“Diversity In The Church is Not Possible!” As leaders, that is what many of us say with our actions. As we head up, or help lead our churches and ministries often time, without realizing it, we settle into an false idea that ethnic diversity is an important issue, but pragmatically just not possible. We say this emphatically in how we administer our ministries. From who we seek after and higher, in leadership positions, all the way through who and how we welcome people attending our services, the experience we create with our choice actions communicate what we really believe. Actions, not intention, reflects true beliefs!
Is real diversity possible in the local church? Emphatically, yes! Below is a copy of the e-newsletter Bill Hybels, lead pastor of Willow Creek church in Chicago IL, wrote that echos the truth that any ministry can make significant strides in being a church that truly reflects “the nations:”
“…Dear Enews Friends,
Growing up in a Bible believing church I heard many teachings about the passage in Mark 11 that describes how Jesus chased unscrupulous money changers out of the temple. The sermons always ended with Jesus’ words, “My house shall be a house of prayer!” (v.17) The application was that we should pray more both in church and at home.
About a decade ago I was having lunch with an African American pastor friend of mine who mentioned he was getting ready to teach from Mark 11 about the cleansing of the temple. Rather naively, I said, “Oh, you are starting a prayer series.” He said, “No, actually I am starting a series on racial reconciliation.” I scrambled to figure out how he was going to connect that subject matter with that particular text. He said. “You know how that passage ends, don’t you?” I proudly quoted Mark 11:17 from memory “My house shall be a house of prayer!” At that point he just smiled and told me to keep going. I had nothing.
Emphasizing each of the following words he said, “FOR ALL NATIONS.” He went on to explain to me that Jesus was certainly concerned that places of worship should not degenerate into centers of commerce, but He was also being very instructional in this text–worship gatherings should be open and welcoming to people from every nation, tongue and color. I could not believe I had over looked that phrase and missed one of the key teachings in the text. He told me it was not uncommon for white pastors to do that. Ughhhh.
As many of you know our church is totally committed to being a church “for all nations.” Time Magazine did a story about us this week. If you missed it you can click on it here. Despite the references to my paleness (!), I thought they did a fair job of recognizing the progress we have made in the last ten years, and I was very proud of all of you! While we all know that we have a long way to go before we perfectly reflect the heart of God for all people, we are on the journey and the Spirit will keep leading us. We will never turn back.”
Here’s an excerpt from the Times article:
Larry Butler first visited Willow Creek in the 1970s and left fast. “I liked the teaching, but I didn’t see anybody like me,” says Butler, 57, a solidly built, hazel-eyed African-American pharmacist from Oklahoma. “I didn’t have any problem with the people, but I didn’t know if they had a problem with me. So I thought, ‘I’ll go elsewhere.’ ” Other minorities who sampled the church felt similarly uncomfortable. Yet Butler returned to Willow in the early ’80s, later inviting his wife Renetta and, as he says, “hoping things would change.”
And they did, as Hybels and Bibbs re-engineered the church to match its preaching. They built “Bridging the Racial Divide” gatherings into Willow’s massive grid of laity-led “small groups.” The meetings were essential, says Renetta, who ended up running five: they were a ground-level “safe haven” where congregants could express and dispel received stereotypes. At the very first, in 2001, a well-meaning white woman kept using the phrase “you people.” “Do you people want to be called blacks?” she asked. “Or African Americans? I never know what to call you people.” Eventually it became too much, and Larry, along with Renetta and his brother Garnett, explained to the woman and eight other white congregants in the room that “every time you say ‘you people,’ you’re holding us back — it’s like we’re not included,” Renetta said. The woman burst into tears and asked, “Well, what do you like to be called?” Renetta quipped in response, “I personally like to be a brownie with nuts.” She says, “It broke the ice.”
Is real diversity really possible? Yes. We just have to implement, every chance we get, opportunities for diversity to happen. Please read full the Times article HERE!
Unity Through Diversity!
