For the past five years, Open Table Community EFC (in Chamblee, Ga.) and I have been on a multiethnic journey. I say “journey” because I’m not sure it’s something you “arrive” at, even though, statistically, some might say that Open Table has.
The more I talk with others across the EFCA , the more I realize that for every church and ministry that’s committed to multiethnicity, it started with someone’s personal journey—wrestling with God over what He says matters in His Church. That’s true for me as well.
My journey started with a realization that the church I was leading was drifting deeper and deeper into irrelevance. I was sitting in a beautiful, cathedral-like building with million-dollar homes all around, and the closest we got to anyone in the neighborhood was when they used our driveway for a turnaround.
Together, our church leaders fasted and prayed in 2004. But rather than things getting better, they seemed to get worse. It was at this point that I prayed, OK, Father, show me Your kingdom again; I’ve lost something here. It was a dangerous prayer.
As I searched the Scriptures, asking what God’s priorities were for our church, many things stood out to me: God’s incarnation (John 1:14), whom God seeks (Luke 4:18, 19:10), our mission (Matthew 28, Mark 1:17), our power source and purpose (John 17:20-26, Colossians 1:28), and the wonderful end result (Revelation 7:9).
As I considered that last verse especially, and its glorious picture of believers from every nation, tribe, people and language, I was struck by the huge disconnect: Our church was 99-percent middle-class Caucasian Republican. We were not a church of “all nations,” as I increasingly longed to be. And I had no idea how to get there, so I asked God to bring the people who had the pieces to this puzzle. God started answering those prayers.
Just to be clear: This is not a linear “have a plan and execute it” process. It’s more like groping around in a dark room, hitting your shins and making changes. The good news is that you can have greater confidence in God’s ability to get you where He wants you, than in your ability to “figure it out.”
As I write this, we have just moved for the third time in five years to be closer to the immigrant/refugee communities God has called us to love and learn from. Now, half our elder board is non-Caucasian, and the same holds true for more than 30 percent of our congregation.
My opinion is that God is real serious about making His churches reflect the diversity of His kingdom. While the first step of the gospel is reconciliation with God, it doesn’t stop there. It also involves reconciliation with others, which is an ongoing process of initiating, loving, repenting.
Multiethnic church is not something I “do”; instead, it’s a head-on collision about how much I truly love God and love others.
Living this out has come with some dramatic highs and lows for me.
The highs? The encouragement that comes from living life surrounded by men and women from other backgrounds, cultures and nations who know parts of Jesus and the Christian life that I would never know without them. As a result, I’m getting to know a Jesus who is even bigger and more amazing than I ever imagined.
The lows? With the new, diverse relationships come stories of pain, alienation and heartbreak. I have the privilege and burden to be part of helping the church (which includes me) repent of contributing to hurtful division—whether by outright hostility, callous indifference or the more common silence.
At my church, people have not only shared their experiences of racial prejudice, but they’ve also been honest about when I’ve been an unwitting bearer of that prejudice.
Listening, repenting and figuring out how to move forward can bring out disquieting, heavy feelings in me. But it’s nothing compared to the crushing weight that my friends have to deal with every day—a weight of distrust, division and unequal treatment that Jesus says has no part in His Church.
I’m glad to know I’m not on this journey alone. More and more EFCA leaders are sharing their stories with me. When Shane Stacey—national director of EFCA ReachStudents*—first processed the biblical texts tied to a multiethnic body of Christ, he thought, Oh my goodness, this isn’t just a nice idea; this isn’t optional. It’s critical to the mission of the church.
Bambi Encarnacion is a leader at First EFC of Fullerton (Calif.) whose own experience as a minority has shaped her and is shaping First EFC ’s multiethnic journey. “I’ve become more active in boldly calling out acts of prejudice, be it racism, sexism or ageism,” she says, “because of the change I’ve seen in me when I’ve been called out—as well as the change I’ve seen in others when they understand the offensiveness of their actions.”
The truth is, it’s more comfortable and personally affirming to not do multiethnic church. Or to do it in such a way that we have lots of different people in the same room, but none are honestly talking about real unity, real pain and real partnership. I don’t think that is Jesus’ way.
Rather, Jesus has provided a compass for our journey—all of the “one-another” and “no privilege allowed” Scriptures (such as 1 Corinthians 12, Galatians 2, Ephesians 4, James 2).
When things get rough, I also go to the back of the book. Starting with the praise and worship of the Book of Revelation, I am reminded of what God says His Church looks like. And I can continue making changes to keep headed in that direction.
You as a leader might recognize elements of my personal journey, but the changes your church makes will likely look different from ours at Open Table. There’s no template. Don’t worry about arriving—just follow God as He shows you what His kingdom looks like.
*As of December 2009, ReachStudents is the new name for EFCA Student Ministries.
Tim Isaacson is pastor of Open Table Community EFC in Chamblee, Ga. In addition to conversations within his congregation, he values two other annual gatherings that help him process where he is on the multiethnic journey: the EFCA Southeast District’s Samaritan Way meeting with Alvin Sanders, executive director of reconciliation (www.efca.org/samaritanway); and the Christian Community Development Conference (www.ccda.org).
