As for multiracial children, the church by and large has yet to breach that topic, though it is an obviously growing demographic in American society. Very few churches now embody and openly talked about the implications of a multiethnic society.

There is a lot of value in being able to say I’m sorry I didn’t understand things from your perspective. Whilst I agree we need to watch what we say and do – equally there is possibly greater potential for growth when a mistake is made – and corrected with grace. I am not sure that the idea of infallibility is biblical – and sometimes we end up trying to stay on the pedestal that others put us on (I recognise we need to be mindful that if we have the potential to cause greater damage we need to take greater care).

Many of Jesus’ teaching moments were from the ‘opportunity’ presented by ‘mistakes’ – no doubt Peter would have been a great blogger! But he would have annoyed / offended a few people. We might have blacklisted him!

It is easy to end up in a little circle of friends all thinking the same way because we can quickly write someone off who is only starting on the journey and may be at the stage of thinking in terms of ‘colour-blind’ issues etc. I am enjoying reading CONVERSATIONS: Asian American Evangelical Theologies in Formation (see http://www.lulu.com/content/493155) to try and widen my understanding.

A particular area of interest for me is the whole interracial or mixed race children – sometimes wonder whether such people end up being treated like the Samaritans – impure etc when we see culture as being such a critical part of our self-identity. My own kids have a Chinese mum and a Caucasian dad – at the local Chinese Church they are a bit of a novelty / welcomed loved etc but not Chinese if they speak some Cantonese everyone is like WOW because it is not expected – at the predominantly Caucasian church they were held up as examples of the churches diversity – which was not true either.

My thinking is definitely a work in progress and I hope it continues to be. Love the thoughts that you all put forward and the robust yet welcoming debate.

If we are going to move toward genuine reconciliation and unity, then we must begin to recognize that we are different — our background, heritage, experiences… Instead of being “colorblind”, we must understand and affirm our uniqueness. In the end, this will deepen our understanding of the unity that Christ alone offers to us. He really can bring together widely diverse people, and not by squeezing out our uniqueness and forcing us into some strange homogeneous mold (though no one says this is easy).

“You’d better learn to live a transparent life, and be consistent when the lights are on and when they’re not. Best way to go: character and integrity all around.” In this age of media spin and information control, this is a great reminder. I often find myself puzzling over why race seems to be the default attack for many people, and I think you’ve identified the heart-issues going on here. We don’t necessarily need more censorship (although a little bit of discretion goes a long way in public discourse); we need inner transformation.

The biggest difference in people is not the exterior, but the heart… do we still have the fallen nature of our first parents, or the new nature of Jesus Christ