. And your race plays no part in your salvation — your repentance and trust in Jesus Christ and belief in the Gospel does that.
So, I guess, if “diversity scares you” then you’re not going to like Hell either. See how silly that sounds?
It’s that point right there that exposes the biblical bankruptcy of Warren’s admonition. Diversity isn’t the point of Heaven. Nor is it the point of Hell. The pressing question of our final resting place is whether you are spending it with God as a member of His family in eternal joy, or whether you are suffering under God’s just judgment for your sin in eternal damnation. I guarantee that in both end-states no one cares one bit about “diversity.”
I’m not the first to make this observation. Mark Dever, the senior pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, has said something very similar. In fact, given the fact that I’ve listened to more sermons from Mark Dever than from any other preacher out there, I probably picked it up from him in the first place.
Preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mark said: “Diversity is very common in Hell. Diversity is not a uniquely Christian trait. Unity in diversity is what is unique to Christians — the unity we have in the Spirit.”
Mark is correct. For Christians, it’s the unity in the Spirit that counts—and that’s what will count in Heaven as well.
I want to make a qualification to Dever’s addition. Even non-Christians can have “unity in diversity” when they unite around shared affections, such as love for nation. Unity in diversity is not, in fact, an exclusive or unique Christian trait. But unity in Christ — now that’s uniquely Christian.
Let’s turn off the detour and get back onto the main path. What do we conclude? Hell is diverse. Heaven is diverse. Okay, then, that’s settled.
But what about here on earth? I’ve seen pastors argue that a more diverse church equals a more holy church. It’s funny, though, how such standards are never applied to Kenyan churches. Or I’ve heard it said that if a church is more diverse on earth, it looks more like Heaven. I’ve dealt with this already, but consider, again, the logical implications were such a statement true. It would mean that a faithful, Gospel-preaching church located in a 99 percent black community, say somewhere in Baltimore, that is almost entirely made up of black congregants, doesn’t look much like Heaven. Does that mean it looks more like Hell? Of course not!
We must point out once more (even as our pointing finger is getting sore) that it’s never the black churches, Hispanic churches, or Korean churches that these people have in mind when they lob these bombs. It’s just the majority white church in rural Ohio caught between their “look more like Heaven” crosshairs. But with a little bit of reason, we can see that either way, it’s truly a meaningless metric.
Because it’s not the diversity that makes a diverse church “look like Heaven.” It’s how the members of any local church treat each other (and non-Christians) that counts. For example, if you were to just physically survey a multi-ethnic congregation, in a snapshot, what does that picture tell you about how this diverse body loves one another, sacrificially gives and serves each other, pushes each other on to love Jesus more, and helps each other repent of sin? Nothing. You might have the most diverse church in the world, but if that church is defined by division, slander, quarrels, and hate, it doesn’t look like Heaven at all.
In our age of postmodern multiculturalism, we have lost sight of the basics, of ground truths, and we have imported sloppy thinking into the Church. This might sound shocking, but it’s true: There is nothing intrinsically valuable about diversity.
What matters are the beliefs and values that draw diverse people to them. In this case, those beliefs are in Christ and the Gospel.
When all the redeemed stand around the throne of God in perfect worship, it won’t be race that matters, but grace. Our culture is obsessed with a skin-deep diversity that demands cognitive conformity. But the Church should reject such petty, small-minded paradigms and demand that we unite in truth and the great things of God — on earth and in Heaven.
What matters is being humble, respectful, and willing to learn from others of different races and backgrounds, all while seeking and prioritizing objective and transcendent truth together. What matters is if a church on earth is “speaking the truth in love” and, by doing so, growing “to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 3:15-16).
Our culture is obsessed with a skin-deep diversity that demands cognitive conformity. The Church should reject such petty, small-minded paradigms. We, of course, want (and demand) unity on the confessional matters of orthodox Christian faith. But we don’t seek manufactured diversity — by no means. Rather we aim, per James 2:1-13, to “show no partiality.” Every local church, no matter where they are located, should tear down any barriers to entry built on sinful human partiality. Beyond that, they must preach the Gospel, love their neighbors, and trust God with both the growth, and the composition, of their local gathering.
Hectoring faithful Christians about being a minority in Heaven isn’t helpful, it’s divisive. Telling mono-ethnic churches in mono-ethnic settings that they aren’t as holy as the multicultural church in downtown Manhattan isn’t loving, it’s divisive. This is “divisive diversity rhetoric,” and it needs to end.
Yes, God is gathering a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language. What a great reason for rejoicing! The Gospel will go to the ends of the earth. Christ the conquering King guarantees it. But it’s God who is doing this, not mankind. Revelation 5:9 isn’t an imperative for local churches here on earth to reflect such a diverse gathering here and now or be found unfaithful. Far from it. It is a glorious indicative, a statement about what God Himself is doing and will do by the power of His Spirit and the preaching of His Gospel. Christians misstep when we mistake indicatives for imperatives. In those missteps, we can needlessly divide the Church.
Instead, Christians should strive to hold fast to the truth, both about what happens in our world, like in Ferguson, and what can be found in the pages of the Bible, like in Revelation.
Let’s get back to the truth. And by doing so, leave behind the last decade of divisive diversity rhetoric, grounded in unbiblical and illogical conceptions of what Heaven will look like. Our churches here on earth will be better—and more heavenly—for it.

