multi-cultural

church / diversity / multi-cultural / multi-cultural church — No Comments
20
Sep 11

In the church, diversity is mostly a misnomer

[This is a continuation of a previous post titled "In the church, ethnic diversity is meaningless," which you can read here.]

Continuing with my perspective on church diversity, let me start off with the three positions the local church takes on diversity (or lack of):

  1. The church should be racially diverse because heaven is diverse.
  2. The church should be relevant to one’s own culture where people can explore the context of their culture relative to the context of Jesus’ culture.
  3. We want to be a church to all people, where everyone feels welcome.

These days it’s hard to escape diversity. We find people of different races and economic levels in the: workplace, school yard, and suburban neighborhood. Yet, in the local church, diversity is tough to come by. Should our local church reflect of the demographics of our neighboring community? I think it should. That goes along with points 1 & 3 above. So, for the purposes of this post, I am going to save point 2 for a third post and focus on points 1 & 3.

We are led to believe, as Christians, that heaven is a place where we will find people from all nations. As we walk out our driveways and look down the street we will probably see people of various ethnicities and varying income levels. So, if we are called to see heaven here on earth the local church should be diverse in its makeup. If we are to be a diverse church in our community, then we have to strive to make all people welcome. Makes sense, right?

I argue that diversity, for the sake of being a colorful congregation is just a facade. It’s something put in place to make congregants feel like they are being cosmopolitan and for ministry leaders to put a feather in their cap. I won’t say that it is all done in the name of vanity, but if you really break down the effect of diversity on the church, what do we accomplish by encouraging it? If everyone in your Sunday church service closed their eyes, would the effect of diversity really have any meaning?

You see, I am not a fan of diversity. What I am is an advocate for infusing culture into the local church. I believe that when we are in a church gathering and we were to close our eyes, that we could feel culture--and its influence on our lives--regardless of the skin color or job title of those around us. To me, beauty is not skin deep. In fact, I contend that our true beauty can only be realized when we get to know what lies under ones skin.

Not only is understanding other people’s culture relevant when it comes to ministering to them, but I say that it is more important for us to take the opportunity to learn their culture for the sake of making us better people. Offering different styles of music or having colorful faces in leadership in the church has no bearing on who the church it is. It may influence some to come so they don’t feel like standouts, but it doesn’t have much impact on us as a gospel community.

If we use the epistles as a reference, we can easily see that each church Paul wrote letters to was praised or admonished differently. They each battled different idols and ideals and were written to differently as a result. We don’t just align ourselves with one of the churches in the New Testament and then say that we will only learn what Paul taught from that particular Epistle. We take each Epistle into account and learn the context of each church and therefore understand why Paul wrote to each individually. We should do the same thing when it comes people of other cultures. Only when we get to know people deeper than what we see on the surface, can we truly be connected and stand alongside them. Only when I see you reach out to me to learn about my culture, will I truly believe that you care about me, rather than desire to see my Japanese face added to the mix of your congregation to confirm that you have your good deed. It is culture, not diversity, that will cause us to grow and become more beautiful as people.

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church / church relevance / culture / diversity / multi-cultural / multi-cultural church — 4 Comments
15
Sep 11

In the church, ethnic diversity is meaningless

I’ve made many, many attempts to engage people in a continuing dialog about racial diversity and cultural diversity within the local church. There seems to be three camps within church circles these days:

  1. The church should be racially diverse because heaven is diverse.
  2. The church should be relevant to one’s own culture where people can explore the context of their culture relative to the context of Jesus’ culture.
  3. We want to be a church to all people, where everyone feels welcome.

The problem with scenario number 1 is that diversity for the sake of coloring a room to give it the appearance of heaven, isn’t really heaven. Think about it. When you walk into a church gathering and see a lot of races represented, is it truly any different than if you walk into a room with only people that look like you? Is the music any different? Is the perspective of the message any different? What do you take away from a room filled with people of different races vs a room filled with only your own? Maybe pride that you’ve done a good thing?  Aside from that, you have gained--nor learned--nothing.

