While Promise Keepers events had only a 7 percent non-white attendance in 1994, its leaders have an apparently genuine commitment to ethnic diversity. The challenge to Promise Keepers is the same challenge that faces the evangelical church at large. In order to achieve genuine reconciliation, it must move beyond the safe boundaries of the suburbs and make more than token efforts to reach into the major ethnic population centers-more than just soup kitchen duty or mission trips to the inner city. It will require a solidarity with the economic struggles, the political imbalance, and the abuse of ethnic cultures, and perhaps even a change in the lifestyle of most who attend the rallies-which may be more than most are looking for. Perhaps the most difficult area of retro thinking for Promise Keepers lies in the relationship with women.
Leadership becomes corrupt.
And eventually, an entire nation crumbles. But when men remember God, something extraordinary happens. The implication is, Thanks for holding the reins, little lady, but I'll take over now. One of Promise Keepers' major goals must become resisting this type of thinking, or their more constructive message will be lost. If the Promise Keepers movement really wants to make a contribution, it must look to the future, not the past, for its models.