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Multi-Ethnicity: Pilgrims in Arlington Heights
Tonight we are going to look at
what it means to be a multi-ethnic community. Some general definitions: multi-ethnic—different
ethnicities—Korean, Japanese, etc.Multi-cultural—second generation korean-American, generation
Xers, etc. Culture to some extent can be
adopted and modified, but ethnicity generally remains the same.
Michael
Emerson and Christian Smith researched religion and ethnicity in America and suggest that even faith is not
bridging the ethnic divides in America. Most churches are ethnically homogenous,
thus, Sunday mornings are groups of people worshipping a Jesus who looks and
acts like they do, thinking the same kind of theology, and practicing the same
ethic and ecclesiology. Emerson and
Smith have demonstrated that most Evangelical Christians do not even think this
is a problem.
Do you think this is a
problem? Why or Why not?
Mirolslav Volf points out that “The
mediation of the faith can succeed only if those standing outside that faith
are able to identify with the church community embodying and transmitting it.” We live in a multi-ethnic world, and to
communicate the gospel to that world, our churches must somehow resemble that
as well. How can we preach
reconciliation to God to society at large when we do not understand what it
means to be reconciled to our next door neighbors who do not look like we
do?
Main idea: the gospel is rendered
less potent without multi-ethnic communities who model incarnation, grace,
reconciliation, and forgiveness.
Does God think
multi-ethnic communities are a good idea/desirable?
Biblical Support:
- Trinity:
Support for multi-ethnicity stems from the very nature of the
godhead. The Trinity affirms
diversity and unity in equality.
The three members of the Trinity are co-equal in ontology, mutually
submitting to each other out of love.
Rather than one person folding into the others, and rather than
three independent persons (each pronounced heresy at Chalcedon and Nicea),
the Trinity is comprised of perichoretic unity in which there is a
celebration of differences, a delight in the Other, yet in complete
synchronism, like a dance. Those in
multi-ethnic church communities must see each other as equal in essence,
rejoicing in the image of God in each other.
- Exodus
22:21—do not mistreat aliens and strangers because you were once one of
them. In this, God is exhorting his
people to begin the pattern of unity and drawing people into this chosen
community.
- Acts:
an ideological pilgrimage of ethnic inclusion. Jesus began his earthly ministry with
the Israelites and it has progressed to the addition of people from every
corner of the globe. It is almost
as though the gospel itself made a pilgrimage from Jerusalem
to Judea to the outer most parts of the
earth, carried along by Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Mark, John and the
rest. Much of the conflict in the
early church arose from ethnic issues in that some of the Jews were not
sure about the inclusion of Gentiles in their fellowship. (See Acts 15).
- Revelation
7:9: John has a vision of what multi-ethnicity community will be one day:
“After this I looked and there
before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every
nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in
front of the Lamb.” The unity the
church will have one day must serve as impetus for working toward that
now, as Scripture invites us toward.
- See 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 2
and Philippians 2 as evidence of the unity God desires for his
children. As a body, each part does
not completely illuminate the whole—we need each other for that. So many problems arise when we do not
value the gifts that “the Other” brings.
The
Christian pilgrimage is not white people making their own journey as a group,
nor a gathering of only Asians traveling together, nor Africans walking by
themselves. Rather, it is the intention
of God that our lives be knitted together with those who are different than we
are so that the message of the gospel, the message of the God who embraces his
enemies so they become beloved children resounds in world filled with
isolation, strife, and violence.
So, how do we do this?
A.
Sang Hyun Lee encourages the church to relate as person in liminality. When we recognize that we were all on the
fringes—we were once orphans, widow(er)s and strangers until we encountered the
love of God. There has been a
transformation of identity from an outcast who was dirtied by sin, to an
accepted member of the community, cleansed and ready to journey anew. In fact, Lee observes that multi-ethnic
worship requires a pilgrimage because we must leave our homes and what we are
comfortable with and embark on a journey.
In recognizing our own “stranger-status” as one who does not belong, we
are prepared to journey together as a company of strangers, ready to embrace
other strangers in an invitation to join us.
In other words, we become a community!
On this
journey together, though we maintain our embodied characteristics—ethnicity
among them--there are some aspect of our identities which must be carefully
evaluated if we are to journey well.
