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Best Friends Share Lessons They鈥檝e Learned from the Bible and Their 25-year Relationship

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.鈥擶hile healing the nation鈥檚 racial divide seems like a daunting task, former National Football League player Derwin L. Gray and 海角网 alumnus Clayton King offered a practical first step during a program on Aug 24 at 海角网. King stated, 鈥淭onight, we want you to get a glimpse of what I believe is the most effective way that we can heal the racial divide鈥攁nd that鈥檚 through personal friendships with people who are different than us.鈥�

During the event, 鈥淗ealing Our Racial Divide鈥擜 Conversation with Clayton King and Derwin L. Gray,鈥� the two men talked in an informal manner about what they have learned from their 25-year friendship. They quoted scriptures from the Bible that shows God鈥檚 redemptive plan for reconciling all ethnicities to himself.  

Besides coming from different races, King and Gray are from opposite backgrounds. King grew up on a farm in South Carolina and was raised in church. He began preaching when he was 15. Gray is from the west side of San Antonio, Texas, and his family never went to church.  

Football was Gray鈥檚 ticket out of poverty, and he got a scholarship to Brigham-Young University. He was drafted and played professional football in the NFL for five years with the Indianapolis Colts (1993-1997) and one year with the Carolina Panthers (1998).  

It was during his time with the Colts that Gray was transformed by the love of Jesus and the testimony of his teammate, Steve Grant. 鈥淥n Aug. 2, 1997, I put my faith in Christ,鈥� Gray told the audience. 鈥淚 knew that I was loved, I knew that I was forgiven, I knew that I was different. For the first time, somebody loved me鈥攏ot because I was fast, not because I was big, not because I was good at football鈥攖here was someone who loved me in spite of me, as I was, and he met me where I was, and I haven鈥檛 been the same since.鈥�  

Two years later, Gray gave his testimony for the first time at an event hosted by King. Afterward, King told him they were going to be best friends. 鈥淲e have learned so much about each other, our different cultures,鈥� King affirmed. 鈥淲e were brought together in common because of our love for Jesus Christ and his church.鈥�  

Gray pointed to a passage in the Bible (Eph. 2:11-22) that talks about how Jesus creates the multi-ethnic family of God. 鈥淛esus Christ, himself, forgives our sins and gives us peace with God,鈥� he explained. 鈥淏ut, regardless of our ethnicities, we already have peace with each other. Jesus, the Lord of the universe, came to make us family, a forgiven family, a redeemed family. If you don鈥檛 see yourself as family and friends, you won鈥檛 advocate for each other.鈥�  

King and Gray gave examples from their past of other pastors and family members who made comments about church segregations and mixed families. Both men have intentionally sought to make their congregations and ministries welcoming to all races.  

Gray also explained why the term 鈥渃olor blessed鈥� is better than being 鈥渃olor blind.鈥� He declared, 鈥淓very ethnic group has the image of God in them, and if I say I鈥檓 color blind, I鈥檓 muting the creative genius of God. I want you to see me. I want you to know my history. We don鈥檛 mute our ethnic distinctions, but our ethnic distinctions are not primary anymore; our in-Christness is primary.鈥�   

Gray and his wife, Vicki, are the co-founders of , a multiethnic, multigenerational, mission-shaped community located in Indian Land, S.C., just south of Charlotte, N.C. King is a teaching pastor at NewSpring Church in Anderson, S.C., and the founder and president of .  

Gray is the best-selling author of four other books on such topics as what Jesus teaches about true happiness, building a multiethnic church, trusting God with your future and the prayer that God always answers. His most recent book is 鈥淗ow to Heal Our Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew, About Racial Reconciliation鈥� (Tyndale, 2022).  

King is a 1995 graduate of 海角网. He is the author of 18 books with Baker, Harvest House and Lifeway Publishers and the winner of the Christian Retailers Association Young Adult Book of the Year Award in 2015 for his True Love Project with Lifeway. Gray wrote the foreword for King鈥檚 recent book, 鈥淩eborn: How Encountering Jesus Changes Everything.鈥� The book shares the compelling stories of 12 broken people who came face-to-face with Jesus in the New Testament and got a second chance at life.  

The program was sponsored by the GWU School of Divinity鈥檚 Pittman Center for Congregational Enrichment. Co-sponsors are the Offices of Christian Life and Service and Diversity and Inclusion.  

Note to our readers: This article reflects the University鈥檚 tuition and fee schedule at the time of publication. Tuition and financial aid policies change annually. For the most up-to-date and accurate information on current tuition rates and financial aid resources, please visit the University鈥檚 official Admissions聽page.

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