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RahNext 11-05-050 |
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The Next
Evangelicalism Freeing
the Church from Western Cultural Captivity Soong-Chan
Rah InterVarsity
Press, 20009, 228 pp. ISBN 978-0-8308-3360-3 |
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Rah is a professor of
church growth and evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in
Chicago. Previously he planted a
multi-ethnic church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a Korean who grew up in the U.S. he sees
that American evangelicals have been assimilated into the culture and have
Americanized Christianity. White
churches are in decline while immigrant, ethnic and multiethnic churches are
flourishing. The church must repent
and prepare for the next stage, a nonwhite majority, multiethnic American
Christianity. PART
ONE - The Western White Cultural Captivity of the Church 1.
Individualism - The Heartbeat of Western, White Cultural
Captivity Individualism is the
defining attribute of our nation's ethos.
It is also at the center of the theology and ecclesiology of the
American church, reducing faith to a personal, private and individual faith,
reflecting the narcissism of American culture. Worship becomes an exercise of personal
self-fulfillment. Church life becomes
a fulfillment of our individual needs and desires. "Small groups become a place of
support and counsel rather than a place where Scripture challenges the
participants toward kingdom living." (37) Following the cultural norm
of individualism (vs. Scriptural norms), we reduce sin to a personal issue
and fail to deal with corporate or structural social evils such as poverty,
racism, and social injustice, and the expression of human fallenness they
represent. 2. Consumerism and Materialism - The Soul of
Western, White Cultural Captivity Materialism is the pursuit
of individual gain at the expense of what is best for society. An individual's worth is based on their
possessions. Social life is reduced to
the exchange of goods and products. It
adds urgency to meeting our personal needs.
We begin to think we can solve spiritual problems with material
goods. "American Christianity…is
no longer distinguishable in its values and norms from the excessive
materialism of American society." (51)
The church's value system is reflected in its expenditures. We now build church buildings that look
like and serve as shopping malls. Spiritual
life becomes shallow, reduced to a consumable product, a materialistic
exchange of goods. We more accurately
reflect American culture than Scripture, attracting consumers with marketing
techniques and finding it difficult to transition to a deeper level of
commitment to Christ or his body. The
American dream becomes confused with biblical standards. Material success deludes us into thinking rich
white Christians have answers for the world's problems. "In the pursuit of the
short-term benefit of material gain, the church has sacrificed the long-term
benefits of being the kingdom of God, the body of Christ and the bride of
Jesus." (62) It has become
essentially irrelevant in proclaiming and demonstrating kingdom principles of
peace and justice. 3. Racism
- The Residue of Western, White
Cultural Captivity "The category of race
is a product of Western social history." (66) [? DLM] It has dysfunctional and sinful
origins. "Racism…ends up creating
social values and norms that become the way our culture conducts business.
Racism is America's original and most deeply rooted sin." (68) "We are quick to deal with the
symptoms of sin in America, but often times are unwilling to deal with the
original sin of America: namely, the kidnapping of Africans to use as slave
labor, and usurping of lands belonging to Native Americans and subsequent
genocide of indigenous peoples. … This original sin of racism has had
significant and ongoing social and corporate implications for the church in
America." (69) "Anyone that has
benefited from America's original sin is guilty of that sin and bears the
corporate shame of that sin." (70)
"When we claim that we are not complicit in the corporate sin of
racism, we fail to grasp how being a beneficiary of an unjust system yields a
culpability for those that benefit from that system. … The American economy
was built upon free land stolen from the Native American community and free
labor kidnapped from Africa." (71)
"Our corporate sin of racism and our corporate life as
beneficiaries of a racist system require our corporate confession."
(71) "White privilege is the
other side of racism. White privilege
is the system that places white culture in American society at the center
with all other cultures on the fringes." (72) "Racism elevates one
race as the standard to which other races should seek to attain and makes one
race the ultimate standard of reference." (80)
"Racism is idolatry. It is
a decisive act of turning away from God to the creature. It is the worship of the creature instead
of the Creator." (81) The US is rapidly becoming
multi-ethnic. We must plant and
develop multiethnic churches in America.
"The twenty-first century must be the century of multiracial
congregations." (85) "Racial
justice…must be the paradigm by which we build multiethnic churches. …we must establish churches that honor the
breadth of God's image found in a range of cultural expressions."
(86) "If the American
church is able to look toward the future with a hope and a promise, then the
sin of racism must be confessed and racial justice and racial reconciliation
become a theological priority over and above the priority of producing a
pragmatic paradigm of church growth." (87) PART
TWO - The Pervasiveness of the Western, White Captivity of the Church 4. The Church Growth Movement and Megachurches The Church growth movement
prioritizes the Great Commission over the Great Commandment and prioritizes
an individualistic personal evangelism over the transformation of communities
by the gospel. It focuses on pragmatic
planning, marketing, and mass production of preset programs to achieve
numerical goals. The early church was a
primary (tribal, personal, relational) culture where the church cared
personally and conversions came relationally.
