It's 'Wife Swap' on steroids. Basically this show is about following two families who will be completely made up to resemble people of another race (in this case, African American and Anglo American = Black. White.) The premise of the show is centered around the stereotypes and subcultures that exist in every context. Of course the show is about ratings so they will highlight the drama that goes on as well as the faults that lie behind the facade of each individual.
I've attended a lot of "Christian" meetings in my day. I'll continue to attend these very large gatherings. For all of the talk at these gatherings about being 'next generation this' and 'emerging that' and 'relevant blah blah'... I seem to see the same thing... a very poor representation of our society at large.
What tends to happen is a bunch of white guys get together and pat each other on the back (I'm not knocking the training at these events, just the demographic of which I am a part). We have the kumbyah moments and then we leave like the last day of summer camp, promising to keep in touch. In place of shreds of paper or ink stained hands with numbers on them we have a handful of business cards.
Recently I attended another such event. For all of the statistics I heard about multi-cultural blah blah... I felt like I was sitting on a styrophome plate of rice covered in milk. Well over 100 people and I'd bet maybe 5 were black and 2 or 3 Hispanic. I'm sorry but our country is a LITTLE more diverse than this. Mind you, this wasn't a regional meeting. There were people from nearly 25 states. Do you know who was selected to share in the big events open to the public? Yup. A Frenchman and a Hispanic gentleman. I'm glad they were able to speak but it just seems like there is a "white" elephant in the room no one wants to talk about.
I'm concerned that our churches aren't doing much to reach those who don't look like we do. I'm concerned that the latest and greatest methods and tools are being implemented in a large part to reach 1 race. I'm concerned that (in general) the inner cities of our country are being shunned for church planters looking to find the next booming suburb. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I need to get out more but growing up in the inner city of Baltimore I saw a TON of church buildings but very little of the Church.
For many in the church world, the cities in our country become nothing more than a backdrop to where most of us attend ball games and maybe an occasional trip to some nice shopping. It's convenient that the highways take us over the 'bad parts' of town and drop us right in front of Nordstrom. It's great that I can drive into most down-town districts, see my game and turn around and head back to my safe home without ever interacting with 'those people'. In my denomination most of the 'diversity' comes from the Asian community or European crowd. In the books it sounds good "We have ___% of minorities." A look a little deeper however gives a sad account for how we're doing among African Americans and Hispanics.
"More like Heaven and Less like our mirror." is quickly becoming the cry of our church. Much of my frustration I'm certain comes from God's leading in my own life and not a frustration with other people. I've often heard two lines that have pressed me for change in life... "A need seen is an assignment given" and "Those things which bother you the most are likely those things you are called to change."
For several years now I've felt uniquely designed to bridge the gap of diversity that exists in the circles in which I run. My passion is to build a church on the OUTSIDE of a city that can be a life-giver to quality churches INSIDE the city. I'll share more about this in a future post...
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