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The undeniable love of God for His people pours forth abundantly from the pages of Scripture. God really loves and cares for the good of the Church. One of the ways this shows itself is in His wise bestowment of godly pastors to His local churches (cf. Eph. 4:11). 

Every Christian needs a pastor! And since pastors/elders/overseers/bishops are Christians, this includes them too. Even pastors need pastors, since God displays His love for all of His people by giving them under-shepherds to care for their souls (cf. 1 Peter 5:1-4). 

Every Christian needs a pastor. This implies that professing Christians separated from the local church are at best in great danger, but there also exists a very great possibility that those separated from the church for a long time are not Christians at all. For if every Christian needs a pastor, how can one go through life apart from such a vital necessity? 

For those separating themselves from the local church, or failing to take seriously membership in the local church, here are some things you are missing out on when it comes to faithful shepherding: 

Protection

God loves His local churches enough to give them qualified men charged with “keeping watch over your souls” (Hebrews 13:17). What an amazing thing!

God has provided a means by which your soul can be guarded. This does not do away with personal responsibility, of course. It does, however, supply for us an added defense against the world, the flesh, and the devil because we have godly men involved in our lives who are appointed by God to help keep the sheep from destruction, whether inflicted by self or others. 

For officials in high positions, we provide bodyguards. These guards are entrusted with watching over the physical well-being of people, protecting them from sinister plots. 

How high a position must every Christian be in since God has provide them with soul-guards! Men entrusted with watching over the spiritual well-being of His people, protecting them from various dangers. 

Proclamation 

God gives His local churches men who are able to rightly divide the Word of truth and to proclaim that truth to them regularly in the public assembly, i.e. weekly worship (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15, 4:2). 

Some would object and say that in such a day of technology we can listen to godly men in a variety of ways via YouTube, Podcasts, Sermon Audio, etc. 

But I humbly submit to you that our sovereign God knows what He is doing in giving you godly men who are present with the sheep, and who are preaching the Word to the sheep in both the language and specific context they need to hear. We can be grateful for the wonderful ministries of men like Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Voddie Baucham, and Steve Lawson. These are men who should be listened to. However, these godly men simply are not able to feed you in the same way that your specific pastor is. 

Imagine that you have a history of serious physical ailments, and you want to listen to the podcast of the world’s leading physician. No doubt you will gain some valuable insight from his teaching. However, your specific primary care physician actually knows you. His knowledge of you and your condition means that he is going to be more helpful to you in the long run.

Faithful pastors proclaim the Word of God not merely in its historical and Christ-centered context, but also deliver it within their specific geographical and cultural context. Certain applications from any given text are going to be more suited toward one congregation than another based on the things you are dealing with. 

Thus, God loves His people enough to give them pastors who actually know them and their circumstances and can preach the Scriptures in such a way so as to bring the truth of God to bear very specifically and personally. 

Provision 

Not only do faithful pastors watch over the flock, and preach the Word of God to the flock, but they also provide for the people of God by discipling them, equipping them for ministry, and counseling them in real life decisions and situations.

What I mean here is not only do pastors preach week in and week out and seek to be a defender of your precious immortal soul, but they also positively labor among you in real life so as to help your walk with Christ. This provision is grounded in the plan of God to present all Christians “mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28).  

Godly pastors care for the flock in such a way as to have their conformity to the image of Christ as a priority. How you tell the difference between a faithful shepherd and a charlatan is the former seeks to feed the sheep while the other eats them. 

That is, charlatans see you as a means to their own end, while faithful pastors provide for you in such a way that brings glory to Christ who purchased you with His own blood (cf. Acts 20:28). They are ultimately after your holiness instead of their own or your temporal happiness.

Embracing God’s Gift

There is so much more we could discuss when it comes to pastors. Certainly, there are poor examples of pastors in the history of the church and present in churches today. This, however, does not take away from the fact, that Christians need pastors and that God loves His people enough to provide for them such godly men.

When we neglect this gift, we neglect pastoral oversight of our souls! As if we are strong enough to reject God’s plan for our soul’s protection and fend for ourselves. 

When we neglect this gift, we neglect personal application when it comes to the proclamation of God’s Word. As if we can survive only on Christian generalities and never need to embrace personal and tangible change. 

When we neglect this gift, we neglect godly provision. As if we are the wisest Christians who have ever lived and need know encouragement or counsel from those God has placed in our charge. 

Of course, there is also an application here for the necessity of a plurality of elders in a local church. Not only does this provide each elder with pastoral care, but it also helps the elders as a whole to be reminded of this great charge God has entrusted them with for His local churches. 

Isn’t God so good to us? Isn’t He so wise and loving to His people? Isn’t His Word sufficient for godliness in this present age? Why, then, would we not embrace this great gift God has given to His churches in those He has appointed to shepherd our souls? 

