A Prayer for the Body of Christ

A Prayer for the Body of Christ

April Boycik is a former student of mine and a lifelong friend. Her prayerful response to my posts on intercultural ministry, with her permission, is posted below.

"Lord,

Let me plug in and serve together with whom you would have me serve, as you would, where you would...

Realizing my brothers and sisters, different from me culturally, politically, educationally are all called according to your purpose, too.

Together, we make the body.

Sepearate, we are but amputees."

Every Nation, Tribe, People, and Language

Every Nation, Tribe, People and Language

Stephen Ohlemacher of the AP wrote from Washington yesterday that “white people will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2042, according to new government projections. That’s eight years sooner than previous estimates, made in 2004.”

America has been growing more diverse for decades, but the process has sped up through immigration and higher birth rates among minority residents, especially Hispanics.

According to William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, “the white population is older and very much centered around the aging baby boomers who are well past their high fertility years. The future of America is epitomized by the young people today. They are basically the melting pot we are going to see in the future.”

According to the studies, by 2050, whites will make up 46% of the population, blacks 15%, Hispanics 30% (double today’s rate), and Asians 9% (nearly double today’s rate), and all others will make up another 4%.

What are the implications for Christian multi-culturalism? Of course, that depends on who you ask.

Some believe that race is only socially constructed and veritably a useless concept for today’s world. While I understand that idea, I fail to believe that American society is ready to dismiss the notion of race, especially given the long history of horrific racism and prejudice. While I do think we need to educate society about our oneness in Christ through our common nature as image bearers, I do not believe that being “color blind” or denying issues of “race” is the answer.

So, given my beliefs, I think the implications are many. Foremost, the Church has chance to give the world a taste today of what eternity will be like. According to the Apostle John, for all eternity a great multitude that no one can count from every nation, tribe, people, and language will unite together in worship and fellowship (Revelation 7:9).

You say, “It can’t happen today. Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour in America.” Sadly, that is true.

Yet, I see multi-cultural worship and fellowship everyday at Capital Bible Seminary. For years now we have experienced the demographics that America will experience in 2050. Capital Bible Seminary has no majority culture. Our student body last year was approximately 40% African American, 40% Caucasian, and 20% Asian, Hispanic, and International. Anyone who is involved in higher education in Evangelical circles knows how rare and how beautiful this is.

In particular I love our counseling/discipleship lab classes. We limit those equipping classes to twelve students and develop a great deal of openness as we learn how to relate well cross-culturally. Truly those labs are a little taste of heaven as we have men and women, young and old, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, and International. We learn together how to speak God’s truth in love with cross-cultural excellence.

So, if America is to adjust to these changing demographics, then the Church should lead the way. And we should do so by example by purposefully worshipping and fellowshipping together as every nation, tribe, people, and language.

All the Colors of the Rainbow

All the Colors of the Rainbow

Why do we find multi-cultural worship so difficult. Here we are in the first decade of the 21st century, and yet Sunday mornings are still the most segregated hours in America! What a shame. What a sin. What are we going to do about it?

1. Be Proactive: Connect personally with someone of a different ethnic background.

2. Be Intentional: Influence your church leadership and members to purposefully build cross-cultural bridges.

3. Be Educated: Read excellent works on multicultural churches like those of David Anderson.

4. Be Brave: Don't expect everyone to support you. Do expect some to subvert you.

5. Be Thrilled: Nothing thrills the soul more than worship of every tribe, nation, and tongue. Just ask God in Revelation 5!