Okay, so I work at a "downtown" church, or what some might call an "inner city" church. What does this mean? It means we get a lot of calls for help with bills and a lot of transitory folks who come into the church looking for a hand out before they head to parts unknown. So one day last fall, I was at the church one morning and went into the men's restroom. I "noticed" that someone was in the handicap stall. I went about my business and heard a flush. A man who appeared to be homeless (at least he had the uniform) came out of the stall and went to the sink to wash his hands. I joined him there at the next sink and began to wash my hands. Now, I want to make this plain: I am not a restroom conversationalist in the least. I smile pleasantly if someone greets me near the door or at the sink, but I prefer not to speak in the restroom at all. This is a private moment I am having, and I do not want to talk . . . ever.
Okay, back to my pointless, but true story: We are washing our hands and the man takes another drag of the soap and says: "This is some good soap!" I countered, with a chuckle: "Yes it is." Then he said it: "You know, it's important to wash your hands as often as you can, especially after you go number 2." My answer: "Well, it is important to keep your hands clean." And I left, never to see this person again.
Every time I see one of these people come in, I am reminded how little I understand about the culture around me. And I think about how much our perception of the gospel is tied to how we received it or how it was received by our community. As much as I love the precepts of the emerging church, I wonder how well some of these ideas would work in a non-white American culture. I look around at those who are interested in this movement, and they are mainly like me: a little cynical about church, though we still believe in it. Middle class, interested in the arts and weaving a conversation that involves others who are like us. Or are they people we would be like if we had not grown up in church?
Maybe this should not be cause for alarm at all. One of the main goals of the emerging church is to make the gospel available to our culture in the same way missionaries make the gospel understandable to another, alien culture. I heard this story about this non-white couple who went to see Rob Bell and were struck by how many white folks were there. Maybe the reason the emergent church works for me is because I see myself in it. Maybe I feel comfortable with it, because it reflects my longings. But do people of other ethnicities see themselves in this type of setting? Does every movement have to be multicultural to be a move of God?
I have been struggling with issues of race lately. I realize I cannot possibly understand what it is like to be a member of another race or ethnic group. As much as I try, I can only go so far. This business with the Obama and Clinton campaigns and the injection of race into the presidential campaign has only brought to light the issues we as a country still face.
I saw this movie about this African American woman who was a bright, how-powered attorney or something who ended up having a fling with her white landscape architect. At one point she was talking about some racially charged issue and he rolled his eyes. He asked her why everything had to be about black and white all the time. Her comment startled me: "You are never reminded you are white. But I am reminded I am black everyday." She went on to discuss the discrimination she felt in her firm, even though she was well-educated and well-prepared for her job. Of course, this is something I have never experienced, except when I have ventured into places where I am a minority--like the school where my wife used to teach in Dallas. She was one of five white teachers in the whole school. It was an interesting learning experience for both of us.
To be truly multicultural, we have to be willing to give up ourselves and our desires in order to give others space for their needs to be met alongside ours. I admit that, though I enjoy the idea of multiculturalism in church and in the country, it makes me nervous because I have to move beyond my area of comfort. There are times when I think I am a long way down that road, and other times I think I haven't even begun. It means sometimes I will have to be more patient to understand someone who speaks in broken English, or to understand a transitory individual's painful story, or to get dirty helping someone out. Maybe, I just need some good soap. You know, it's important.
UPDATE & NDY GIG
12 years ago
2 comments:
Really, really good article and your question about whether or not the emerging church movement is interesting to minorities is killer. I'm dying to respond but, I have to admit, I have no idea. No idea whatsoever.
This will now become my new soap box!
THIEF! No, seriously, I'm glad you've been thinking about this. A few months ago, after the Rob Bell thing, I wrote in my personal blog about the experience and my friends' take on it. I titled the article, "Hitler Youth." I’ve ruminated about this topic and its implications for weeks, partly because of where my church is in developing effective strategies for real spiritual impact in our community, and partly because I was surprised at how little thought I had given to the issue personally.
One thought I couldn't shake: Our church is diverse (I studied our internal ethnicity, age and gender demographic over a five week period), no real surprises to me here. However, when I considered personality, education, family structures, cultural behaviors, etc., I found that, though ethnically and generationally varied, the congregants were homogeneously representative of a subculture made up of those who value diversity and broader life experience. By this determinant, our specific church community may not as effectively appeal to Hispanic Catholics or Inner-city African Americans or third generation Vietnamese Gang Members or any number of other subcultures on the whole, but we may effectively appeal to any member or non-member of these people groups who 1) share a value for diversity and/or 2) seek truth or community transcendent of ethnicity, age or gender. The diversity in our church mirrors the environment and community in which these individuals work, live or most see themselves by value. While ministry within all cultures is necessary, cross-cultural ministry may represent its own valid distinction as a social subgroup. Here, in Southern California, this classification represents no small number of people. It is just harder to target them for communication as the boundaries can’t always be drawn using traditional means (i.e. neighborhood, race, education, profession, etc.)
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