Don’t Pursue Multi-ethnic or Multicultural Ministry Without Asking These Questions: Part 6

It's time to wrap up this series on key questions involved when contemplating multicultural ministry, so the next two postings will finish the most critical questions...though, I'm certain I'll continue to grow my list.  Do you out there have any suggestions?

Here are the prior questions with their links:  

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

Here are the questions for Part 6:

>Can we presume to be ready for a multicultural ministry when we have only had homogeneous church experiences?

Imagining a multicultural trajectory, or harboring dissatisfaction with monocultural churches, does not mean that we are prepared for the challenges and skills necessary for multicultural ministry.  Where we are determines what we see.  This is consistent literally, for where we actually live shapes our conception and opinion of where and how others live.  Likewise, our ethnicity, upbringing, traditions, education, politics, experiences and exposures all contribute to what we see (and don’t see).  We are a product of what we have known…even if we are in contention with that paradigm.  Therefore, we cannot presume to be ready to lead in multicultural ministry just because we desire it. 

>What is the outcome we envision for ministry among diverse peoples in our community?

Any effective endeavor must begin with a clear vision of the outcome.  If one’s understanding of the outcome is incomplete, the processes one employs to reach the outcome will be equally incomplete.  Therefore, the question, “What will it take for us to reach ­­­­so-n-so people in our community?” usually means an outcome vision based upon a pre-determined, homogeneous church planting model.  However, our communities in the USA are exponentially multicultural, as well as socially and spiritually complex.  Thus, a mature missional vision asks, “How does God desire that his kingdom flourish here, right now?”  Instead of us presuming that it is our calling to ‘reach’ ______ people, we are recognizing that God’s kingdom narrative for a particular time and context involves a multitude of considerations, actors, and roles, many of which we are unaware (and which may not even include us!).  If we are truly seeking to be who God calls us to be in space and time, then we will be seeking to understand the story he is writing in a given context.

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. 

Don’t Pursue Multi-ethnic or Multicultural Ministry Without Asking These Questions: Part 4

This blog series presents a series of questions which arose out of a recent visit with two prospective church planters.  My initial intent was to post a new question each week...well, extensive travel in October/November blew that program out of the water.  So much for good intentions.  In any case, these are the prior questions:  

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?"

Question 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?  

 

If we have come to conclude that multicultural body life is an accurate representation of biblical character, we must acknowledge as well that it has always been biblical!  This begs the question, if a multicultural congregational character is biblical, then why is our church not already diverse?  In other words, what are the pathologies in our church which have kept us from this vision and perspective up until now? 

There are three realms of abiding denial—racialization, cascading demographic change, and Christian segregation—realities which American churches rarely acknowledge...except in conversations of economic and political alarm.  And we wonder why there is such missional paralysis in our churches!  These “elephants” trample around us daily while our indifference cloisters us from social realities.  John Perkins aptly challenged, “Can a gospel that reconciles people to God, and not people to people, be the gospel of Jesus Christ?”  Absolutely not!  But, our friendship networks tell a different story...  Much more can be said, but not now.  However, I will leave you with an thought provoking series on racialization from Paul Louis Metzger.

Don’t Pursue Multi-ethnic or Multicultural Ministry Without Asking These Questions: Part 3

This blog series presents a series of questions which arose out of a recent visit with two prospective church planters.  In Part 1 I explained the background to these questions and a presented the first question, "What is our church’s track record with Otherness in our community?"  Part 2 addressed this question: Do we see those with different languages, cultures and beliefs as a threat to cohesiveness in our community?   Which leads us to the third question: 

Question #3: How does God want us to relate to Others in our neighborhood? 

As people to people!  Relating to Others in your neighborhood/community means pursuing relationship, which means spending time together, pursuing friendship.  Are we willing to take the time necessary to get to know our Neighbors?  We are called to reciprocate in hospitality, serve one another, care about each other’s lives...in other words, living as humans together in relationship—incarnating the love of the One who ‘Neighbored’ us.  Usually, we are more concerned about our agenda—‘helping’ them, evangelizing them, organizing them—than actually befriending and loving as Neighbors to Neighbors.  Often, the most we want is occasional participation in some compassion delivery system.  But, our mandate is to love fully and completely with Christ as our standard.    How are we doing in this area…especially as it relates to other Christians?   Our Neighbors...are they scenery? (to ‘color’ my world) are they machinery? (those who do the things I need) or are they people? (like me, created in God’s image)  

Don’t Pursue Multi-ethnic or Multicultural Ministry Without Asking These Questions: Part 2

Last week I began a blog series reflecting on a series of questions which arose out of a recent visit with two prospective church planters.  In Part 1 I explained the background to these questions and a presented the first question, "What is our church’s track record with Otherness in our community?"  Which leads us to the second question:

Question #2: Do we see those with different languages, cultures and beliefs as a threat to cohesiveness in our community?   

Let’s face it many Americans (i.e. those whose immigrant past has faded from present consciousness) have a basic discomfort about the validity of distinct cultures to exist in America without rapid assimilation.   Often there is disconnect between political/economic reservations and outreach motivations which often lead congregations to employ an ‘Evangelism Plus’ mentality.  In other words, not only do they need ‘the gospel’, but they also need to become more like us so that we can all live together.  (The subtext is 'if you become more like me then that makes me more comfortable'.)  Such expectations not only violate the meaning of “love your neighbor,” but they also reveal ethnocentric possessiveness which forgets there is nothing we have that we haven’t been given.  The way of Christ is to love and accept people, any person, as they are, and for who they are.   Recognize and repudiate our tendency to lump people in categories—whether it be economic, political, religious, ethnic, generational, lifestyle—and treat them accordingly, with pre-determined attitudes and arguments.  We are to not sin when it comes to people and identity; such as, realizing that actions may be ‘illegal’, but people are not...therefore, to call a person illegal is to dehumanize someone who an image bearer of God.  

