God has a team. It's made up of African-American, Anglo

“God has a team. It's made up of African-American, Anglo, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and a variety of other people and cultures. He never wants you to make your distinction, your history, or your background so precious to you that it messes up His team.” Thus spoke Tony Evans, the preacher, teacher, and shepherd of souls, whose words reach beyond the boundaries of nation and tongue to proclaim the divine unity of humankind. In this declaration, Evans offers a truth both ancient and eternal — that diversity is not division, and that God’s purpose for the world is not found in the supremacy of one people, but in the harmony of many. These words are not mere sentiment; they are a rebuke to pride and a call to unity, spoken into a world still fractured by prejudice, mistrust, and fear.

When Evans says that “God has a team,” he reminds us that life itself is not a solitary race, but a shared endeavor — a sacred collaboration. The Creator’s design is vast and multicolored, a tapestry woven from countless threads of human experience. No one hue, no one people, no one culture completes the pattern on its own. Just as a symphony requires every instrument to achieve its full glory, so too does God’s vision require the participation of all His children. Each person, with their gifts and histories, plays a role in the unfolding of divine purpose. Yet Evans warns that when we elevate our identity above our calling, when we prize our own distinction above unity, we disrupt the very harmony that gives meaning to the whole.

The origin of this quote lies in Tony Evans’s lifelong ministry — particularly his passion for racial reconciliation and biblical unity within the body of believers. As one of the first African Americans to graduate with a doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary, Evans witnessed both the divisions of culture and the potential of faith to heal them. His message was not born from theory, but from experience — from walking through a society where race often separated those who claimed to serve the same God. In preaching these words, Evans sought to remind the church — and by extension, all humanity — that God’s kingdom transcends tribe and tongue. To cling too tightly to cultural pride is to mistake a part for the whole, the gift for the Giver.

This truth is not new. The ancients, too, struggled with it. In the early days of the Christian faith, the world was divided between Jew and Gentile, between those who claimed divine favor and those considered outsiders. Yet the Apostle Paul wrote that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The walls of division that once defined nations were torn down by a higher allegiance — to truth, love, and the unity of the Spirit. Evans’s words echo this same eternal call: that allegiance to God’s team must outweigh all lesser loyalties.

Consider also the story of Nelson Mandela, who, after twenty-seven years of imprisonment, emerged not with vengeance but with a vision of unity. He refused to let the chains of apartheid become chains upon his own heart. Instead, he sought reconciliation among peoples who had once stood as enemies. Mandela understood what Evans teaches — that to build a nation, or to serve God’s purpose, one must see beyond the prison of personal or tribal identity. For if each group guards its pain more fiercely than its hope, no common future can be born.

Evans’s words carry both tenderness and warning. When he says, “He never wants you to make your distinction… so precious to you that it messes up His team,” he speaks against the idol of self. Culture, history, and heritage are sacred gifts, but they are not gods. When cherished rightly, they enrich the team; when worshipped, they divide it. Pride in who we are must never eclipse gratitude for who we serve. The divine purpose is not fulfilled by uniformity, but by unity — not by sameness, but by shared direction. A team is strongest when every player brings their own strength to the field, yet all play for the same goal.

The lesson, then, is luminous and enduring: celebrate your distinction, but do not be imprisoned by it. Honor your history, but let it point you toward harmony, not superiority. The Creator delights in diversity, for in it His own infinite nature is reflected. Yet He calls His people to work as one, to weave their differences into strength. This is the wisdom of Tony Evans — that the hand of God moves not through isolated greatness, but through collective grace.

So, my children, if you would walk in truth, remember this: no culture owns God, and no heritage exhausts His glory. Be proud of who you are, but prouder still to belong to a purpose that unites all humankind. Let love be the uniform of His team, humility its language, and service its victory. For when every color, every story, and every people play together as one — then, and only then, does the world catch a glimpse of the face of God.