CROSS CULTURE
Our churches must be multi-racial in order to express true kingdom of God culture, argues Jesus Fellowship apostolic leader, Steve Calam.

WE ARE in our oaken cathedral – the open air at Hyde Park. As we dance and sing “come and see Jesus brotherhood”, people are drawn to us there. There’s an Iranian couple; some of our Iranians get talking to them. Some South Africans come to have a look; there are Columbians, Italians, Brazilians... all attracted to what we’re doing, joining in, receiving prayer. It’s very, very exciting.

In such moments I see the future of the Church: people of different nations and races joined in a demonstration of Jesus that draws people from every race and culture.

Sixteen years ago, I moved from rural Warwickshire to London to lead the church here. Back then the church in Warwickshire was fairly mono-racial, but I knew that the church in London must be made up of many nationalities, because that reflects what London is. And more than that: it reflects what I believe church is. So I spoke into it, people caught the vision and it began to happen. People began to turn up who were not white English.

Now we have about 40 nations represented and I couldn’t imagine being in a church that isn’t made up of different nations.

DEATH AND RESURRECTION

It all starts with meeting at the Cross. Look at Galatians 3, from verse 26: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Wherever we’re from, our foundation is faith in Jesus Christ. If we “clothe ourselves with Christ” that will involve getting rid of our old cultural “clothing” – whether English or African or Polish – or whatever. “There is neither Jew nor Greek... for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Baptism means we’ve died to old things.

But it doesn’t end there: there is resurrection. “We were all baptised by one Spirit into one Body— whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free— and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13). We’re literally “plunged” into the Body. Paul goes on to write about every member having a contribution; I believe we can extend this to every cultural distinction having a contribution and enriching the Body. After baptism, your old cultural identity is no longer dominant, no longer defines you – yet you bring who you are, including your race and culture, into the Body and enrich it.

“Drinking of the one Spirit”, worshipping Christ and sharing in His life and power, maintains this oneness. If we stop “drinking” we inevitably begin focusing on the old distinctions again and trying to administer unity. “We’ll have this kind of group”; “we’ll wear these kinds of clothes”. It becomes a contrived thing rather than a spiritual thing – and it doesn’t work.

PROPHETIC LEADERSHIP

This is one reason why it is so vital that the Church is prophetically led. Prophetic leadership will cut across everybody’s preferences. We no longer do “our kind of church,” singing “our kind of songs”. Prophetic leadership, by its very nature, doesn’t pander to personal preferences: we’re all uncomfortable together!

Of course, this means that it is vital that such leadership is open to challenge, journeying with honesty, integrity and a willingness to learn. Otherwise the dominant culture may merely be that of the “prophetic” leadership.

I’ve learned many lessons over the years. I remember years ago in Warwickshire, we had a young West Indian woman in the church. She came up to me in a skimpy dress: bright red and consisting of a few inches of material.

“What do you think?” she asked me. I was horrified. (This was totally outside our dress code.) I said, “It’s awful.”

Hurt was written all over her face. I now realise she saw me as a father figure and how important it was for her to be affirmed. I should have said, “You look really beautiful” (and explained a little later on that it may not be a particularly helpful outfit...)

“You’ve got to take it off – at once”, I said. So she did. Right there and then. Leaving her... less modest still.

I was being completely insensitive to where she was coming from.

NITTY-GRITTY

Of course, the nitty-gritty of working out multi-racial church involves many such encounters. We could be glib and just say, “Be filled with the Spirit”. This is the starting point, but it has to be followed with a lot of love and learning about each other.

“Do to others as you would have them do to you” is the key. It is not so much a matter of rights and wrongs as living out love.

There’ll be some unexpected culture clashes. It’s easy to be in “sensitive mode” with someone from far away – the latest Inuit to turn up or whatever – but there can be huge communication problems with those we consider culturally “closer” to ourselves. I’ve had some incredible rows with one brother who comes from across a narrow strip of sea in Holland. Language falls apart sometimes – because we haven’t been sensitive and listened for what the other was really saying.

It’s important that this is genuine and that it flows out of our love for each other. It can be easy to slip into tokenism (putting chilli sauce on the table with the Yorkshire pudding and saying “We’re going African tonight”!) Our music style changed dramatically the moment an African brother arrived: yet we were enriched by his contribution, not making token gestures to try and make him “feel at home”.

POVERTY OF SPIRIT

Our multi-ethnic increase in London may have more to do with economics than culture. Most white Brits in London are taken up with the UK’s dominant religion – materialism. Eastern Europeans, Africans and others who come to the UK poor (and poor in spirit) tend to be the ones who respond. Being a multi-racial church flows out of being a church of the poor. We need to reach such people with the gospel before they are converted to British consumerism.

We should learn from the sad story of white Christian relationships with black Afro-Caribbean churches in the UK. Initially, such black churches were largely rejected by the white mainstream. Now many are growing far faster than white churches, yet they’re usually mono-ethnic. An opportunity for a demonstration of oneness in Christ was squandered.

Now churches are starting to form relationships across the racial divide – with the Multiply Network this is happening. This is excellent, but still not so powerful a demonstration as single churches containing a thoroughgoing racial mix.

Then there is the miracle of Christian community. It’s one thing to do church; it’s another thing to live with one another. One of our African brothers was asked by fellow Africans, “How do you live with white people?”

Yet he does. We live in community together. Our shared life is full of joy and fun, even regarding cultural issues: we don’t tiptoe around them, we enjoy the differences and have a laugh about the crazy things we all do and say. (I think I’m being so spiritual, but I’m just being so English sometimes. That’s when it’s healing to be laughed at.)

Churches must demonstrate to the nations that Christians have broken down the barriers. This is part of our being a light to the nations – and healing to the nations.

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