Why celebrate diversity?

Today at King’s Church London we now attend a church where no one group is in a majority. The Nigerians are not a majority, the Caribbeans are not a majority, the white British are not the majority. We are very diverse and I like it that way. But it is appropriate to look at our diversity from time to time to see the challenges clearly, and also to celebrate our differences. To celebrate what we are because there are many things we are not! What we are is a cross-generational, cross-ethnic, racially mixed, cross- cultural church.

Why do people celebrate?  To mark moments. And different cultures do this in a variety of ways. In white British culture we tend to mark the birthdays at ages 18 and 21. Often there will be a family party. Now, I have learned from Pastor Robert Kwami that in Ghana you would mark the ages of 50, 70 and 80 – due honour is given to those attaining these ages. There will be a huge celebration involving the whole extended family – often taking a weekend – with lots of people, lots of food, lots of parties! Best clothes will be worn – and the pastor of the church will be invited and involved! I was invited to the 50^th birthday party for a Nigerian recently – it was like going to a wedding!  There was a picture of the family with the cake and then a second photo– one of the pastor with the cake! The pastor was honoured and is given high status in that culture.... I’m just saying...!

In other situations, a couple’s engagement is a moment to celebrate. In white British culture you fall in love and the young man might ask the permission of the father to marry his daughter. In an African culture this relationship is seen as the coming together of two families so it is about more than just the couple. An engagement party would involve exchanging gifts between families. These variations are cultural preferences – there is no right or wrong way involved - but we need to appreciate the differences and learn from each other’s cultures. It is an enriching thing!

Celebrating Diversity!

Today I begin a new blog series on a topic which is highly relevant and important in many urban churches. Diversity provides the opportunity for us to show in our churches something of the purpose of God - not a matter of political correctness but of living out the values we believe...

On a Sunday morning earlier this year I was able to tell the church about some new staff members and volunteers coming on to our team. Photos of them were shown and revealed a mixture of white and black faces all smiling at us... It was a good Sunday to celebrate the diversity God has given us and to preach about it!

I found the following chart on a Facebook posting – it really shows up some of the cross-cultural challenges to living in a diverse community. Communication differences are a major element in this.

What the British say	What the British mean	What others understand
That’s not bad	That’s not good	That’s poor
That’s a very brave proposal	You are insane	He thinks I have courage
I was a bit disappointed that...	I am annoyed that...	It doesn't really matter
I’m sure it’s my fault	It’s your fault	Why does he think it’s his fault?
Can we consider some other options?	I don’t like your idea	He has not yet decided

It is highly probable that each week in church life at some time we are miscommunicating! We need grace to ask the follow-up questions and check our understanding or to cope with being a little uncomfortable as we wonder what people are really saying. This impacts issues of race, but also of ageism and class.

But in King’s church you can find a black businessman relating to a white guy who’s come off the streets. You can find a single mum relating to an elderly person or a middle-class white person speaking to a Chinese student. There is diversity in age, culture and season of life. We need to regularly celebrate our diversity – but not without recognising that there are continuing challenges – communication being one. Ongoing racism, issues of  legacy, the  pain associated with many of our journeys, the guilt that comes, the challenges that arise from the historical issues of colonialism and slavery, or tribalism – all make for a complex situation because people have been sinned against. Ultimately the challenges are connected to our own sinfulness and selfishness and with the fall of mankind. Sin has come into the world and a part of that is the separation of peoples. If we fail to see and don’t appreciate that fact then the whole issue becomes competitive and a challenge.

Maximize!

Subtitled ‘How to develop extravagant givers in your church’, this book by Nelson Searcy is a very useful addition to a leader’s bookshelf. Involved in ministry in New York and Florida, the author also coaches senior pastors on a regular basis.

The issue of resourcing the ministry of the church cannot be avoided if there is to be growth! A systematic and prayerful approach to giving has to be established in the life of any thriving church and Nelson Searcy has provided a book on ‘biblical stewardship in our current church culture’.

This is a book that lays out lots of ‘how to’s – its practical approach covers ways of encouraging and developing giving among the people of God. It will give all of us food for thought regarding the ways that we do and don’t do the giving and receiving of money to support the work of our local churches.

The issue of money needs serious and regular thought in the lives of our churches as far as I am concerned. This is a book to help provoke thought – and provide insights!

The Meaning of Marriage

It’s been an established pattern for Deb and me to read a book on marriage each year. This year we were fortunate enough to be able to have The Meaning of Marriage by Tim and Kathy Keller and I can wholeheartedly say that this is the best book I have ever read on the topic!

