Do I Still need the Multi-Ethnic church?

Musings of someone living the Diaspora identity & caught in the in-between always.

Aug 15, 2024

The edited version of this post originally appeared in SOLA Network on July 29, 2024.

Twenty years ago, my life seemed simple. Back then, I had one identity: Indian. It was not something I questioned, fretted over, or debated—it just was. But fast—forward to now—Indian, Immigrant, American, Christian—with each layer raising important and convoluted questions regarding my identity.

I found myself in a conversation a few months ago where I blurted out, “I do not need the multiethnic Church. I don’t need the multiethnic Church anymore.” The people in the conversation stopped & stared at me, and I took a moment and realized that I had said something on everybody’s mind and heart. Still, none of us had ever felt comfortable articulating at that moment. I started to dig deep and think about why I had said what I had said and whether there was any deeper meaning behind it.

I had spent over two decades in spaces where I was one of the few people of color, and I had spent years in spaces where I considered myself a bridge builder, and others viewed me as such. A wise mentor and friend told me, “Bridges are usually walked on, and people step on them.”

So, if you view yourself as a bridge builder, you better be ready for people to step on you and know there will be significant hurt. As an immigrant, I have spent most of my life trying to assimilate, living in a liminal space, and wrestling with myself as to what I would want my community, my social circle, and my Church to look like. I have written about it and talked about it for so long that there are days when I am completely exhausted with this topic.

I have found it easy to move between cultures, diasporas, and communities, learning and engaging with others and sharing my experiences and stories. Lately, however, I have been questioning myself and wondering if I can keep doing this all my life. Bridges are meant for connection, crossing from one side to the other and back, but only by walking on or stepping on. I realized then that while it was good to help build bridges and walk in the in-between liminal life, it was also okay for me not to carry this load alone, the role that all of us, as Christ followers, are supposed to.

Challenges & Complexities of Multi-Ethnic Churches

Over the last decade, many churches want their congregations to look like heaven. Pastors and leaders want to have ethnically diverse churches and be able to have a multiethnic experience. It’s hard to have a multiethnic experience when your congregation is the white majority, and your community and the town that you’re based in is a white majority. Churches hire leaders from diverse backgrounds and place people from ethnic backgrounds visibly on their social media, their websites, and their leadership in the hope that by having this level of representation, they will genuinely build a multiethnic community. I’ve walked in those spaces, and I still do, and I believe they have good intentions at heart.

But over time, I’ve also discovered that the path to a multiethnic church is not as easy as a 1-2-3 formula.

Being a part of a multi-ethnic church was never my dream or life’s goal. Throughout my life, I have been in diverse spaces and communities, whether they are diverse across religion, ethnicity, or social and economic lines. But over the last two decades, choosing to be in multi-ethnic spaces has taught me that while we can have systems, representation, and diversity in our leadership, life in any part of a multi-ethnic church is much more nuanced and complicated. One cannot approach it as a technical change but needs to view it as more of an organic shift in the global church and our local community.

As I navigate my way through this space, I wanted to share some of my thoughts about the multi-ethnic church. Many of those in the majority culture say they want their churches to look more like heaven.

Everyone quotes Revelation 7:9: “After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

We want our churches to look ethnically diverse, and I will argue that this is a well-intended thought. But what does that mean? Does that mean we have diversity represented in our senior leadership, our volunteer base, our choirs, or the brilliant social media marketing our churches and ministries have when we showcase diversity on the grid, brochures, and even promos for our church?

Marketing does what it’s supposed to do. If we showcase diversity, the hope is to bring diversity into the building. But if our goal is to get people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities into the church, we must ask ourselves, “What is at the core of a community of Christ followers who come together to form this multiethnic church?” Most of the time, we end up with a surface-level multi-ethnic representation instead of living multi-ethnic lives in deep relationships and close association with people from different ethnic, racial, educational, social, economic, and cultural backgrounds.

Challenges in Fostering Authentic Multi-Ethnic Relationships

When we think of multiethnicity in our churches, are we asking people to focus on Christ as the common denominator that binds us all, or are we asking them to focus on the cultural aspect of the Christian faith? Do we have to “dis-belong” to one thing to belong to something else?

