I had quite an interesting conversation with someone last week in regards to the American church and multi-culturalism. We recognize the existence and strength of something we refer to as the Black church. Does that mean that we should also acknowledge the existence and strength of a White church?
I’m sure that there isn’t often any meaningful conversation in the context of a predominantly Caucasian church in America that has to do with race and culture. In reality, the Caucasian church really just focuses on what they know, which is being White in America. Caucasians have come from so many different countries and just basically blended into one race of people here in America known as Caucasian. Even though the ethnic culture may be unique (Germans vs Irish vs French, etc.) everyone seems to be comfortable in their own skin, worshiping together in church. However, when it comes to being multi-cultural, the conversation goes to reaching people of any ethnicity outside of the Caucasian Christian group, yet invariably ends up meaning, “We’d like more African-Americans in our mostly White church.”
While White America owns the right to being the majority and therefore setting the cultural rules in the US, ethnic minorities are all trying to stake their claim to their identities within this White, American culture. Some will choose to blend in, while others rebel and holdout for something that acknowledges their ethnicity and recognizes that in the worship setting.
Being that I’m Asian-American, I can really only speak with any authority on that perspective. I think most Asian-Americans would be uncomfortable worshiping in the context of being multi-cultural with Hispanics and African-Americans. Rather than embrace the beauty of diversity, I think we Asians want to seek the refuge of a worship environment where people look like us and share a similar heritage/culture.
If we as Asians want to isolate ourselves and worship only with people that look like ourselves because we feel that we are owed the right to express our ethnicity in our Christ-likeness, then why should we be critical of American church that is predominantly White?
There is a saying within the church that “like attracts like.” In other words, if a pastor is Caucasian, then he/she will attract other Caucasians. If a pastor is Asian, he/she will only attract Asians. That once a worship gathering starts to build momentum, non-Whites will feel uncomfortable incorporating into a White congregation and Whites will feel uncomfortable joining into an ethnic-centered congregation, be it Asian, Latin, Black, etc.
If like attracts like within the church, what about people like CNN’s Soledad O’Brien? We think we have it bad trying to figure out the answer to meeting the needs of incorporating ethnic culture into the church, what do we when people are of diverse races such as Soledad, whose father was Irish and Scottish from Australia, and her mother is Afro-Cuban. As Soleded described herself in this CNN.com article:
I have a mass of kinky hair, light brown skin and lots of freckles. I’m black and Cuban, Australian and Irish, and like most people in America, I’m someone whose roots come from somewhere else. I’m a mixed race, first-generation American.
How do we, as the church, not only connect with someone so culturally diverse as Soledad O’Brien, but how do we present ourselves in a relevant way if we are either Caucasian or Asian in our makeup? How does someone of mixed-race identify with the church? Should it only be the responsibility of the White church in America to reach out to people of mixed-race? In actuality, should any of us take responsibility for crossing ethnic/cultural boundaries?
Will God bring every nation and every tongue together at the appointed time, or should we feel commissioned to integrate all Christians into a unified body of believers all worshiping together today, because that will be the true reflection of heaven? As a corporate body of spirit in heaven, will we even identify with race and heritage at the appointed time?
These are the kinds of issues I feel compelled to investigate as I seek to find my place within the Body of Christ as someone who is externally Asian, yet internally I relate more to White American culture with aspects of myself that respond strongly to African-American gospel music and having a heart for mi familia like my Hispanic brothers and sisters. When I read the CNN.com article from Soledad O’Brien she portrays such peace and comfort at who she is, while feeling some strain from the African-American and Latino community to represent them proudly. In the end, she is neither. In the end, she is just Soledad O’Brien, the uniquely beautiful person God created her to be, that even though she is a person of color, has been able to be comfortable with the perspective of many living under that skin. While there will always be first generation people bringing their culture into the US and having difficulty assimilating, our multi-cultural nation will be constantly evolving into a whole new culture that we may completely miss out on by being so immersed with how to deal with the various cultural perspectives in the church today. Sometimes, for guys like me that are conflicted in the conversation of the American church today, it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In the end, it really doesn’t seem so black and white, yellow or brown. It just seems to be kind of muddy, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.
I’m all for leveraging all things for the kingdom of God! However, I’m confused at the whole idea of having an identity as an Asian-American in Christ being separate from my overall identity within Christ. I’ve been involved in dialog with many other Asian-American’s that truly believe that there is a cultural context to their Christianity and that it is lacking within the 2nd & 3rd generation Asian-American body of Christ. That Asian ethno-centric churches will have a solid ministry to 1st generation people from Korea, Vietnam and China yet bring in non-Asians to lead english language ministries for the 2nd & 3rd generation therefore disengaging from their Asian culture and supplanting them within a Caucasian America culture. Thus, they lose their identity and wander around confused and feel out of place.