Scenario number 2 is most often used in the context of an ethnic church such as: Spanish, Chinese, Russian, etc. However, it does apply to the White American church as well. Growing up in Mexico, China, or Russia comes with a different set of cultures than growing up in America. Certain practices/customs/viewpoints/taboos are going to be different than here in the United States. As people migrate to our nation, should we force our culture on them from day one? Do we make them feel unwelcome in the land known as the melting pot of people? Not only do these issues conflict with culture, but they also conflict with faith. One’s faith as practiced in Korea is probably not going to look like ones faith as practiced in Tennessee. Gathering in this manner can lead to exclusion, which leads to inclusion. That’s he problem with this scenario.

Number 3 is like the Disneyland of churches. Most conversations I’ve had with pastors and church planters describes their ideal view of this scenario. A church of diversity, both in race and social/economic class. A church where the alcoholic can worship next to the millionaire and everyone can experience love and grace. I know churches like this do exist in some communities, but what can one learn from such an experience? Just because you enter a room with people that do not look like you, that can afford more or less than you, that speak different languages than you, what difference does it really make?

We’ll never escape any of these three scenarios. Each has some merit and will have those people drawn to gather within those contexts. As I continue this topic in my next blog post, I will argue that what we want to gain from each of these can only truly be found when we get past race and learn to embrace culture. It’s what the first century church did, and I believe it’s what the twenty-first century church must do.

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book review / Christianity / diversity / evangelism/outreach / multi-cultural — 4 Comments
4
Aug 10

Book Review: Not Like Me by Eric Bryant

Not Like Me: A Field Guide for Influencing A Diverse World is a reprint of Eric Michael Bryant‘s previous book titled Peppermint-Filled Pinatas. I did not read the first release so I am not sure how it is different, but I do know that in the form of Not Like Me, this book is like gold! There is so much in here to take away and apply that it could easily take me a year (or probably more) to get through all of it. Apparently, I’m not alone as Eric has provided small groups resources and teaching materials from the book’s website: http://notlikeme.org/.

Pastor Bryant shares his own personal stories and incorporates a lot of humor in a way that helps break down defenses and makes us want to connect with this book in a more personal level. It’s exactly the type of thing Bryant advocates for us as Christians--and as the church--to do with those we encounter outside of Christian community. He calls us to help overcome the Christian stereotypes that unchurched people tend to have of churched people. In doing so, he wants us to understand that we must hold others in a new light--that which does not include judgement. As Eric writes, “We [Christians] have created an environment where we are seen as judgmental, irrelevant, mean, and hypocritical.” and “We should not be surprised when people who have not surrendered their lives to God live differently [than we Christians should].” In order to see this happen, Bryant’s answer is to practice “the art of woo.” It is through this “art of woo” that Pastor Eric unfolds a story of how we might learn to develop diverse communities, resolve conflict, overcome bitterness, create a better future, and even heal our fractured world. “Wouldn’t it be amazing,” Eric asks in the introduction, “if as followers of Christ we found ourselves as part of the solution in our divided world rather than as part of the problem? In the end, don’t people matter most?”

Sharing stories and ideas on realizing diversity within the church and reaching those that do not know Christ in a relevant way, Not Like Me is a training manual of sorts. It’s a book written by someone that has accomplished all that he offers to teach us. As a pastor and influencer of Mosaic--a diverse and amazing community that seeks to follow (and be more like) Christ with services that are in various locations such as a nightclub--Eric Bryant is someone who lives what he preaches. His heart for seeing diverse communities of Gospel love, compassion, and grace is big. Eric gets why it’s important to celebrate cultural diversity and why the church must be about loving others more so than becoming a shelter filled with Christians trying to escape from the world that doesn’t know Christ.

Thanks to Zondervan and Eric Bryant for allowing me the opportunity and privilege of being a part of the Not Like Me: A Field Guide for Influencing a Diverse World blog tour. It is with great passion and enthusiasm that I will continue to refer to the pages and apply the things that Eric graciously shares for communicating and building community with those around me, especially those not like me.