When we consider the multiethnic church, are we starting from a place where we look for similarities and agree that we have many things in common and can learn things together while not brushing our differences under the carpet? Or are we starting from a place of difference, where we view each other as people with diametrically opposite perspectives and points of view, and our similarities are insignificant?

Where we start considerably impacts where the multiethnic journey will take us; beginning at a point of learning and being willing to learn will help us grow versus assuming the stance of being the more knowledgeable one who expects people from diverse backgrounds to assimilate into the majority or monoethnic culture.

Who we are and where we come from absolutely belong in the church. Leaving bits and pieces of ourselves outside the church is quite complicated. When we talk about the multiethnic church or the theology of the intercultural church, we need to be able to bring our whole selves to the table.

Living our Multi-Ethnicity beyond our church

To be a healthy multiethnic or intercultural church, we must start from a place of being, practicing, and living. All too often, those of us in ministry are passionate about the multiethnic church, but we do not live multiethnic lives. We might interact at work meetings, conferences, or now and then in our community. But, we need genuine relationships or regular interactions with people from different backgrounds.

Members of monoethnic or white-centric churches who do not live multiethnic lives will find it challenging to move into multiethnic relationships only on Sunday morning. Focusing on building ethnic diversity only one day of the week while living a completely different life the remaining six days does not lead to a thriving multiethnic community of Christ followers. We have to be able to think, believe, and practice this thing we call the multi-ethnic church.

We must also understand the ethnic diversity in our communities before pursuing a multiethnic church. While strategy, planning, and training are good, we need to learn from each other, learn from those in our local community, and build friendships and relationships. It needs to be more organic than just top-down teaching.

What we call a church is a living and breathing organism. It changes, moves, grows, shrinks, ebbs, flows, and multiplies. So, there is no time for sitting and playing the blame game. If we desire to pursue a multi-ethnic church with gospel intentionality, the only way we can pursue it is to approach it from a relational aspect. The ideological desire might be good, but it won’t stand the test of time. Relationships of flesh and bone, blood and skin, those are the ones that matter. People make up a church; people are the church, and if we desire diversity because we believe the gospel is for all, then we need to put some skin on this game.

Building Deep & Meaningful Relationships

Growth in ethnic unity happens when we build relationships and share lives and when people from different cultures understand each other’s backgrounds, what makes them tick, and what nuances their parenting styles or marriages have.

When my white friends understand the cultural nuances of my Indian arranged marriage, then I know they have understood my background and my upbringing. I don’t need to explain it to them over and over. When I can describe the challenges of immigrant parenting in suburban America and the people around, I understand the complexities and how what is the norm for them is not the norm for me; I know that we have built a relationship that has gone deep and truly understands each other. Rich conversation and deep and intentional discussions can be tricky, but the relationships can flourish, and we all benefit.

Revelation 7:9 (NIV) says, “After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.”

The above verse is commonly quoted during sermons where we teach and preach about the need for a multi-ethnic church. Multi-ethnic churches have grown in large numbers over the last twenty years. While all churches have struggles and conflicts, multi-ethnic churches have steeper challenges: the type of worship service, music style, languages used, preaching style, etc. It is very complicated for the church leadership to find the balance that satisfies everyone across the congregation. Most of the time, the people themselves need to find that balance and be more accepting of what one pastoral team can hope to achieve for the church. Being a pastor is no joke! Being a pastor of a church that wishes to be multi-ethnic has layers of challenges and complications.

My Struggle with Assimilation & Diversity

But when we consider that scripture in Revelation, do we understand the magnitude of the verse? Doesn’t it apply to every nation, tribe, people, and language? Can we be comfortable with people from different backgrounds in our little bubbles? Honestly,

I am not sure if I would be comfortable! I love life in my little American suburb. I often say I am a city girl at heart, and being in a city brings a spring to my step, but if I ask myself, Can I live there day after day dealing with traffic, noise, pollution, and neighbors just a wall away? Will I be pleased if the homeless man outside my apartments accosts me every morning? I would much rather be in my little bubble driving to the local Whole Foods or shopping online. I would rather have public parks with plenty of space for my children to run and play without fear of being hit by a car or, worse!