Every person is clothed in some sort of cultural garb which affects our
life together on pilgrimage—from how we are comfortable worshiping, to how we
greet each other, to the kind of food we prefer. A successful multi-ethnic community means
that we must leave behind some of our cultural garb for the sake of those with
whom we are traveling, some we must keep on, and some which we must pull out
from time to time. For the good of the
journey I may need to let go of some role or position that I hold because
someone else ought to take it. It is
when that occurs, that something of one’s identity changes. Pilgrims on a journey ought to understand the
notion of contextualization. Sometimes
communicating the meaning of a journey requires a radical translation so that
people are included and able to understand the message. In other words, the identity of the pilgrim
and the pilgrim’s message contains some aspects which are integrally linked to
him or her, and some which are contingently linked and can be changed, but the
act of communication must be such that translations are welcomed.
2. Tell stories...
Storytelling has long been a
tradition for pilgrims. It is a time to
connect with others, to learn history, not to mention to be entertained. Whether the stories are told while walking
along the road such as Chaucer did in his Canterbury
Tales or while sitting around a campfire at night, they are integral to the
pilgrim experience. We are storied
people—narrative is something that resonates within us, and also is a means to
transform us. So often stories teach us
about ourselves and the world of which we are apart. Stories entice us toward imagination—trying
to name potentialities, often through piecing together the past. Because pilgrims have “lost their place” on
earth, stories help us form explanations for who we are and what we are doing. As James Gustafson notes:
Narratives shape and sustain the
ethos of the community…. Narratives also
function to give shape to our moral characters, which, in turn, deeply affect
the way we interpret or construe the world and events and thus affect what we
determine to be appropriate action as members of the community.
By means of history and liturgy, narrative helps a biblical
community form its own identity, which proffers an imperative to journey. It also reinforces the disposition to behave
in certain ways. This disposition, when
expressed over time, creates character and a worldview appropriate to the
narrative the community is formed by. For Gustafson, the people hear a story, see
the context or setting in which the story is embodied, adopt it and live into
it, practice what it teaches, and by doing so, they have become a part of the
story.
Story-telling
is especially crucial in a multi-ethnic community because through a story we
are invited to enter into the world and mindset of the “other.” We begin to better understand culture and the
way others look at the world and God. We
may find common experiences and we may find radically different
experiences. Eventually the community of
pilgrims will begin to share stories.
Those moments we “remember when…” are significant because our identity has
changed from a distinctly individual history to being part of a shared
history.
3. Interdependence
The development of community cannot
occur without individuals incurring a sense of interdependence. Margaret Miles exhorts us that “in a nuclear
world, people who could die together must learn to live together in
interdependence, recognizing our need for mutuality rather than for
individualistic competitiveness.” The
purpose of maturity is INTERdependence, not Independence.
In his work providing a theology of reconciliation, Miroslav Volf
reminds his readers that the cross is crucial to our communities of
interdependence because there is solidarity in pain. How much more crucial is interdependence than
on a journey where there is suffering, danger, and much pain? In a hierarchical and individualistic
context, multi-ethnic interdependence is a stark demonstration of true
community purposing together toward a mutual end, brought together by the
cross.
The sharing of a meal communicates
our dependence on God in providing for us in this place that is not our eternal
rest. It also connects us to our past as
we remember from whence the provisions came.
When the community practices the sharing of a meal, much is communicated
because of the tie to memory as well as anticipation of what is to come. During a shared meal, the intention ought to
be that everyone, as a family, comes--all are to be included in this practice,
without regard to gender or socio-economic status (see 1 Corinthians 10:17,
11:17-34).
Even
now, the shadow of the reality of the coming communion is a realization that we
can taste the life of the Trinity, which itself is true communion. If humans are essentially beings-in-relation,
courtesy of the Imago Dei, it makes
sense that community on earth is all about remembering relationship—between
humans and God and among humans ourselves.
When I live in communion with others I affirm that the gospel is
powerful, effectual, and real. Something
is worth dying for: God and humans, reconciled—the
end of the pilgrimage.
So, what is a multi-ethnic community? When we celebrate God and His work in our
lives as we share stories of God changing us.
We acknowledge the transient nature of our pilgrim community as people
are often coming and going. We are all
in this journey together—moving towards becoming the people our Father in
Heaven is calling us to be—seeking to image Christ in this pilgrimage, finding
power in the gospel of reconciliation through the Holy Spirit.
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