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3rd culture / multi-cultural / racism — 9 Comments
9
Jun 10

All white people are racist

I’ve been tracking the feedback on Toyota’s ad campaign for their Sienna Minivan. They made a commercial featuring a white, suburban family performing a rap parody. Some find it funny. Some find it offensive. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the video titled “Swagger Wagon”:

After watching it and contemplating my thoughts, I must admit that while I don’t see it as blatantly offensive, like as if they used the N-word thoughout the song, I do see it being offensive.

Unfortunately, my lens that I see the world through may be different than yours because I’m Japanese. I grew up having people hate me just because I looked different. After having people call me derogatory names that didn’t even apply to who I was--as if I were Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, Native American, etc.--I realized it had nothing to do with me personally, but it had everything to do with the fact that I was not white. So, when people do something that in essence mocks another race/culture/subset then I generally take offense to it. In reality, I rarely see anything overtly done in an offensive manor to African-Americans due to all of the public dialog that has transpired, but I see a lot of subtle racism against African-Americans all the time. I am in the camp that believes there is more to the “Swagger Wagon” video than some other may see at surface level.

After having said this, I will admit that there there are things that will have a similar sense of mockery towards other cultures, such as the movie Malibu’s Most Wanted featuring Jamie Kennedy, the son of a white politician in Malibu that acts as if he were a black rap star living in Compton. However, in watching the movie the mockery is really on Kennedy and the fact that he can never know what it’s like to be a black rap star. The movie doesn’t portray African-Americans as deserving to be mocked. In the end, there are redemptive qualities that reveal why one can be proud of their African-American heritage and why they could (and possibly should) take offense to someone like Kennedy’s character. However, I don’t see any of this in the Toyota commercial. I see it as a sense of trying to take away something that isn’t theirs. Using African-American hip-hop culture as the butt of jokes with Caucasians being the only ones laughing. Think about it. Who actually drives a Toyota Sienna minivan? Yes, it’s mostly a white, suburban, soccer mom demographic. Therefore, that’s exactly who this ad is targeted towards. It’s not a serious attempt at hip-hop such as from Eminem or Mark Wahlberg. No, it’s mockery at its subtle finest. Let’s white, suburban family earning $60,000+ a year have a laugh at the expense of blacks and their hip-hop culture and at the same time somehow find a cool factor in this video. Had the video shown a Sienna with 24″ chrome wheels and the dad been drinking gin from a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag in his left hand while sporting a 9mm pistol in his right hand, I still think white suburbia would laugh, but the rest of us would realize it wasn’t funny at all. Notice how they also seem to go back and forth in their personas--when doing rap they use different voice and posture than when asking each other, “Honey, where are the kids?” There is just enough stereotype missing to be deceptive, yet enough in such things as the arm movements during the rap, throwing dice, and rope chain around the mom’s neck to realize they’re using stereotypes of urban African-Americans in the hip-hop culture. To me, almost every time stereotypes are used, it’s underlying intent is racist…even if only in a subconscious level.

As someone who isn’t a typical white, suburban dad I will agree that I am probably a little more sensitive than you. With all of the prejudice I have faced in my life, I am not bitter or angry. I don’t resent “the man” and I oppose affirmative action. I mean heck, Toyota is a Japanese company and obviously I can’t be racist about people from my own ethnicity, but it’s typical target marketing at the expense of people outside of that target market and I’m not a fan. You won’t find me blasting Toyota and white suburban people that find the video amusing and may even ultimately go buy a Sienna as a result, but I do feel like you should at least know my perspective and why it is offensive. Maybe some day you’ll learn to respect all people, not just those that look like you do, and realize that they have value and deserve respect, not mockery though stereotypes.

For a different view, here is a blog post from James Edwards who shares the perspective that no matter is done, all white people are racist in the eyes of non-whites. For the record, I obviously believe this not to be true: http://bit.ly/b0NAzE

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3rd culture / church / multi-cultural / multi-cultural church / people — 6 Comments
24
Dec 09

3rd Culture Thursday: Multi-Cultural vs Third Culture

There is a lot of talk about being multi-cultural in the church. For some that is a great thing, and for others it puts too much emphasis on race as opposed to who the church should serve. The interesting thing is, the idea of multi-culturalism is mainly thought of only within the predominantly Caucasian church in America. Additionally, when most white church members think of being multi-cultural, the first thought is accepting African-Americans into the congregation, as opposed to Asians or Hispanics. Go outside of the context of the predominantly white church in America and you will rarely hear any discussion about being multi-cultural. What does this say about our church in America?