I don’t always like multi-ethnicity, especially when it makes me uncomfortable. I have spent two decades of my life in this country and have assimilated. Brand-new immigrants tend to annoy me. I want them to assimilate and do it quickly. Yes, I am guilty of the same tendencies many of us have!

When I enter spaces in my hometown today, which are overwhelmingly Indian, I feel out of place. I have become used to being a diaspora Indian! I have assimilated to a large extent while also becoming acculturated. I want the others to be like me. I am comfortable around those who are like me. I find myself frustrated by those who retain their Indianness and are not willing to divest it.

So, if an immigrant like me finds it challenging to be around those who technically come from the same background as herself, how much more difficult would it be for those who know nothing about other cultures?

Encouragement for the Multi-Ethnic church

I am more compassionate in how I talk about the multi-ethnic church today. Before, I would have expected the majority culture to do a complete 180-degree change to understand and embrace all other forms of diversity and ethnicity wholeheartedly.

But today, I look at the whole picture and feel for those in the majority culture who are faithfully walking this journey, learning, educating themselves, and trying to make incremental changes, not simply for the sake of change but because they believe it is the gospel mission. They do it because they genuinely love God and people. Multi-ethnic churches that are thriving are Biblical and Christ-centric.

Their members engage in diverse, deep, and authentic relationships. They live multi-ethnic lives. They practice what they preach on the other six days of the week. They engage not just in ethnic diversity but also in economic diversity and multi-generational relationships.

It is easy for churches to develop systems and strategies to promote multiethnicity and make it their vision or part of their mission statement. One can hold onto that vision while inside the walls of the building, in youth ministry, Sunday school, or Bible studies. However, it is harder to live out that vision when one leaves the building and returns to regular, daily life. We don’t always think of our church’s vision statement at work, a PTA meeting, or a park playdate. We don’t always think of our Indian, Chinese, or Pakistani neighbors while planning a block party. We don’t always understand other cultures, traditions, practices, or habits. Even their foods are ethnic and not the norm. Parenting and marriage experiences vary extensively from culture to culture, but those ideas don’t cross our minds when our church plans the youth curriculum.

Some final thoughts

So, this is what I would say to the multi-ethnic church today:

I affirm the mission and vision you have for the church. Being multiethnic is Biblical and Christ-centered and part of the global church. I applaud your efforts thus far to live out the vision in your local church and community. But I encourage you to cast the vision wider with your congregants so they can live multi-ethnic lives and understand the breadth and depth of different cultures. From small group ministry, adult Bible classes, Sunday school, mission trips, and diversity in the economy, these areas matter in living a multi-ethnic life. We cannot live and understand the multi-ethnic vision of the church without living an integrated life. For communities where the majority culture is still normative, we need to make every effort to understand the cultures reflected in our community so it can become the norm versus something just “ethnic.”

This is the tip of the iceberg for us as Christ’s followers. When we start to practice living a life of intentionality with intercultural theology, it will automatically flow into other areas of our lives, like politics and how we as citizens interact and affect grassroots politics and policy. Our vision for a multi-ethnic church is local, national, and global. What we believe, how we live out, what we believe, and our decisions and choices all start with the relationships we build at a community level. The vision of Revelation 7:9 is not limited to just the local church. It is a mission cast over a much broader scope. I have hope for the local church in every community and every church with a multi-ethnic vision. I have this hope because I see the faithful who love God and love people make efforts daily in every walk of life. Not all churches need to be multi-ethnic. They don’t need to strive to be something they might not be meant to do in their community, which is OK. It is easier to take the time to understand, learn, and grow from an organic space of being instead of strategizing church culture from a top-down model. Multi-ethnic or inter-cultural theology is a journey. It is not a box that needs a checkmark next to it. It is a practiced theology that we turn into practical theology.

We quote Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

We use this verse almost as a crutch to avoid the hard work of practicing the theology we believe in. “We need to be able to take what we learn on a Sunday and work it out through the rest of the week.”

Revelation 7:9 needs to be something that we consider all the time. It should not be a verse just for use on a Sunday morning, but it should challenge us on a personal level. How do we behave daily, and how do we understand the depth of global culture? How does that culture impact and change us, creating a moving body of believers to create this global church? We are made up of differences and diversity as God intended it. But we need to practice the theology we believe in.

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