Author and CEO of the Cinnamon Network, Matt Bird, considers what God is doing and how we can join in.

Emily: What, in your opinion, are the ingredients to go into a really healthy relationship between community, different areas of society, civic centres and all of that?

Matt: In the book there's a chapter that I call 'God's transformation strategy'. You might read the chapter heading and think "Oh my goodness what is this big, big strategy?" And actually the strategy is very simple. God's transformation strategy is one word, it's love, because it's love in relationships, acceptance in relationships, inclusion in relationships, a love that doesn't have a condition or an end or a string attached to it, but a love that is extravagant and abundant. I believe that is God's strategy for transformation.

You know, if as churches we can love one another and be one, if as churches we can love everybody who walks through our doors, if as churches we can orientate ourselves not to our own internal community, but to the community around us, then this is love, this is God's big plan for the world.

Jesus was the ultimate expression of love and his sacrifice for us. So for me at the heart of what makes relationships work is love and sacrifice and preferment for the other and seeing the world from other people's perspective and behaving accordingly.

Emily: Where does more work need to be done still in society?

Matt: Racial integration! I was just talking today with a group of people about the racial divides that still exist in our communities. There was some research last year that said that our country is becoming more racially diverse, but our cities are becoming more racially segregated, because when people of other races move into a community sometimes white people move out. They call it 'white flight'.

There's racism in us all really and prejudice within us all, and this is an area where we need to accept people as God accepts people, regardless of the differences that exist between us.

There's a chapter in my book called 'Salt and pepper', because it tells the story of two friends from two different worlds racially and how they introduced each other to each other's worlds and this is me and my friend, Wayne. There's a big area where we need to really experience revival of love and that is getting over the racial divides that exist in our communities.

Emily: So how can we practically start to do that?

Matt: There's only one way to make it work and that is you have to be intentional about building what I call 'unlikely relationships'. You have to be deliberate about building relationships with people that aren't like you. It's not just going to happen; you're not just going to suddenly wake up one day and realise you have a really diverse racially mixed group of friends.

So the only way to build racial integration and community cohesion is if we are deliberate about building relationships with people not like us.

Emily: You've written this book, it's great that it's now out, but what is it that you feel is so important about the message, that you've written into the book, that has got to be shared with people?

Matt: For me, it's how the church works. If the church works, it transforms the community in which it worships and lives.

Just ask yourself the question "What does my community look like with my church and what would my community look like without my church?" And if there's no difference, your church may as well not be there. For me that's the heart of the book. It's saying if the Church is real and vibrant in this community, this community will be better because of the Church's presence in its midst.