Talking about being multi-ethnic is so much more fun than actually being multi-ethnic. I thoroughly enjoyed the conference today on Evangelicalism’s multi-ethnic future. There were some great talks given, and a compelling case was made for a multi-cultural Evangelicalism. From a biblical, sociological, and statistical point of view, the speakers persuasively argued that Evangelicalism must become multi-ethnic (and multi-cultural) or die.
But the reality of being multi-cultural is much harder than just talking about it. It’s not nearly as much fun to implement a dream than to just dream about it. This came through loud and clear in the presentations today. Each of the speakers spoke from years of experience in pursuing this dream, and they shared stories of hurt and misunderstanding. Being multi-cultural means listening to and valuing the experience of those outside our own faith traditions. It doesn’t mean asking those who look different than us to assimilate into our culture. There is a lot of mutual learning that is required as we go forward.
For those of you interested in doing some more reading and learning on the subject. Here are some books that featured prominently in the discussions today.
