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The Challenges of Multiculturalism for the American Church

Malcolm Webber, Ph.D.

Multiculturalism: the Good and the Bad

God intends His church in America to be multicultural, and there are great potential benefits in this. Alder (1997, pp. 100-101) notes the following organizational benefits derived from multiculturalism:

  1. Multiple perspectives.
  2. Greater openness to new ideas.
  3. Multiple interpretations.
  4. Increasing creativity.
  5. Greater flexibility.
  6. Improved problem-solving skills.

Moreover, Ortiz (1996, pp. 76-77) notes some additional church-specific synergistic advantages of multiculturalism:

  1. Enriched knowledge of the Word of God, as plural leaders minister to each other.
  2. Deeper congregational repentance regarding attitudes of paternalism and racism.
  3. Increased church growth, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
  4. The headship of Christ is more visible as the people depend on Him more as they obey His commandment to take the gospel to all cultural groups.
  5. In a society where racial strife is more evident than brotherly love, a multicultural church provides a greater testimony of the reality and power of Christ’s love to men, and often leads to evangelism and growth in the church, as well as healing in the community.
  6. The biblical concept of unity in diversity is fleshed out in this biblical order of the church.

However, multiculturalism has more than just this "sunny side," and Alder (1997, p. 100) notes the following organizational costs due to multiculturalism:

  1. Increased ambiguity.
  2. Greater complexity.
  3. More confusion.
  4. Miscommunication.
  5. Difficult to reach agreement regarding meanings.
  6. Difficult to agree on specific actions.

As Hofstede (1997) astutely observes, "culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster" (p. xiii). Moreover, "diversity...is not self-managing" (Joplin & Daus, 1997). Effective leadership of any multicultural constituency requires specific skills and sensitivities (Sullivan, 1992; Thomas & Ely, 1996; McEnrue, 1993; Wheeler, 1997; Fraser, 1998). In addition, new organizational structures are called for (Hofstede, 1997): structures that specifically and intentionally embrace a multicultural constituency. Thus, effective multicultural churches will create structures and practices that, in a biblically-consistent manner, will bridge cultural differences.

To reach the people of many nations that God is sending to America, we must change our ways. American-based church structure and leadership theories must be altered to become applicable in a ministry context that is becoming increasingly multicultural. The profound consequences of culture demand such a radical transformation.

« The Biblical Basis of Multiculturalism Multiculturalism: The Good and the Bad What is Culture? »

© Malcolm Webber, Ph.D., www.healthyleaders.org.

Reproduced on this web site by permission.