The real question is why wouldn’t you? The church tends to follow patterns that have clearly led to growth and decline over the past 2,000 years. Trends change, people change, cultural influences dictate change…eventually the church changes as well. Unfortunately for the church, we tend to be reactive rather than proactive. It leaves us playing catch up and going through a lot of pain in the interim.
With all sociologists in agreement, the United States will have no majority ethnic culture/race by the year 2050. However, here in California, the expectation is that Hispanics will become the majority population by 2020…that’s just 10 years from now! We can look amongst ourselves and see the predominant culture in our churches and believe we are poised to be healthy, large and growing forever, or we can step back and realize that at least in California, by 2020 we won’t be the majority culture in our cities.
In addition to the rising population of Hispanics, did you know that 40% of all Asians in the United States live in California? For those of you not in California, it still means that 60% of all Asians in America live in other states, so they have or will have some impact on the cultural makeup of your city.
Here in Sacramento, one of the big influences I have been seeing is that of Russian culture coming into the city. Recently this group of caucasian people have really begun shaping a lot of the culture here. There are many large Russian congregations and we even have Russian food restaurants. To go with the change, I’ve noticed that at least 1/3 of the items stocked at the local Asian grocery store are now Russian. While these people may blend in at the local church because they are white, culturally they are not your average Sacramentan. They have a different cultural heritage and are bringing its influence into our city unlike anything I’ve experienced in the past 39 years I’ve lived here.
You see, with everyone around you coming from a different cultural background, it’s easy to go about being the church of the majority while you’re the majority. When the day comes that you are not the majority, what do you do? When the mantra of being racially diverse in your church never materializes, yet you see new churches all around you that are not just diverse racially, but diverse culturally, do you move to join them or hang onto to your dying ways as the new minority?
To repeat Dave Gibbon’s definition of third culture (which i use solely for the standpoint of the local church): “Third culture is the mindset and will to love, learn and serve in any culture even in the midst of pain and discomfort.” there is pain and discomfort that comes with being a third culture church. You have to set aside some things you like for the sake of experiencing other cultures. Without pain and discomfort, rarely is growth possible. We all chant about how Christ has transformed us and that we love everyone because he first loved us. However, when we are an inclusive group of people trying to invite others that looks like us to our party, yet we play only the music we like, only serve the food and beverages we enjoy, talk about the suburbia which we worked hard to obtain, how can we expect others to connect with what we are selling? Yes, when we talk about reaching other people yet do not change to make room for them, we are selling them a bill of goods that isn’t very tasty. We are the salt that has lost its saltiness.
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Hi Dave,
That’s a great post on third culture. The answer for me is that Jesus lives and breathes third culture.
Jesus, the King of Kings, come down from his throne, to live as a man among a broken world. To die as a servant. A shameless death on the cross. In order to purchase those who kill Him in the first place. (Phillippians 2:5-11)
And we see that into those neighbors who we love in the Good Samaritan. Find someone who is not like you, who is the opposite of you. In fact, who you hate and you love them unconditionally.
Such is a novel way to live in a culture that prime itself on comfort, entertainment and luxury. The irony and almost mysterious is that those who grasp what Jesus calls for and is moved by the Holy Spirit have more joy even in the midst of suffering and discomfort.
You know what Jesus say about those salt that lost its saltiness…ouch :O
Cliff, I agree with you that Jesus was in a third culture world. As we were all created in his likeness, we should be too.