Burger King Kids Club
Unity or Conformity?
When did it become the popular thing for Christians to seek community with people all across the board? Don’t get me wrong: I think it is very important for people to strive to connect with people cross-culturally. (Even down to the culture specificities of neighbors living on the same street-)
Is it true that followers of Christ find comfort in having their “baseball card” collection of people in their circle of acquaintance that are different from them? Does one find some sort of satisfaction and some major victory when we connect with them?
I love those commissioned, multicultural, “Burger King Kids Club” murals that have to display the exact percent of the correct demographic for the city.
Five white kids- three boys and two girls.
Three Hispanic kids: two boys and a girl.
One African-American female and one African-American male.
One short, middle-aged American-Indian male.
One tall German mother with glasses, blonde hair and a newborn, no whip.
Before you know it, you’ve got to incorporate the people in wheelchairs and the cancer patients, or it’s a TOTAL FAILURE. Heaven forbid the designers forget the promotional kid holding the french fries or Sifu, the karate master.
"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones... For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."
-Jesus the Christ, Matthew 18:10
10 Comments:
one kid you'll never see on one of those murals...
the one bloody-handed kid posing with the 8 point buck he just killed:)
so what are you really trying to say here anyway?
peace
Hey Miller. Mainly, this was an incoherent response to a series of recent comments Mark continues to make about his desire to have friends that are different from him (anyone who is not a GST, Caucasian male.) And that is respectable.
My question is to what end are we to seek others out? It seems that a lot of this “multicultural” effort really focuses on informing our own culture. (i.e. If we know a wider variety of people, this helps us to become more objective about our own culture.) So the struggle seems to be width vs. depth. Granted, we should not discard those who God directly places in our direct circle of concern, whether they appear to be different from us or similar to us. Uniting with one or two people (regardless of culture) can be difficult and stretching without adding on the United Nations to the mix. : )
But on a more serious note, I have to say that there are some ‘nations’ yet to hear the gospel, and I am on this earth to make sure that they at least hear it (Matt 24:14). To sum this up, I think this has more to do with God’s family (who we are in relation to him) as opposed to who we are in relation to each other. And ultimately, since the beginning of time, the focus is the internal being Christ, not the external “tower of Babel” expression.
Let me know if this remains as incoherent as the post itself! :P
sorry - the end of that was: the ...internal being OF christ...
no i think that makes perfect sense... kinda:)
we recognize the inconsistencies of our lives and wish we could reconcile them. sometimes we carry guilt and self abasement around as a result of the inability to do so. it is easy to get target fixation and forget the assignment.
the need to become a vibrant family of God in close reach geographically and culturally, however, remains.
so, i agree that, as you suggest, we need to live in the tension while never releasing our grasp on the heart of Jesus and being formed in him.
great post.
just what are we doing by pulling people from big "congregational" worship events and putting them in their living rooms for worship? How are we affecting their social circles, for better or worse? What will happen to the opportunities to run into people "at church" that we normally wouldn't run into in our "rat maze" lives? Are we by asking people to create little organic churches to isolate themselves from the larger body of believers? Sure, the "network" of culturally diverse Christians sounds good on paper, but where are we seeing it happen?
It is my opinion that unity in Christ (Gal 3:28 et al) is a matter of discipleship. I cut myself off from a part of Christ when I refuse to intentionally seek out those who are different from me. Is it my goal to have a social circle that directly reflects the demographics of a city? Not necessarily. My goal is to be connected to all the parts of Christ, and so I zealously seek out all people groups.
Didn't Jesus seek out a group of people of wide variety to be his disciples? Just think, a Zealot, a tax-collector, fishermen, a scholar, young, old, they just don't go together. Granted, they were all Jewish middle-class, but still. By establishing his church in the midst of this variety, I think he was sending a message about how we should spread the news. I think it made the apostles more able to accept the Gentiles in the future. I think it has been the hallmark of successful evangelism throughout history. When was the last time you heard of the most culturally straitjacked churches like Greek Orthodox or Norwegian Lutheran going on a rampage of conversions?
mark, i think those are qood remarks. as to the remarks concerning removing people from the larger body... i can't decide if you are being facetious or what. i may see fewer "Christians" during a given week as a result of being in simple church, but i am involved in more authentically redemptive relationships than ever in my life...
and it is in the vacuum of a connection to the "larger network."
i'm connected to a network, but it isn't the "Jesus family network."
peace
Miller - out of curiousity - would you unpack that statement: "I'm connected to a network, but it's not the Jesus Family Network..." ?
yeah, i'll give it a shot...
actually i was not entirely honest, i am connected somewhat with the JFN. but the community that meets in my house is not... except through me! (as far as i know)
i think the idea that we can stay really in touch with each other is nice but a little naive... what is absolutely necessary for connection to a network???
one word... desire!
i know there are people who say they want to be part of a web of relationships, but aren't. i am convinced the reason is that they don't really want to invest in others like they must in order to be in that web.
the "web" we see in so many "churches" is not really a web, it is a holograph of a web because the people who say they belong don't really invest... except to "go to church." in a web or network, to belong you must invest... if you don't ante up, you get detached.
the people in our group are not investing in the JFN and therefore are detached from it even though they "belong" to it...
i'm not sure thats a bad thing.
so there's the short long answer... what d'ya think?
Chiming in a little late here...
the "web" we see in so many "churches" is not really a web, it is a holograph of a web because the people who say they belong don't really invest... except to "go to church."
That is very true. My wife and noticed this when we were no longer part of a local institutional church. During my 4-5 year gig there, I thought I had 300+ friends and relations.
As we started walking outside that group we saw there was only one person who continued to walk with us. So it goes.
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