What's In a Name?

In an increasingly diverse society, the pursuit and acquisition of cross-cultural competence is necessary for advancing the gospel together as one through the local church; and beyond that, for us to do so as a unified, evangelical, body of believers across the country. To affirm this theologically, however, is one thing; a no-brainer. To live this out practically is quite another; easier said than done.

Along this line, my colleague of more than ten years, Dr. Harry Li, has written,

"Make no mistake about it: in a multi-ethnic church, there is a 100 percent chance that at some point you will offend someone with a different ethnic or economic background — and you won’t know how to resolve the tension. It’s inevitable. In fact, every person on our staff has at one time or another said or done something that someone else has found offensive — and it has happened with uncommon regularity! In such moments, it can be very difficult not to take a comment or action personally. Indeed, the enemy seeks to exploit our every insecurity in order to create misunderstanding, destroy trust, and undermine the credibility of the gospel, and of the church, by causing division. (Eph. 6:12)"*

Case in point? Use of terms and terminology.

Recently I became aware of an online conference entitled, "Easter Ninja." It's host and organizer, Bob Franquiz, is the founding and Senior Pastor at Calvary Fellowship in Miami, FL and founder of Outreach Ninja. According to its website, "The goal of Outreach Ninja is to help (pastors) maximize the marketing/promotional dollars you have budgeted and see (churches) reach maximum people in your community." Fact is, I'm certain I (our church) could learn a lot from participating.

For Bob, then, a good brother and evangelical leader with whom I spoke this morning, use of the term "Ninja" is meant positively; to portray a skillful, trained, and focused (spiritual) warrior who knows how to work smart not hard for the sake of the gospel, effectively and efficiently, to reach more people and spend (waste) less money in the process. Similarly, I found a coaching network for business leaders called Ninja Coaching which emphasizes focus, skills, action, and results.

Other evangelicals with whom I've spoken, however, find the term ill-advised and/or insensitive, potentially reinforcing a wrong, negative, image of Asians as dark, shadowy, or violent. Considering the name of the conference, these are rightly asking (as am I), Can't we do better? Is there not another term or better way to promote an otherwise well-meaning agenda?

Re. the purpose of the conference, Bob is doing a good thing and means no offense; quite the opposite. Likewise, evangelicals who question the name of the conference are doing a good thing by raising awareness and encouraging more thoughtful consideration of such things among evangelicals both now and in the future:

• By talking as they (we) are, greater understanding, relationships, and trust will be forged;
• By talking as they (we) are, cross-cultural competence will be gained;
• By talking as they (we) are, the credibility of the gospel will be enhanced.

God will be glorified.

At the end of the day, then, it is exploitation by our common spiritual enemy that we (evangelicals) must at all costs avoid if we are to present a consistent, compelling, message of God's love for all people in an otherwise cynical society. This requires of us prayer, patience, and persistence in seeking to walk, work, and worship God together as one beyond race, class, network and/or denominational distinction, etc. And it requires of us both great and purposeful, humility.

Indeed we must not allow our past-experiences, personalities, or preferences, to inform our view of one another, judge one another from a distance, or come between us. Rather we must leverage such things to build greater understanding, sensitivity, and partnership in the days ahead for the sake of the Gospel. And this we will do by being proactive in our communication with one another across ethnic and economic lines; and more than that, by building healthy cross-cultural relationships with one another in and through the local church.

It is precisely for this reason that the Apostle Paul writes to the local church at Philippi ...

"Therefore, since you receive encouragement from being united with Christ, since you receive comfort from his love, since you share commonly in the Spirit, since you have received tenderness and compassion yourselves, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." (Philippians 2:1-4)

Finally, let me make one thing clear: I am most certainly not above any one else in this regard, and continue to learn both through continuous effort and by making mistakes.

For instance, drawing evangelical attention to the Easter Ninja conference as I have done and inviting public opinion re. the name of this evangelical event is, in my view, a good way to encourage feedback from all sides of the (an) issue and learn from the discourse.

However, I was wrong to retweet several opinions on the matter that could be misconstrued as unfair generalizations, premature judgements of others from a distance, and/or divisive. Indeed, some may have taken my retweets as a tacit condemnation of those involved in the conference whether directly or indirectly. As I'm eluding, this is the furthest thing from the turth or my intention. To the degree that I may have inadvertently hurt anyone or fanned any flames of division, I apologize without reservation.

As I have often said in the twelve years I have been deeply engaged in multi-ethnic, economically diverse ministry, if any one tells you they are an expert in such matters, you can know one thing for sure: he/she is not! Indeed there are no experts, in my opinion, when it comes to fully understanding one another beyond the distinctions of race and class in the body of Christ, or even beyond it; there are only fellow travelers trying to do the right thing in pursuit of cross-cultural competence, and growing through the process.

If you are on that road, press on with me. If you are not, I invite you to come and join us.

*From the book, Ethnic Blends: Mixing Diversity Into Your Local Church, by Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li, Zondervan, p. 171.