We now live in a secondary (impersonal, priority of objects,
intermediated) culture and the church tends to operate this way. "Have we overemphasized the personalized,
verbal proclamation of the gospel while ignoring the public demonstration of
the gospel--through racial reconciliation, social service, social action and
justice?" (107) 5. The Emergent Church's Captivity to Western, White
Culture Even though the emerging
population is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, the emergent church is a young
white western postmodern reaction to white western modern
evangelicalism. There is minimal
acknowledgement of diversity and how nonwhite Christianity will shape
American evangelicalism. "One of
the current failings of the emerging church is the failure to listen to other
voices." (119) Micah 4 predicts that after
the wars and conflicts many nations will stream to the mountain of the Lord
to receive teaching, reversing the tower of Babel. God longs for his people to reflect unity
in diversity. We are nowhere close. The real emerging church is
in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
And in America, it is represented by the English-speaking Latino
congregation, the second-generation Asian American church, the Haitian
immigrant church, etc. 6. The
Cultural Imperialism of the Western, White Captivity of the Church "Globalization means
that cultural exchange and influence can occur more frequently and on a much
larger scale. … However, the reality…is that one culture, one nation or one
worldview tends to dominate the world, and there is an imbalanced flow
between cultures." It is largely
the spread of Americanization, "the imposition of the culture of the
powerful upon the powerless." (128-29) The Western, white captivity of the
church is transmitted also, "resulting in a global Christianity that is
just as captive to Western, white Christianity. … Because of an existing
imbalance of power, the movement of the gospel message from Western culture
to non-Western culture yields a system of dependence and results in a
cultural hegemony." (129)
"The Western, white captivity of the church is not just an
American evangelical phenomenon; it has now become a global phenomenon."
(133) "The best way to
understand the full complexity of the gospel message is to learn from others
who are seeing the story from a different angle. The necessity of mutual learning cannot be
overstated." (136) If an American
church is planning to send 10 summer missionaries to Kenya, then it should be
prepared to receive 10 summer missionaries from Kenya. There is no
excuse for sitting in only one seat in the stadium. There is a powerful need for diverse voices
to speak into global Christianity. PART
THREE - Freedom from the Western, White Captivity of the Church 7. Suffering and Celebration - Learning
from the African American and Native American Communities We often tend to assume
that those with power and privilege will serve and lead the others who have
little to offer. Our theology is a
theology of celebration, not suffering.
Our mobility allows us to disregard and disconnect from the
suffering. Upward mobility fragments
American society and concentrates power.
There is limited opportunity to connect with those who are immobile,
trapped in a system of survival and suffering. The disconnect
fosters a superior perspective of ourselves and a negative perception of
others. A proper understanding of
power and privilege should lead us to a healthy intersection of celebration
and suffering. Our theology has only
half the story. "Just as Christ
emptied himself and made his dwelling among us, we also ought to empty
ourselves and make our dwelling among them." (152) The celebration theology
focuses on stewardship of abundant resources.
The theology of suffering is a theology of the cross that focuses on
the need for salvation and survival, God as deliverer, warrior and
conqueror. Fighting injustice becomes
a central priority. The movement of
theology needs to move in both directions. To break the captivity,
there needs to be an intentional relinquishing of power and privilege. Not confronting it is passively accepting
it. "If you are a white
Christian wanting to be a missionary in this day and age, and you have never
had a nonwhite mentor, then you will not be a missionary. You will be a colonialist. Instead of taking the gospel message into
the world, you will take an Americanized version of the gospel." (162) 8. Holistic Evangelism - Learning
from the Immigrant Church The immigrant church is the
most dynamic movement in the US and the model for the next
evangelicalism. Five characteristics
of the Korean immigrant church:
A large proportion of
Korean immigrant congregations were not Christians in Korea. The church was the only place in the US to
meet their social needs. Similarly in
African American history, the church was family and community, the social
network. In both groups the pastor
often served the dual role of spiritual leader and social worker. Evangelism is the engagement of life on all
levels. "Are we willing to
acknowledge that the immigrant church that appears to be a people in need, might actually have something to teach us?"
(179) 9. A Multicultural Worldview - Learning
from the Second Generation "In the next
evangelicalism, the second generation (immigrants), with their unique ethos
and strength, along with those in our churches who have crosscultural,
luminal experiences, will be the ones best equipped to face the next stage of
the church." (181) Their stories
and experiences can be a unifying and connecting experience, straddling
different cultures and ethnicities.
"Multiethnic ministry cannot occur without the unique skills
offered by bicultural Americans." (188)
However, we must view immigrants differently, embracing the alien and
stranger among us. "The shift in global
Christianity has already occurred. The
shift in American evangelicalism is well under way. The white churches are in significant
decline. A seemingly God-ordained
action in the last few decades has been the influx of immigrants to the
shores of the United States to offset the decline of the white church in
America. Many of these immigrant
communities have provided 'spiritual reinforcements' to a Christian community
in the United States that had been noticeable decline. Revivals in most urban centers occurred as
a result of the growth of immigrant churches.
The church growth edge for urban centers is not affluent white
churches, but poor, disenfranchised immigrant churches." (191) Second generation
immigrants are uniquely poised to serve as leaders of the next
generation. Freedom from cultural
captivity is needed to enter a new multiethnic phase for the American
church. But white Christians will need
to submit to the authority and leadership of nonwhite Christians. Will they? Conclusion Corporate confession begins
with awareness. And the captivity of
the church can be overcome by the humble willingness to submit to the
spiritual authority of nonwhites. |
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