Readers of USA Today awoke this morning to an article by Bob Smietana calling attention to the growing advance of the Multi-ethnic Church Movement! Click here to read the entire article which includes comments from Mosaix Advisory Board Members, Efrem Smith and Soong-Chan Rah.
As
with all articles, an oppositional quote is also part of the article;
this one, from my good friend, Dr. Gary McIntosh. Here's the excerpt:
Gary
McIntosh, professor of Christian Ministry and Leadership at Biola
University in La Mirada, Calif., doubts that multiethnic churches will
ever become commonplace. He said it's human nature for churches to
attract people who share a common background or culture. That doesn't
mean they are intentionally segregated, McIntosh said. "Churches gather
around to worship Jesus Christ -- but there are always secondary factors
that draw people together," he said.
Hmmm ... let me counter his statement:
1.
Gary is a good man, but unfortunately left alone to defend (perhaps)
unintended, but nevertheless very real consequences of a misunderstanding and misapplication of the Homogeneous Unit Principle (HUP)
promoted through the years by the so-called Church Growth Movement
(which he has helped to perpetuate as a past President of the American Society for Church Growth). For decades this principle has been promoted as the modus operandi for
those who would plant, grow or develop successful churches in the
United States typically measured by numbers, dollars and buildings. But
did you know the principle’s very own progenitor, Donald McGavran,
himself, had this to say about the HUP ... “Do, I beg of you, think of it primarily a missionary and evangelistic principle.” McGavran also warned that with any misunderstanding or misapplication of the HUP, “there is a danger that congregations…become exclusive, arrogant, and racist. That danger must be resolutely combated.”
Ask yourself, Do you know of or suspect any churches today of being so inclined?
For
a complete discussion of this subject, and to learn how the HUP more
accurately and biblically applies to church planting, growth and
development today, download this free eBook resource from Mosaix! (note: after downloading, make sure you check your junk/spam folder if you don't see it right away)
2. Furthermore, while we might all agree with Gary that "it's human nature
for churches to attract people who share a common background or
culture," doesn't the Christian life call us to rise above what is
otherwise natural in order to embrace the supernatural; to operate in
the Spirit and not the flesh? Indeed, isnt it about aligning the church
with Christ's vision and not our own?
3. Finally if churches are
targetting a partiucular demographic, i.e., planting, growing, or
developing focused on a single people group, those with a common
background or culture, etc., how can one argue "they are not
intentionally segrgeated?"
I welcome your comments.
Comments