One of the most common phrases I heard repeated during my time at seminary was, “Sunday’s are the most segregated day of the week.” in reference to churches. Our communities are becoming diverse, our workplace is diverse, yet our churches are not. Why is that so?

I think to be a church of a majority really does a great injustice to those in the minority. It causes those not in the majority to feel uncomfortable. You can cite all of the cases you want of how your church has some diversity in it and that no one looks at the color of another person’s skin--that you all just get along as one happy family. However, in reality, there is a conflict brewing inside of those that are not like the majority.

Let me give you an illustration to consider: You are craving Chinese food so you head over to your favorite, local restaurant only to find it has changed. The sign outside is now written in Chinese. You walk in the door and are greeted to a familiar face you’ve seen before, only she is now welcoming you in Chinese. You head over to your usual table and are handed a menu written only in Chinese. You look around and everyone else in the restaurant is Chinese. The waiter comes over and asks for your order…in Chinese. How do you feel? Uncomfortable? Strange? Displaced? Knowing that you really, really like the food at this restaurant, what do you do? Do you risk trying to explain in English to someone that keeps responding in Chinese? I think what you’d do is go back to your car and go to your second-favorite Chinese restaurant and hope that they still speak English there. In essence, the white church in America is like that Chinese restaurant, but they just don’t realize it. Everything is about the white culture, yet the invitation to reach out to people of other ethnicities is always given. The white church expects those in the minority to come in and assimilate into the existing, predominant culture--like the Chinese restaurant--yet makes no gestures to try and understand the perspective of the minority culture. It’s like the white church says, “Please come to our party. We’ll have music, but you can’t request any songs. We’ll have food, but only if you like meatloaf. We’ll be mingling, but mostly with people we know already.” This is the reality of multi-culturalism. It’s diversity for the sake of looking pretty, but with no respect to the other cultures you are inviting.

Third culture, on the other hand, is not really about attracting people for the sake of looking pretty. It’s about learning more about people of other cultures and finding how we can live life together. It goes much deeper than the color of someone’s skin. It goes to the core of who they are and how they are different. It’s an exploration into why God made us all uniquely individual, coming from different nations to be joined together at that very moment in time. It becomes more of a celebration of us individually and how we can come together collectively in a way that honors God. It lets us be free in the color of our skin and have some security in appreciating our differences rather than seek to homogenize us into the majority. As the working definition from Dave Gibbons of third culture is: “the mindset and will to love, learn and serve in any culture even in the midst of pain and discomfort.” It entails some pain and discomfort.

Continuing with the illustration of the Chinese restaurant. When you go back to your second favorite restaurant and find everyone still speaks English and the food tastes like you remember, you’ll soon come to reflect on why this is your second favorite Chinese restaurant. Either you go on eating average food or you make an attempt to understand some of the language and customs of the people of your favorite Chinese restaurant and begin a process that will allow you be able to eat your favorite food once again. However, as much as you may go through the pain and discomfort of trying to learn the Chinese language and culture at the restaurant, you will most-likely find that they will begin doing the same with you. They will begin to pick up on some of your customs and language. Once you make a commitment to try to learn and better-understand the ways of the Chinese restaurant, the more those in the Chinese restaurant warm up to you rather than look at you as an outsider.

Third culture in the church is a process that begins with a mindset. It takes work, perseverance, steadfastness, and a willingness to get through whatever it takes for the sake of celebrating those things that we don’t know. If we as the church are willing to make some sacrifices in our comfort and not fear the day when we become the minority, but instead choose to celebrate all that outside cultural influences have played in creating this great nation and all that will continue to happen as we embrace each other’s pain and look forward to a better tomorrow, the future will be very bright. Otherwise, the only pain will be the result of internal struggles we all have that never have the chance to come to the surface. This is a pain that shouldn’t be required for us to endure. It’s a pain that can only ultimately be resolved through having the will to love, learn, live, and serve in differing environments that will bring about a reconciliation amongst us, not just a visible patchwork of skin colors.

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