Several years ago, as my wife and I relocated our family, we faced an important decision: ‘What church should we join? In addition to the crucial criteria of adherence to sound biblical doctrine and the Great Commission, we also intentionally sought a church whose makeup and ministry approach were ethnic-specific. Even though we had no previous connection to the church, we resolved to join and grow alongside this new community.
Our decision raised a series of questions and even some accusations from others. As we interacted with those who questioned our decision, we identified a number of false notions that are often held about the ethnic-specific church. Here, I will seek to clarify some misunderstandings and correct some misconceptions about the ethnic-specfic church.
Yes, I read the Bible too.
Often I get the objection that an ethnic-specific church is “against the Bible” or “defies the gospel.” But the Bible doesn’t teach a multi-ethnic church mandate for a particular local church. There are passages often cited to argue for such a mandate, such as Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 2:15, Acts 11:19-21, Matthew 6:10, Revelation 7:9, and Colossians 3:11. But the conclusion of a multi-ethnic mandate is a non-sequitur; it does not logically follow from these passages. The context of each of these passages does not pertain to the makeup of a local church, nor does it contain a direct correspondence to ethnic distinctions in North America today.
Also, none of these oft-cited passages contain a command to follow. Even if a passage has a description of a situation, we are missing a key connector like “go and do likewise (Luke 10:37)” or “this should not be (James 3:10).” Even if we did have a command, we would still need to find “dots” to connect it to the idea that it applies to every local church. In fact, one of the most celebrated local churches in the New Testament, the Jerusalem church, was ethnic-specific, having Hebraic Jews and Hellenistic Jews (Acts 6:1).
We are not “trying to be comfortable.”
I’ve heard this accusation more times than I wish to count. There are several unsubstantiated assumptions here. First, there’s an assumption that the hard way is the godly way. But do we just look for trouble, then? Do we refuse to have decent chairs or heated church buildings?
Second, it assumes that a gathering of people who have commonalities is inherently selfish. Do we have the same accusations for people who are part of a women’s group, a church that reaches restaurant workers, or a senior citizen Bible study? Even a multi-ethnic church has people who have something in common: it is full of people who want to be with other ethnicities. Is the desire to be with like-minded people “being comfortable”?
Third, those who use this accusation are assuming to know the intentions of brothers and sisters in Christ: that our intention is to serve ourselves. But it is God who examines and knows the hearts of people (1 Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 17:10). In reality, I have personally experienced folks who participate in an ethnic church with the purpose of serving others. Just like every ministry, even if some are involved for selfish reasons, we can rejoice that the ministry itself is reaching them.
Fourth, there’s the assumption that an ethnic-specific church is comfortable in the first place. For me, the intercultural dynamics, clash of values, and generational gaps make it very uncomfortable. I’ve actually been more comfortable participating in ministries that are not ethnic-specific. Also, many people leave the ethnic church precisely because they’ve experienced something difficult, and they want to go somewhere else without the problem they encountered. The ones who stay often feel like we’d be “sell-outs” if we leave.
We are not being exclusive or “segregating.”
We understand that the optics of ethnic-specific ministries make us look exclusive. This perception especially occurs in societies that have experienced race-based injustice like Jim Crow laws or apartheid. Because of these histories, multi-ethnic local churches in these societies are often applauded and upheld as examples. But we must also be aware that our histories of race-based injustice can color the lenses through which we see Scripture or evaluate local churches.
The key to understanding ethnic-specific ministries is that we have a primary audience to which we contextualize our messages. Having a directed ministry approach doesn’t mean that those outside that demographic (a secondary audience) are unwelcome or cannot benefit from these ministries. In every ethnic-specific ministry in which I’ve participated, we’ve welcomed others who did not fit the target demographic, and they have often become deeply rooted members of the community. This is consistent with the messages of the Scriptures. They had a primary audience, written to a particular audience in a particular context. But we modern followers of Christ, as the secondary audience, can and do receive discipleship from them.
Those outside of ethnic-specific ministries often have questions and assumptions about the concept of modern contextualization. If you find yourself in a position of explaining this concept to others, I’d encourage pointing to ministry contexts that are age-specific (like a youth group), gender-specific (like a women’s Bible study), or interest-specific (like a church reaching the artist community). Ministries like these are often much more limiting than ethnic-specific ministries.
We are not being immature or “doing less.”
These are similar to each other, so I will combine them here. First, there’s an assumption that churches that begin ethnic-specific, should “mature” to become multi-ethnic. But contextualizing ministry to a particular demographic is not immature. If this were true, this would disparage the ministry approaches of the modern missions movement, the apostle Paul, and the risen Christ. Contextualization is not a ministry approach that one outgrows. Some of the most spiritually mature people I know have been leaders in ethnic-specific ministries.
Second, there’s a notion that ethnic-specific ministries should go beyond the demographic we currently reach, and “do more.” But the concept of “doing more” comes with the unfair assumption that we are being lazy or wasting time. In reality, the hardest working ministers I know are in the ethnic-specific church. Any assumption that they are “doing less” is an affront to their faithfulness. Besides, figures like Billy Graham, Hudson Taylor, and the apostle Peter (Galatians 2:8) committed their lives to serving a particular demographic. Jesus himself had an ethnic-specific discipleship group. Do we say that they should have “done more”?
Ethnic-specific churches are not divided from others.
We are part of a wider, universal body of Christ, and we celebrate that. The fact that followers of Christ are in distinct local churches doesn’t make us divided from each other. Romans 15:26 describes the saints in Macedonia and Achaia making a contribution to the church in Jerusalem. Despite being in distinct local bodies, they were very much united. We, too, can be united with brothers and sisters in other local churches.
Also, the existence of ethnic-specific churches is not evidence that there is a “dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14) between different ethnicities in the universal church. Contextualized ministry, whether ethnic-specific, age-specific, gender-specific, interest-specific, or other demographic-specific, does not necessitate a division or hostility with other groups.
There are many ways that ethnic-specific churches express unity with the rest of the universal church. Whether it’s through church networks, conferences, local outreach projects, or missions partnerships, it is beautiful to see the unity that churches can have together while keeping their local ministries distinct. While it is true that an ethnic-specific congregation could be closed off from those outside their church, this temptation exists for every local church, no matter its makeup or ministry focus.
My hope and prayer is that we all examine our assumptions as we read Scripture and interact with brothers and sisters in other local churches. Let’s be quick to listen and learn from one another as we seek to deepen our unity in Christ (John 17:20-23).
Photo Credit: Debby Hudson