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In the church, diversity is not the goal, it's a means to the goal: doxology. Slave plantations were "diverse." The mere presence of "different colors" =/= doxology. God is glorified when power is shared, humility is embraced, & ethnic difference is celebrated in Jesus' name.
If power is not shared in your multiethnic church, the fact is, people of color are simply being used for optics. This way of being treats people of color as nice accessories to a homogeneous ministry- it's merely performative and ultimately undermines your stated commitment.
If you want to move away from multiethnic hypocrisy toward doxological diversity then your church will have to: 1)Open honest and difficult conversations 2) make difficult and costly decisions 3) embrace an excruciating self-denial, 4)Make a communal decision to repent & repair.
5) You must also wrestle with the question: What has it historically meant and what does it currently mean to be white? Black? Korean? Mexican? Etc. in America? 6)You must prepare for ridicule, slander, demonization, mistreatment, in a word: suffering.
6)You must embrace the truth, even when it wounds you, offends you, and undoes every lie you believed about yourself. 7) You must view the "other" not as a threat, but as a great gift from God who can identify your blindspots, your self-delusion, your sin, and God's grace for you
8) You must come to a sober understanding of where you are, where you need to go, and develop a plan with outside help because your best ideas got you where you are now. (I *highly* recommend @ICCMDC for that outside help).
Performative diversity heals the original racial wound lightly. It cries "Peace! peace!" where there is no peace. It makes the cultural preferences of the dominant culture into law (often with theological help), and it does great damage to the formation of BIPOC AND white people.
Don't mistake politically progressive sensibilities for doxological diversity. Politically progressive sensibilities do not relieve you of the cost of discipleship on this point. We must examine the broader culture in which we have been formed and explore the way it shapes church
Remember, it's not merely about your reputation, your church's survival, or assuaging your own guilt. It's about the glory of God. Let the one who has ears....
