Church Diversity Sucks!

I like what Heady said about how embracing will affect our impact on the world. So true.

Two Claps and a {Fist Bump} well said… If the culture does not breed the attitude of embracing, that's where the challenge will be. If the embracing attitude is there then it makes it ok for someon else to indulge in what may be a culturally different church.

Again well said from "The Old Black Church" blogger!

I was born in Hawaii. My mother was Japanese, Hawaiian and Chinese; and my father is Irish, African-American, Puerto Rican, Columbian, Chactau, Cherokee. This kind of racial mixing isn't uncommon in Hawaii. Cultures are celebrated in Hawaii and aren't something kept secret among cultural groups. Anyone can practice the cultures of others and it is encouraged.

Why should it be any different in the church? Why should we allow ourselves to be cut off from each other rather than learning and practicing each others cultures? It's an excuse to be separate. The Church is called to be one Body in Christ. What does it matter if an Irish guys wants to STEP or an African-American girl wants to dance the hula?

Embracing the creativity and expressions of each others cultures makes us healthier people and gives us perspective into the God of the universe who made us all. It's an adventure to see God through eyes of our opposites and a blessing to worship Him in all forms of cultural creativity.

great post scott. framing an article about this concept for a magazine this week.

I agree and I believe we are guilty of using our cultural difference as a way and a reason to continual worshiping separate.
It's hard to separate a people from their culture so, why not embrace and accept our difference and move on with "Kingdom Building".

I agree with david about tolerating. What I see mostly is the "not in my backyard" atitude. Meaning that people are all for providing lip service to it but have a different reaction when "others" come to "their" church. Yes I'm in the South (Chas, SC) and I see it in many different kinds of churches/denominations/locales around here.

I think we need diversity. Diversity of race, socio-economic background, nationality, gifts, talents, attitude. But he is the same God for us all.

Peace.

Great post, pastor. Just my two cents: if we embrace merely for the sake of seemingly being more Christ-like than those who don't, we've missed the point of your discussion. Do we intentionally pursue people who are different than us in order to make a statement, or do we intentionally pursue everyone who needs the gospel of Christ? In other words, do we desire to have a culturally diverse congregation to be novel, or do we have a culturally diverse congregation because our people are reaching out to anyone who breathes?

It's similar to the old "change for the sake of change" mindset. Some people are thrilled to stay where they are, and I see nothing wrong with churches being made up of predominately one race. When my wife and I pastored in south Georgia, we became acquainted with some people from a predominately black congregation. It wasn't long until our congregations began to fellowship with each other on a regular basis. We would pack up and have service with them, and vice versa. It was more than that, too. We were involved in ministry in each others' churches. I was afforded one of the greatest honors of my life when their pastor appreciation committee invited me to be a guest speaker for their event.

My point is this: we can be separate while still embracing other people. We don't need to go out and attract diverse people simply because they are different than us; we do need to embrace other people because they are … people. Hope that makes sense.

good stuff. we need more. i think once the body of christ walks in this we will make a greater impact on the world.

I agree with david and SCbubba. I think we as a church need to embrace diversity but we mostly just live out the tolerance. As a church we need to do something different, not just partner with a church primarily of a different race, once a year for a mission, but to truly become ONE. I have to admit that I would be very guilty of tolerating more than embracing. This is definitely some good food for thought and prayer.
I do have to give props to someone here in Tulsa that really does live out the embrace. Bob Dail.

United By Faith is a terrific book dealing with the history of diversity with a cultural perspective on the Day of Pentecost. The primary idea is that the chuch, that's right I said 'chuch', should model this embracing we're all praying for. Historically the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings seemed to impact the embracing between whites and blacks. It's a very interesting read blending the spiritual and sociological factors that make up the church at large.

Diversity in the church is a reflection of the diversity in the local community, isn't it? If the local community the church draws on for it's congregation is diverse, then won't the church be as well? And vice-versa? While we were on vacation in Orange Beach Alabama, my wife noticed that we hadn't seen a single black person there, except for a couple of cleaning staff people coming out of the Hilton Hotel next to our condo, the entire time we were there. That includes at the Walmart. We did see some Hispanics shopping at the Walmart. This is what I remember from growing up in the south.
Except for the really really white audience at McCain's resignation speech, I didn't notice as much racial division in this election as I expected to see.

It seems to me that tolerating is easy because it doesn't challenge us to change who we are or what we do. If we tolerate diversity, we say "I'm going to do things the way I want to do things, but you're welcome to join in." If we embrace diversity, we have to be prepared to change the non-essentials in a way that invites others in by operating within their comfort zones. For example, a church which tolerated diversity would mantain it's style of worship mucic or expectation about appropriate dress to church, might invite others to their service, but expect that everybody will get on board with the way the church does things.
I think Jesus' heart breaks with this kind of rigidity (again, only in the area of non-essentials) This truly wounds church unity, our witness to unbelievers; it also closes us off from the fullness of things we might experience if we'd be more open.

I can't wait for the days when we don't even have to make an issue of this issue…

Very few people preach on the diversity of noses, or fingers, or the need for us to be diverse with them… because mostly everyone has them… they are all different, and well to be frank.. it just isn't an issue.. kind of like the color of our skin…but it seems we aren't ready to see it that way… until we are.. it is an issue…sadly

I think the fact that we make this an issue shows that we aren't ready for this to not be an issue yet…

I guess it might be heaven before this isn't an issue… but who knows… what silly creatures we are sometimes..

My church is not diverse at all. we are all sinners. Different colors, but sinners in need of a Savior.

Lee, don’t stir the waters. This post is a year old and nothing’s changed. We like it that way. Look, tolerance is the enemy of reaction, reaction leads to the possibility of obedience, obedience only happens if you are listening. Please don’t interrupt the white noise of life. Just go back to sleep. Good puppies.