Diversity

What a loaded word. But I think it is something people are really afraid of and yet many may not realize what a big issue it is becoming. Most people think of diversity in terms of race but I think it is much deeper than that. I think it has more to do with culture.

I think America is becoming even more diverse in terms of culture. Even the little, sleepy town that I live in has several cultures even though it is 98% white. And we don't do that good of a job of getting along or understanding each other. Some have pointed out that America is not a melting pot but more of a mosaic. I think they are on to something.

Churches are notorious for being culturalcentric. (Is that a word?) I think this is even a bigger issue than churches being ethnocentric because location has a lot to do with the latter but most churches can find multiple cultures right next door. The problem is we just have a hard time with people who are different than we are. We need to put more effort into finding bridges over the cultural gap.

The problem is even worse with private Christian colleges. They have become the haven of white, upper middle class, suburban, Christian kids. I get a kick out of professors at my alma mater who survey their students and then tell us what young people think about our churches. I hate to tell them that I am not really interested in what their sample group has to say because they don't fit the context in which I work. It gets even worse when they talk about youth and youth groups. Their students are from a different planet than the one I work in.

The question for me is how do we bridge these gaps. I know that there are some who would say the question is WHY bridge those gaps but there is something about being one with humanity that leads me to assume we must. Unity is kicked around a lot but we tend to be unified about things we agree on and then pat ourselves on the back for fulfilling our unity quota. The hard part is being unified when we don't see eye to eye and we aren't doing a good job at that point.