Should Your Church Be Diverse?

I participated in an urban ministry luncheon the other day at a Denny's in Milwaukee. In order to get there, I drove by a bustling bistro full of white people and past neighborhoods of detached homes with well-manicured lawns. Soon after passing under the highway, I was met by endless arrays of small apartment buildings and fast food restaurants. The luncheon took me from one side of the tracks to the other in what is reputed to be the most segregated city in the country.

Is this a problem? Don't most people naturally congregate with those who have the most culturally in common with them? If we took socio-economic factors out of the equation and the inner city was not the economically-ensnared hellhole that it has become, would the separation be that big of a deal?

For the church, it should be a big deal. The church is a culture primarily defined by Christ, not by race. We do not call people "brother" or "sister" because they share our race, but because they share our grace. We see in our diversity a foretaste of the heavenly wedding feast, where all tribes and tongues will have a place at the table. And we long to show a watching world that the Gospel is not a white man's religion (the fact that most Christians lives outside the West should attest to that).

At the same time, diversity should not be the primary focus of the Church. I have seen many a church lift up multi-racial hands of unity but not lift up the Lord and Savior of sinners. This is where we confuse our heavenly imagery. The tribes and tongues do not sit upon the throne, but before the throne. It is Jesus Christ, and Him alone, who draws sinners from every place unto Himself.

This is the tragedy of  most of what has been called "social justice" over the past couple of years. It has focused on horizontal reconciliation between men and not vertical reconciliation between man and God. The same Christ who reconciles man to God is the same Christ who then enables men to reconcile with one another!

As Christians, we should work to break down social barriers that have no place within the Church, where there is neither Greek nor Hebrew. Is should not be our governing cause, which is the glory of God in Christ, but it should be a cause nonetheless. This will not come through working in soup kitchen, where predominantly one race is behind the counter and one race on the side of the counter. This will not come through service projects that go to help needy blacks and Hispanics.

While such things are worthy tasks in and of themselves, they perpetuate the lie that one race is always on the giving end of grace and the others on the receiving end. The best thing we can do is initiate friendships, share table fellowship, and seek to learn rather than instruct. Love is not primarily material, but spiritual, and in that way, the most impoverished person has as much to give as the suburbanite. We are ALL needy for God's grace in Christ!

I met a 68 year old black pastor who has devoted much of the last 50 years of his life to ministering the Gospel in the worst neighborhood in Milwaukee. My theological education might be more robust than his and my doctrine a bit more precise, but I do not deserve to tie the man's shoes. All that I could teach about the Gospel are things already embedded heart-deep in this father in the faith.

If you are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ--if your heart's renewed desire is to see God glorified--then you will desire to see the Gospel drawing all peoples into your particular corner of His Church.

I remember leaving suburban California one summer for Malawi, Africa. In Escondido, I often felt like an alien. In Josophat Mwale Theological Institute, I felt like family. Few things will show you the grace and glory of God in this world more than how He draws the most diverse people into the most precious unity in Christ.

Hiding the Real You in the Smart You

What an encouraging week!

Amidst a wave of sicknesses that swept through our family (including my visiting in-laws), I received a lot of positive news on the professional front.

*I was appointed to the Menomonee Falls Library Board. I will now be working with a group of impassioned citizens to shape the direction of this venerable institution and social hub in the Falls.

*I am now regularly blogging for a new political website, which gives me an opportunity to channel my love for politics into something that doesn't interfere with the Lord's ministry at Falls Church.

*I have an interview tomorrow at the YMCA to discuss the possibility of leading a Boot Camp course. Like the library, the Y tends to be a social hub for the Falls.

In each of these things, the Lord has provided me with opportunities to use my meager gifts in His service, form greater contacts within the community, and earn more income for my family. It is amazing--the Lord's provision for our family has always been a provision in pieces. And such provision keeps us humble and grateful.

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I was running with another runner on our weekly Tuesday night run when he asked me about my other Meetup group, now named "The Real Happy Hour." I gave him the gist--a no-BS discussion group where we can talk about deep things. He told me that he grew up Roman Catholic and was thinking about returning to the church.

But, he said in a self-consoling manner, I still have faith and I think that's the most important thing. Naturally, we spent the last mile of our run talking about "faith in what?" Religion means nothing. For most of the world, religion is a system of belief built upon one's ability to do good and please God. Faith means nothing. For most of the world, faith is simply the belief in one's inner goodness and ability.

Faith in Jesus Christ is utterly distinct. Such faith recognizes that there is nothing in one's own heart worthy of trust or hope. It instead receives and recognizes Christ alone for salvation. And such faith is also a gift--the God-given instrument through which God grants sinners salvation (Eph. 2:8-9).

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A third runner was absent from these discussions, but joined me for a drink afterward to talk about the other Meetup group. We talked for a little while, but whenever I asked about his current relationship, he deferred. He said he likes talking religion and politics, but not personal things. I asked him if he uses topics like religion and politics to keep people from getting to know him.

I remember one guy who often came to our discussion Meetup in DC. He loved to debate religion (often obnoxiously), but refused to get personal. I would try to ask about his upbringing, his marriage, his children, but he would refuse. It's amazing that people are willing to talk about intellectual abstractions, but not let you near the personal experience that shapes their thinking!

My theory during that time was that the man was using his constant intellectual musings to deflect from anything personal. In a sense, he used his intellect as a barrier to keep him safe. And I think that we often do that. We use all manner of devices--from divulging almost everything about ourselves to constantly advancing meaningless intellectual arguments to emotional manipulation--all in the name of keeping people from seeing the real us.

The truth is that such deflections to make us look any prettier. And the nastiness we often think we're protecting is still nastiness that we love so much that we'll do anything to protect it. It is a perverse form of self-loathing self-love.

