Generally, we can agree on the strengths of multi-culturalism, but what about it’s weaknesses?
Growing up in a town that was split between two dominant ethincities, First Nations and Euro-Canadian, I saw firsthand how two communities can ignore each other while living right next to each other. There are always exceptions but having grown up in both communities, I couldn't help but see the rift, culturally, ideologically, economically, etc...
Because of my parents’ commitment to be among the First Nations community (they’re still there) I was able to be in both communities throughout my childhood and adolescence. An issue that kept coming up over and over again was how to do church and be the church in a community that was obviously split right down the middle in so many ways. The “white” church in town had a building, programs, a strong core community and a solid history within the community.
As children, we were aware that our parents had come to this little town in Western British Columbia to be a part of what God was doing to birth a First Nations Church among the Statlimx people in the interior of that great province. In the first years my family attended the “white” church but eventually broke off to commit themselves completely to the First Nations community. When that decision was made, we were commissioned by this community in a good way, but still misunderstood by some. From some, there was no small disagreement in this family that had nurtured our growth and Christian need for community from the first year that we arrived as a family. Why did they disagree?
Well, it had been my parents’ intention from the beginning to be there for the First Nations community and that had been made clear. Otherwise they wouldn’t have considered a little town in Western Canada to be their home, where they would raise their children and where they will probably pass from this life into the next and be buried. Some from our very loved "white" church had assumed that in order to be faithful, we needed to be multi-cultural and do community together as one community and we could do it in their building since they were already meeting, had space and were hoping to see their church grow. For my parents, they had realized very soon that if they didn’t have a mono-cultural environment for the Native to community to discover Christ and grow up in their love for him – it wouldn’t happen.
What wouldn’t happen – a distinct First Nations expression of faith, practice and belief would not come into being. There were some years where the First Nations community did visit the “white” church but historically, this proved to produce disappointing results and not because anything was done to hurt them but because of the need for distinctives. Why do we need distinctives in our expression of belief and practice? If every tribe, tongue and nation is to stand before Christ worshiping one day, each tribe, tongue and nation will need to do so in their own distinct way - the way that God created them to worship him, both distinctively and corporately. In order to be "truly corporate" in our worship of the Creator, we need to be "honestly distinctive" and to recognize and honor others in their distinctiveness instead of begrudging them of their identity so that they'll just do it our way. Getting others do to it our way may be more expedient but it is ultimately sinful and imperialistic. For a First Nations community to worship both distinctively Native but also within a corporately diverse Christian community, some incubation time is still needed to allow their distinctives to be retrieved, appreciated and recognized by self and others - something that has historically been a bloodied battle ground. Organizations like Wiconi International and NAIITS (North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies) are pioneering this project among others like Broken Walls, a First Nations worship band that writes and composes songs that can be sung to the Creator in a Native way. Criticism and praise has been received by these organizations by those who think that syncretism is right around the corner. Jonathan Maracle, the lead singer for Broken Walls, once asked a white church, "If our drum is evil, then what makes your Yamaha piano holy?" There are questions and concerns of contextualization and syncretism that need answers but require the input and valued insight of First Nations Christians more than (but not exclusively) others and therefore space and recognition is required for this to take place.
Historically, certain ethnicities have always dominated the cultural milieus that exist, ideologically, politically, economically, etc... Faith communities are no exemption. I remember speaking with a Native friend when we were just teenagers and asking him about choosing to follow Christ. He had one issue holding him back, that I had to wait for patiently. Eventually he disclosed, "If I become a Christian then my friends will think that I'm betraying them." I asked him to explain what he meant, "If I become a Christian then my friends say that I'm not an Indian, that I'm not one of them and that I'm betraying them." To understand this, one would have to study how the church in this last century has historically participated in one of the most horrific and pervasive cultural genocides this continent has seen. One cannot fathom the destruction that was wrought (some can I'm sure) by the U.S. and Canadian governments with the churches as their partners among First Nations people of North America. So to be Indian, is to not be a "Christian" in more ways than one. So for a solid and contextualized Native expression of church to come into being, these and other concerns had to be taken into consideration. As such, they have had to do it on their own for awhile. This provides an environment where they can answer their own questions as they search the Scriptures and where they can respond to Christ in their own way, thus providing a long overdue and culturally distinct approach to their God, who is as much theirs as he is ours.
So, in order to be responsibly and faithfully multi-cultural, is it necessary to be mono-cultural for a season, even a long season? More coming in part 3.
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