Diversity in 3D

Diversity has been on my mind a lot as we get closer to church planting. We have long had a vision to plant in an area where “the urban poor and urban professional communities intersect”. This is typically an area where development or redevelopment is occurring in what has in recent history been a lower income area. Our hope is to plant a church that includes both urban poor and urban professional, because we believe both have much to learn from the other.

But diversity is of course a much broader topic than just socio-economic considerations. I typically think of three key dimensions of diversity. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is race (or ethnicity in a broader sense). The second is socio-economic, which often (but not always) coincides with race. And the third is age.

I think that in terms of a church plant, the priority of these three is the inverse of that given above. Don’t hear me wrong, racial diversity is important. But church plants often max out on age at the approximate age of the church planter. Attracting elder members to a church plant is a real challenge for a young pastor. But not having the wisdom of elder members can present major problems for a church planter, particularly as the church itself matures.

So how does a young church planter go about recruiting elder members? I have a few ideas, but I would like to get some more. One idea I have is to go to some of the suburban churches in the area and ask if any empty-nesters are moving back to the city for high-rise living (a significant trend in metro areas). And of course a high priority must be put on finding older members to be a part of the launch team, because what you start with is often what you will inherently grow to be.

Please share your ideas about priorities and instigating healthy age diversity. We have a year to generate ideas before we form a launch team.

(PS - the picture above is one page from a demographics study Joe Haack and I did for Harbor, the columns coincide roughly with my three areas - ethnicity, economy and age)

Incarnational Living?

Help me think through this. Most of you have heard the term "incarnational living" used to refer to those who go and live in the hood to minister the gospel. Some ministries even term their workers "incarnational", if they come from somewhere else, or "indigenous", if they are from the area. But I am not sure that the term "incarnation" is an accurate term for this ministry. Furthermore, it seems to bring some dangerous implications with its use. And what is worse, it probably creates a wrong mindset in those who would consider themselves "incarnational".

I will begin by saying that everyone I have ever met who calls himself (or herself) an "incarnational" minister of the gospel has sacrificed much for the sake of the gospel and has had no ill-intentions in using the phrase. But that said, the term may still be a dangerous one. First, the term "incarnation" refers to a spiritual being taking on flesh. Jesus did that, and no one else has. True, he stooped to take on flesh. But if we minister to the poor, we do not stoop in a "spirit taking on flesh" way. We may need to sacrifice to minister to the poor, but we do not incarnate when we do so.

Second, it seems using this term puts the poor in an awkward position. How are they to relate to the "incarnational" ones? As Spirit filled believers, are the indigenous not just as "incarnational" as those from the outside?

But mostly, it seems that the term runs a huge risk for those who apply it to themselves. There are some qualities of Christ that he called others to take on. And there are others that only he has. Jesus was a teacher, and he called others to be teachers. Jesus was a shepherd... And Jesus was fully God who became fully man (the incarnation), and he did not call anyone else to do that. So by using this term, we may be inadvertently applying a uniquely divine attribute to ourselves. Not intentionally, of course, but not without risk of shaping our thinking.

Please don't hear what I am not saying. We absolutely are called to sacrifice for the sake of our brothers and sisters. We are to defend the cause of the poor and the oppressed. We are to watch out that we don't let money and luxury consume us. And some of us are called to live among the poor, just as Jesus at times did. But I am sure that most "incarnational" Christians will tell you that while they have sacrificed much, they have received and learned even more from their poor neighbors. Then the question becomes, who is really ministering to whom?