Don’t Pursue Multi-ethnic or Multicultural Ministry Without Asking These Questions: Part 5

I'm continuing this blog series, but I need to pick up the pace.  Rather than one question each post I will group them until I exhaust my questions.  In any case, these are the prior questions (and you can find the posts below):  

Part 1 - "What is our church’s track record with Otherness in our community?"  

Part 2 - "Do we see those with different languages, cultures and beliefs as a threat to cohesiveness in our community?" 

Part 3 - "How does God want us to relate to Others in our neighborhood?"

Part 4 - "If mission among our Neighbors is biblical (and not just recently biblical with the sudden interest in ‘missional’ ministry), why are we not already in relationship with Others in our midst?"

Part 5: 

>What in our church life and practice has prevented us from living in relationship with Others in our community?

Frankly, we don’t care about ‘them’, we care only for ‘us’.  The bottom line is that we don’t really believe Others can contribute any value to my life.  We don’t believe we need those who are unlike me.  While we may be curious about exotic ways, enjoy ‘ethnic’ music and appreciate interesting differences, we still assume that all we need for life can be found through ‘our own kind’.  This is the subtle danger of the ‘heart language and culture’ motif, for it undermines the biblical reality of The Body.  We gut the meaning when we only teach that differing spiritual gifts are in view.  No, we need each other...because each gift is embodied in a person and a culture.  If we need the gift, then we need the person, her culture, her history, her story, her life!  This brings the kingdom unity for which our Lord prayed in John 17...for unity has no meaning apart from diversity.

>What would such scrutiny entail for a congregation contemplating a move toward multicultural ministry? 

We first recognize that we are called to be someone new, not merely to do something new.  We then confess our sin of indifference, which is ‘hate’ by another word, because it is less that the love we are commanded to give our Neighbor.  Scripture does not allow us to justify a ‘not love/not hate’ reality; let’s call it for what it is, the sin of indifference.  Secondly, we recognize that each one is my Neighbor to love, a gift for my life, for our community, because each one is uniquely loved by our Lord.