R.C. Sproul once said, “The cultural revolution of the 1960’s was similar to the French Revolution in that its goal was to bring radical change to the forms, structures, values, and ethics of the status quo. It sought to bring in a New Age with the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Now the dawn of the New Age is long past. Aquarius is now at high noon.”[1] He wrote those words only six years ago, which means that Aquarius is still at high noon. It means that the dawning of the Pagan Age is still long past. Sproul’s words beckon the question, “Why did it take Aquarius reaching high noon for the Reformed and Evangelical Church to get so hot and bothered by it?”
You can see the growth of the New Religion in covenantal terms (Adam, Abraham, Moses, David). The cultural revolution of the 60’s was the Adamic Administration, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with hippy love.” John Lennon supplied the Abrahamic promises—
Imagine there’s no heaven. it’s easy if you tryNo hell below us, above us only sky 
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only oneI hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one
I have spoken of the recent rise of Social Justice as the Mosaic Administration of Paganism. The New Religion has reached its Mount Sinai, and down from that unholy mountain has come the creature-law of intersectionality, critical theory, and all of that social justice tomfoolery. Adherents of the new religion have heard, and they believe, that if they simply obey these laws, then they will enter the Promised Land. A significant step toward a Pagan Davidic Administration can be seen with the recent Orwellian governmental tyranny as the state begins to enforce iniquitous and arbitrary standards. Some Christians are already denying any necessity for human law to accord with divine revelation and preparing to obey whatever despotic mandates civil authority decrees. The point is, we are a good deal down the line and if you’re going to fight well, then it helps to know where you are on the battlefield.
Over the past few years, the Evangelical and Reformed world has been full of debate, literature, conferences, and statements surrounding social justice, critical theory, wokeness, etc. It is clear where some leaders and organizations stand. It is not entirely clear which side of the fault line others are on. Neither is it clear, depending on how broad you draw the lines, whether the woke or the un-woke have more numbers. But, it is clear that you could now write the book Not Woke Church and likely sell a good number of copies. In the first place, let us praise the Lord. Amen to the church identifying idols and staying away from them. And in the second place, caution is in order. For there is now a market for Not Woke. And Big Eva knows a market when she sees one.
But we must know repentance and hard work more than markets. Aquarius never should have made it to high noon. If we had been walking in the true light, then there would have been no room for the dawning of another. If we had done biblical justice, then there would have been no room for social justice. If we had cooked up Christian community, then there would have been no taste for the faux allegiances sold along all of those intersections. If we had been clothed in the armor of God in battle array against the forces of darkness, then we wouldn’t have safe places for the training of ministers on our seminary campuses. If we had been adorning the doctrine of God with true manhood and womanhood, then the North American Mission Board wouldn’t be supporting all of the women preachers. And if we had confessed and taught that Jesus is King of Kings, then there would be no talk about governmentally mandated pinwheels.
We need a return to the root (Christ) and a flourishing of the fruit (Christ’s kingdom).
So Not Woke is not enough. If you don’t like the function of wokeness, then you must also despise the organ of wokeness. If you don’t like the function of wokeness, then you must want the function of Christ’s kingdom. And if you want the function of Christ’s kingdom, then you must have the organ of that kingdom. It is the organ that gives rise to the function—”In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”[2]
Many evangelicals are just coming to realize that they don’t like the function of paganism. They want the function of Christianity. They want things to be the way they were in those bygone good-ole days when we paid attention to the laws of nature and nature’s God. But, we have not perceived the root of the matter. We are far too superficial. We have not identified either of the organs at play. One of those organs is the living Christ, and a return to Him is the only way out of the mess we are in. The other of those organs is the devil himself and his various idols, which like their leader are all broken and doomed.
There are plenty of Americans who are Not Woke and Not Christian. And that should be enough to prove the point that Not Woke is not enough. Yes, there is a place for cobelligerents. But, do not mistake a cobelligerent for an ally; and do not think that Christless Conservatives know the way out of the pit we are in. The way out is Christ and His kingdom. The former precedes the latter and the latter must follow the former. Many want the latter without the former and others want the former without the latter. But neither of those options will do.
In short, we need a return to the root (Christ) and a flourishing of the fruit (Christ’s kingdom). We need this amid the flourishing of paganism and its rotten fruit. We need this while many unbelieving conservatives want the fruit without the root; and many evangelical Christians want the root without the fruit. The message is the same to both of these groups: Not Woke is not enough. You must awake—”Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you” (Ephesians 5:14). Then, being awake, you must go on with living.
We have had many leaders who, like Azariah, have failed to press the crown rights of King Jesus all the way out to the high places—”And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places” (2 Kings 15:3-4). What we are experiencing is not the rise of new idols. It is rather the metastasizing of the idols which we have permitted out on the high places for years. Saying that you will not offer their drink offerings of blood is good, but it is not enough.
It is time to cut down the groves. And set up altars over every square inch to the living God.
To that end, pray for the Institute of Public Theology. Classes have begun this very week. The Lord has gathered men who appear to have understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do (1 Chronicles 12:32).

[1] Foreward to The Other Worldview by Peter Jones.
[2] C. S. Lewis, Abolition of Man

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