A popular buzzword in the culture today that has been heralded as a virtuous goal worth pursuing is “multiculturalism.” On its face, it sounds noble–it sounds like it promotes respect, tolerance, peace, and love throughout a nation filled with people from diverse backgrounds.

Multiculturalism, however, typically results in the opposite effect of what it claims it attempts to achieve–unity. It tends to result in disunity. A nation filled with people with different beliefs, different standards of morality, different languages, and different goals, tends to cause clusters of competing people groups to form bringing disharmony and weakening the foundational structure.

This isn’t just true of the culture and the world, though. The idea of “multiculturalism” has also entered the Church–and Evangelical leaders are embracing it at an alarming rate.

And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. –Mark 3:25

First, the term “multicultural” must not be confused with the term “multiethnic.” A church that exists in a multiethnic area–one that is functioning as a true church and preaching the true gospel–can and likely will result in a multiethnic congregation. While multiethnicity is not the goal of the gospel, it is a natural byproduct of the gospel that is being preached to all tribes, tongues, and nations. However, while these people with different backgrounds can come together, the fact that it works isn’t that the church has become multicultural. It is that the people of this church have abandoned their culture to embrace one culture far superior–the culture of Christianity.

On the other hand, churches that embrace multiculturalism tend to spend an inordinate amount of time and effort on racial issues, have embraced secular ideologies such as Critical Race Theory, and seek artificial diversity through “racial reconciliation” efforts grounded in these secular ideologies.

Those who embrace the heresy of multiculturalism, Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, or wokeness, will ultimately, within a matter of time, end up compromising on biblical sexual ethics.

Key Tenets of Multiculturalism

• Wokeness, or a propensity to focus on racial/cultural issues from a secular perspective.
• An attempt to reconcile the personal preferences of people from different cultures (i.e. worship music) rather than seek biblical guidance and instruction on worship.
• Labels biblical principles arising out of Reformation theology (marriage, family, education, work ethic, etc.) as “whiteness” and attempts to destroy these principles.
• Attempts to force people with competing worldviews (biblical and unbiblical) to tolerate each other.
• Attempts to separate political ideology from theology then allows for diverse political ideologies that contradict biblical theology (i.e. progressivism, liberalism).

Modern-Day Proponents of Multiculturalism

• David Platt, pastor of McLean Bible Church, says those who oppose other members voting Democrat don’t belong in his church.
• Matt Chandler, who says that African Americans who aren’t woke are just trying to win the white man’s approval.
• Tim Keller, a registered Democrat who also attempts to bring together competing political ideologies.
• JD Greear, who says it’s okay to vote for pro-abortion Democrats.
• Mark Dever, 9Marks founder, a registered Democrat who has repeatedly defended Democrats in their progressive endeavors.
• Russell Moore (need I say more?)
• Other notables include names such as Beth Moore, Dwight McKissic, Thomas Kidd, Ray Ortlund, Jemar Tisby, and Ed Litton.
• The Gospel Coalition and the vast majority of its contributors have advanced the notion of multiculturalism for years.

There are many others, but too many to list. But this is merely a short list of some of the major proponents within mainstream Evangelicalism.