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That night concluded with several hours of good conversations with a brother from the church. He was going through a lot of hard circumstances and was often not handling them in the best ways. And he didn't hide any of it. He is a broken man, but he is God's broken man. Because he is broken--and he knows it--he can marvel every day at the grace of God and endeavor to do better. His failures teach him. When he sees his lack of grace, he sees God's abundance of grace. It's beautiful.

Like many of you, I struggle with my brokenness. I am ashamed of it and desire to cover it up. I want people to see a smart me, a strong me, a fake me--that is really no more attractive than the ugliness I hide. All of me belongs to Jesus. My life is hidden with Christ in God. He knows me, inside and out, and He loves me (Psalm 139). That means I can be who I am, because what I am is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

The solution to our fear comes in knowing that we are always safe in Christ.

Deeper Than Belief

Last month's Army drill weekend consisted of three days of trudging through the mud in order to visit with hundreds of soldiers. This month's drill packed three chapel/church services, a birthday party, and Army physical training into a grueling 36 hour period.

On Saturday morning, I conducted a chapel service for soldiers here at our Milwaukee unit. Only a handful were able to attend, so I was able to answer questions as we worked our way through the Bible passage. One of the questions that kept coming us is one of the fundamental ones for whole Christian faith: If the people knew Jesus was righteous (they did), that He performed miracles (they did), and that He claimed to be God and did things that only God could do (they did), then why did they kill him? I'll leave this question open-ended, but know the answer is unsettling and cries out for a resolution.

I then went home over my lunch break to help host our little girl's first birthday party. From there, I drove three and half hours to Eau Claire in order to make it before our unit's closing formation. I socialized with soldiers for a little while before heading over to a ratty motel to watch election results, talk to my wife, and prepare for the next day.

Sunday morning got off to a bizarre start when a drunk man at the hotel thanked me for my service and then asked me for a ride for both him and his buddy. Leaving right away, I figured I could get them where they wanted to go and back to the unit just in time. I dropped them off at a laundromat where they were supposedly meeting up with a woman. Why? Don't know; don't care. All they'll remember amidst their hangover is that some Army chaplain cared for them.

I led an early, somewhat impromptu chapel in one of our company offices. Only one female soldier was able to make it, which enabled us to have a more personal time of interaction over the passage. The officer who worked in the office stayed in there during our informal chapel and remarked that he appreciated knowing more of the history and background behind Jesus' trial. I asked him about his religious background--his mom is Lutheran and his dad a Jehovah's witness. He was largely raised outside of the church.

He didn't believe much of Christianity, but liked to learn about the history. It was fascinating, like something for the History Channel. He just didn't give much credibility to the supernatural stuff since he had come to learn about Science (intentionally capitalized, since as usual the physical sciences are being given religious weight).

I told this young officer that the fact that is occurred in history is critical, but that we also can't rule out the supernatural component because of Science. I repeated my constant claim--our interpretation of the physical sciences--along with everything else---are rooted in a philosophy. In this case, most people root their view of the physical sciences in empiricism--the belief that truth can only be measured by the senses (as astonishing faith claim). He saw my point--not even clear and compelling logic can lead to truth if all truth has to be put under the microscope.

As with the questioning soldiers in Milwaukee, a common thread woven throughout the weekend is that we all need to understand why we believe what we believe. The best things to put under the microscope are our own hidden assumptions concerning the nature of God, man, the world, and how it is that we can know something.

The conversation had to be cut short as I needed to race off to a local OPC church plant to conduct their worship service (for the second day in a row, a pretty crazy lunch break). It was a wonderful and humbling experience as I got to proclaim God's Word to His people in a movie theater! I then enjoyed a brief bite of lunch with one of the families in the church.

I started off the afternoon by reading a recently-published brigade memorandum on suicide prevention to the unit and followed up by advertising our Army marriage retreats. These two things are closely tied together. Most suicides are not caused by hard circumstances, but by the process through which we interpret those circumstances and the lack of a relationships to help carry us through hard times. The most important thing we can do to prevent suicide is building stronger webs of relationships, including stronger marriages.

One hour later, I was on a nearby quarter-mile race track, running warm-up laps for a surprise diagnostic test of our physical fitness. This was not the test that they officially record, which will be in May and includes 2 minutes of push-ups, 2 minutes of sit-ups, and 2 mile run. Instead, this was a 1-1-1 to assess where we are at. I put on almost 10 pounds of Wisconsin weight in my first couple of months here, and only started to run again over the past month as my running group gained traction.

I did 53 sit-ups (tied for first), 70 push-ups (first), and ran a 6:45 mile (third--almost caught second). These numbers were promising, but not where I want them to be (except push-ups). I need to improve my sit-ups and run by our May test. I can, and by God's grace, I will. This is tied to my chaplain ministry--and both my performance yesterday and my care for soldiers throughout the diagnostic opened up conversations. A former Army Ranger walked with me the whole way back to the unit, asking me about the exact role of a chaplain.

The day ran late (as usual), and darkness quickly descended on my three and a half hour drive back. I stuffed my face with greasy fast food to replenish the calories I burned and felt disgusting. The duration of the drive after a workout also left me very sore and uncomfortable. I got home at 8:45pm, and though I'm a late night hawk, I went to bed within an hour.

A couple of lessons learned:

1) Don't do the long drive two days in a row. All driving and no talking make Stephen go crazy.
2) Workout + lots of fast food + hours of driving = Yuk.
3) Even drunk people in Wisconsin are very respectful toward soldiers.
4) The Lord will strengthen me for everything to which He calls me, but that doesn't mean I will feel strong before, during, or after.