Miles McPherson on Building a Diverse Church & Hope for a Racially Divided World
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In this episode Jason interviews Miles McPherson. Their conversation dives into McPherson’s background, his upbringing, his passion for sports, and his career in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers. It was during his time with the Chargers that he came to a life-giving relationship with Jesus. His experience in the NFL shaped his early ministry in so many significant ways — including his desire to serve the next generation.
Their conversation explores McPherson’s newest book, The Third Option, which tackles the racial division that is so apparent in our ‘us’ versus ‘them’ culture. He argues that the key is to highlight that which is held in common, rather than amplifying what divides us. This doesn’t white-wash our differences, or sweep them under the rug but, instead, acknowledges and appreciates the diversity represented by different cultures, while elevating the unity we have in Christ.
Miles delves into multiple themes in this interview - the evangelistic advantages of building a diverse congregation, his conviction to pursue vulnerability with his church and his heart for the church to be the first to the table as it relates to healing racial strife and pain.
We hope you enjoy our conversation with Miles McPherson.
Show Notes
Miles’ Interviewed by Anderson Cooper
Miles McPherson
Pastor Miles McPherson played four years in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers from 1982-1985. In his second season in the NFL and after a weekend-long drug binge, he called out to Jesus Christ, accepted Him and stopped doing drugs in one day. Miles worked as a Youth Pastor for Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego and enrolled in Azusa Pacific University’s School of Theology receiving his Master’s of Divinity degree in 1991.
In 2000, he felt called by God to start the Rock Church in San Diego. According to Outreach Magazine, the Rock has consistently been one of the nation’s largest churches with over 20,000 people attending one of the Rock’s twenty-one Sunday services or experiencing the services through online streaming, and microsites around San Diego.
Through his most recent book called “The Third Option: Hope for a Racially Divided Nation”, he desires to bring God’s healing to this issue with a powerful message and practical next steps to begin the conversation with “someone not like you.”
“What credit is it to us if we only love people who look like us and think like us? Jesus said that’s too easy.”
Order Miles’s Book The Third Option Today
In the book The Third Option Pastor Miles McPherson speaks to racial division, a crucial topic in our divided times. He points out that, often, Sunday is still the most segregated day of the week, which breaks the heart of God. Christians have, in different ways, fallen into the trap of us versus them.
Pastor Mike points us to a third way where we honour the image of God that each person possesses and the inestimable worth that each person holds to their Creator.
This book deconstructs common misconceptions that prevent people from different ethnic backgrounds from engaging with one another — exposing the privileges and pitfalls that we all carry into this conversation. The end goal of this book is to equip the church, and the leaders in the church, to become leaders in unifying our communities.
The Third Option E-Course
The Third Option E-Course is comprised of six video sessions for small groups, which includes role playing and homework. It teaches us to have vulnerable conversation across cultural differences — inviting us to honour what we have in common. It deconstructs culture’s misconceptions that push us away from one another with the end goal of promoting unity in the church and the culture. Learn more
“If you get caught up in being perfect, you’re going to hide from the people you’re called to lead.”
YouTube Links
We have also posted some of our favourite sections of this interview on our YouTube Channel - here is one of them:
This episode was brought to you by Compassion Canada.
This episode was brought to you by Compassion. The mission of Compassion is to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. And they’re doing exactly that in 25 different countries. Now, here is what is unique about Compassion—100% of their work is done in partnership with local churches. In fact, for many of the communities Compassion serves, they don’t know a large international NGO—they simply know the people of the local church who serve the most vulnerable in their community. Compassion’s heart for the local church extends here, to Canada, too. They are experts at equipping the Canadian church for mission in ways that are tailored to each church’s unique context. We want to encourage you to begin a transformative missions partnership with Compassion.
Coming Up Next
Ken Shigematsu
Ken Shigematsu is the Senior Pastor of Tenth Church in Vancouver, BC, one of the largest and most diverse city-center churches in Canada. He is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal awarded to Canadians in recognition for their outstanding contribution to the country. Before entering pastoral ministry, he worked for the Sony Corporation in Tokyo. Ken is the author of the award-winning bestsellers ‘God in My Everything’ and ‘Survival Guide for the Soul.’ Ken lives in Vancouver with his wife, Sakiko, and their son, Joey.