This is the first part of a well known saying, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Probably many of you are familiar with it. But for those who are not, it simply describes the natural tendency for us to be attracted to others who are like us. If you are at Starbucks and you see a fellow church member, you will naturally be drawn to them and greet them. Or if you are far away from home and see someone wearing a Seahawks' jersey, you might feel a kinship with them, even though the person is a complete stranger to you. I remember on our trip to Russia with SOAR seeing someone wearing a shirt with a big green “O” on it (for all you haters, “O” stands for Oregon, not zero!) and I immediately said, “Go ducks.” We are more naturally drawn to be with people who are like us.
Years ago, the church growth movement figured this out. They encouraged churches to seek a “target audience,” knowing that a church will grow more rapidly if it caters to a very specific group. They took the concept that “you can’t please all the people all the time” and applied it to church, creating services that would attract a narrow, homogeneous group. We even saw this phenomenon, to some extent, with the Mars Hill movement. Though it may not have been driven by church growth principles, this church certainly catered to a very specific demographic, twenty something urbanites, and saw explosive growth as a result. But some members of that movement began to see, early on, that what was beneficial for the sake of getting bigger numbers was not so beneficial when it came to enjoying the healthy diversity of the church of Christ. What does this have to do with Renton Bible Church? Well, you may have already noticed, we do not enjoy the perks of church growth movement numbers. We’ve never had a target audience, at least certainly not in an intentional way. In fact, if anything, at least during my nearly 15 years here, we’ve gone in the opposite direction, creating ministries that are less targeted to any specific demographic and more targeted to the diverse neighborhood in which we minister. With what result? Well, we haven’t seen the explosive growth in overall numbers proffered by the church growth movement. But we have seen numerical growth in one area: demographic diversity. What I mean is that our church has become increasingly diverse socio-economically, ethnically and generationally. I praise God for this reality because I believe it better reflects Christ’s Kingdom. As Paul says in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The more diverse our church is, the better we reflect this reality. And you may be surprised to know that by the most popular definition, we would be considered a multi-ethnic church. A multi-ethnic church is a church where a single racial group does not make up more than 80%. That is true of Renton Bible. Astoundingly, statistics say that only 2.5% of evangelical churches in the U.S. are multi-ethnic. Of course, many churches are unable to be multi-ethnic because they simply do not have the racial diversity of a community like ours. Regardless, I think it is wonderful to have this as one of our defining characteristics, right along with our emphasis on missions, children’s ministries, and Bible exposition. Having said this, I think we have to also acknowledge that our diversity doesn’t come without some obstacles. If nothing else, it goes back to the idea of “Birds of a feather flock together.” We are less likely to benefit from the natural growth that comes from having a narrower demographic. Additionally, differences create natural opportunities for misunderstanding and they can tend to be an obstacle to fellowship. Just as I am naturally drawn to someone who is like me, I am less drawn to people who I deem to be less like me. Let me just say, I am fine with these obstacles. If greater diversity means less numerical growth, that’s fine with me. If greater diversity means we must work harder to see the members of our body engage in meaningful fellowship, so be it. The challenges that being multi-ethnic present are well worth the blessings, not the least of which is better representing the diversity of the Kingdom of God (Micah 4:1-5). Even so, I think they present a healthy challenge for us as Christ-followers. How about you? How are you doing when it comes to making connections with others in our body who are different than you? If you are a senior, do you seek to connect with those who are younger? If younger, do you seek to connect with those who are not so young? If you were born outside of the U.S., do you seek ways to connect with those who are U.S. born? If you are U.S. born, do you seek to connect with those born outside the U.S.? If you are a Huskies or Cougars fan, do you seek to show love to any Ducks fans who may be in your midst? (Ok, that may have been a little self-serving, but it’s been a rough season!) Pray that God will continue to increase our impact in this diverse community in which we live. But pray, as well, that we will all aspire to more meaningful expressions of love and unity in our faith community (Ephesians 4:2-6).
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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