Stay tuned for question #3 next week...

Don’t Pursue Multi-ethnic or Multicultural Ministry Without Asking These Questions: Part 1

A couple weeks ago I met with a couple guys who are seeking to plant a daughter church in a significantly diverse neighborhood.  Their sending church is completely homogeneous (all Euro-American), but they are desiring and expecting that their new church plant will be multi-ethnic/multicultural.  This is commendable, but is it naive? Perhaps.  Because presumption kills. 

These fellows came asking for any advice I could give them, but, before extending advice, there were critical questions they needed to ask of themselves.  Key, critical questions which determine how ready and prepared one is for intercultural ministry in a multicultural context.  So, this blog series will introduce the questions I asked of these two church planters and why I asked them.

“Don’t Pursue Multi-ethnic/Multicultural Ministry Without Asking These Questions...”

In recent years scores of pastors have shared their excitement about launching into multi-ethnic/multicultural ministry.  As one who coaches churches in this direction of ministry, I find these conversations usually begin with a series of questions...How do we reach them, or this neighborhood?  What do we do to get started?  How much time does it take?  What resources do we need?  All good questions, but are they the right questions?  When a new ministry vision takes root we naturally gravitate toward organization and implementation; besides, how else would anything get done?  On the other hand, if implementation strategies dominate our planning, then we are presuming that we are ready to pursue this vision.

Any business owner considering a new sector of business opportunity wouldn't dream of diving into a new arena without the due diligence necessary to have a clear picture of what the initiative will mean for every angle of the company.  While I am reluctant to compare church with business (I think there is already far too much of the latter in the former...) However, this ‘due diligence’ concept is a great analogy.

The motivator behind due diligence is the need for caution in the face of an unknown arena, and the list of questions above indicates a significant bloc of inexperience in this sphere of church life and ministry.  While the above questions are not wrong, they are misplaced, premature.  What they reveal is that any church asking such ‘implementation first’ questions likely doesn't have much experience with Otherness.  Appropriate due diligence begins with the right questions, and, they begin with us.

Question #1: What is our church’s track record with Otherness in our community?

Multi-ethnic/multicultural ministry involves engaging the Other, those who are alien to my life experience and networks—it is my ‘them’.  First, there is the neighbor Other, those who occupies my same community spaces, and who may be a recent newcomer, or not.  What makes ‘them’ Other to me is the gulf of life and culture between us.  Far too often, these ‘neighbor Others’ are also the ‘invisible Others’…the ‘unconsidered ones’ who populate the fringes of my awareness. 

In biblical terms, we should read Otherness as “my Neighbor;” the object of the second of two commands which summarize God’s heart for people—love God, love Neighbor.  Far too often we read only incidental immediacy in ‘my neighbor’, as in, ‘my near neighbor who is in need’.  However, Jesus’ reference in Luke 10 draws from Leviticus 19 which teaches God’s people to love “strangers among you,” and “your neighbor as yourself” because they are just like you were, aliens in a strange land.  Why?  because strangers—Others—are the hardest Neighbors’ to love!  Besides, since anyone can be your neighbor, everyone is your neighbor.  Jesus is saying, ‘love the one you are least likely to love’…with all the alacrity and sacrifice we expect for ourselves.  Attitudes and behaviors toward Others flow from beliefs and assumptions we hold about the Other.   Are ‘us’ and ‘them’ clearly understood, if not spoken? 

Lastly, what about the kingdom Others, those who worship and serve our Lord?  We seem oblivious to the reality that—‘if we belong to Jesus, then we belong to those who belong to Jesus’!   What are the implications of this ‘belonging’?   

I'll post question #2 next week...

The Zimmerman verdict and racialization in America

The current blog climate leaves one with the distinct impression that I would be supremely negligent to not weigh in on the topic de jour, the acquittal of George Zimmerman.  My comments, though, address the commentators...pundits and analysts and bloggers.

The bottom line is that the polarization of commentary clearly exhibits the continued and pervasive racialization of American society.  By "racialization" I am not saying that American society is a 'racist' society.   Rather, I mean that race is a constant companion in our society...a factor which has a continually reverberating role.  Not sure you agree? Here are some examples: religion-look at the racial segregation at most places of worship: neighborhoods-segregation is stubbornly present in real estate; economic wealth-as of 2007 median wealth of White families was 20 times greater than Black families; marriage; health; media preferences; life expectancy; politics; loan rates; advertising & marketing; music; and the list goes on and on.  

Racialization is a constant presence in America, and commentary about the Zimmerman verdict reflects this reality.  More specifically, it points to a foundational difference in the way the Zimmerman/Martin tragedy is viewed.  In general, White-Americans tend (and are acculturated as such) to view the altercation and aftermath as the narrative of an individual actor.  Whereas African-Americans tend (and are acculturated as such) to view the situation and the aftermath as a narrative of societal systems.  The lenses are different, therefore, what is seen highlights a different hue.

While the consequences of these different perspectives are numerous, I will highlight two.  The first is the assumption that we all see the situation purely objectively without any sort of filtering.  The truth is, we all filter reality.  Secondly, there is the problem of the relative strength of the narratives.  The systemic narrative is at a disadvantage because the individual actor narrative is the dominant voice.

It is for this reason that I appreciate the thoughts of another blogger, Eugene Cho, who reminds those of us of the dominant voice to stop and listen http://eugenecho.com/2013/07/16/if-our-black-brothers-and-sisters-are-hurting-why-cant-we-just-shut-up-listen-and-mourn-with-them/