Keller brilliantly integrates levels of cultural awareness, biblical truth and pastoral application. There are also good chapters on singleness which I found very helpful. Since Deb and I finished reading it I have praised this book wherever I have spoken on this important subject and would highly recommend it – especially for those in ministry leadership.

It also proved a helpful resource for our recent King’s preaching series called #TrendingNow where we covered topics such as intimacy, identity and also the internet. 

The Last Words of David: Praise!

At the end of his life (1 Chron. 28), David stands before the nation’s leaders and the people and speaks to Solomon his son, the one who is to carry on the work, and says - have a vision, remember you are chosen, stay devoted, work on the plan, know the encouragement of God, here are some resources in order to complete the work, and he leaves a legacy for the future.

While this is about a specific national leader setting a major project in motion which would shape the nation’s life and the worship of God for a long time to come, the story has much to say to us. Whether it’s about church life or our plans for the future for our family or career, God has planted dreams in us, sometimes many years ago. I encourage you to pray those plans out before God and ask Him to guide you in implementing them. Then be prepared to work hard as you commit yourself to God’s purposes in your life.

All this so that when you come to the end of your life you will be able to look back and say without many regrets, ‘I served the purpose of God in my generation’.

‘David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, 
“Praise be to you, O LORD, 
God of our father Israel, 
from everlasting to everlasting...’  (1 Chron. 29:10)

As a result of all that was done, praise was given to God. The fulfilment of David’s dream to build a house for God was to ensure that the praise of God would continue from generation to generation for a great God who rules and reigns, searches and examines, enables and strengthens, loves and provides from everlasting to everlasting.

And we seek to play our part in building something that will also stand for all time – not buildings but the Church of Jesus Christ composed of the lives of those who come to be part of His Kingdom and to serve the purpose of God in their generation. That is something to praise him for!

The Last Words of David: Legacy

1 Chron. 29: 28 says of David, ‘He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honour’. The NT records it like this, – ‘For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep...’ (Acts 13:36). I don’t know about you but when it comes to my moment of falling asleep I hope it is said of me that ‘he served the purposes of God in his generation’. I think you would like that said of you – that you stayed on course, you didn’t get distracted, you stayed good-hearted and fulfilled what God had given you to do. I hope to live to a good age like David, and to lead this church for the greater part of my life, then to hand on the church to a younger generation who I trust will go further than we have gone.

It’s not that we haven’t still got great things before us but I honestly believe that the true test of leadership is legacy – and I trust and hope that what we build over the next 10 – 15 years will build a foundation for another generation to build on and go even further, because we recognise that we are building on what the generations before us laid down. We are not ‘the’ generation – we are one of the generations and we are doing something for the future, as our ancestors in God did before us. In the context of King’s the development of the Lee building alone is an investment for the future and is something that I believe God will use for generations to come.

Perhaps you are a single Mum or you are in a season of life where you are raising young children. My mum did not have a big career. She stayed at home, supporting my Dad in the success he achieved in his career, and spent most of her time raising two sons. As she reads this - she’s one of my fans and adds to my blog hits every week – I want to say to her a big, ‘Thank you, Mum!’ I am very, very grateful to her, that she invested in me. The greatest thing you might do as a parent is to lay a foundation in your children for a generation that will serve God and fulfil their potential in Him.

The Last Words of David: Resources

‘With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God...’ (1 Chron. 29:2)

To fulfil any vision takes resources – whether we are talking about raising a family, going to university, setting up a business or taking out a mortgage and it is the same in church life. What you see and experience at King’s, for example, does not happen by chance; all we do is funded by God’s people. In 1 Chronicles chapter 29:2-9 we see that David, from his success and out of all the resources he has gathered through his life and reign, leads the people into a massive offering to bring together everything needed for the building project for the temple. And they raise the money and then there is a prayer of thanksgiving (29:10-13). Read it through. Does it seem familiar?

This prayer is the Old Testament foundation for another great prayer that we know in the New Testament – it’s called the Lord’s Prayer and it’s rooted in this Old Testament prayer! We are used to building projects at King’s so I find it encouraging and reassuring that the Lord’s Prayer is based on this prayer about a building project!

You have to find a way to resource the vision God has given.  There is a lot of truth in 1 Chron. 29:14 where David says, ‘Who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand...’ I wish that all Christians believed that. Some of us think it’s all ours and we will give God what’s left over. That’s not God’s perspective and it should not be ours. It’s all His and ultimately all your gifts and resources come from Him anyway. If you have a gift and have been chosen it’s because of the Sovereign One, not you. That’s why we give thanks to Him for all he is doing in this church and in our lives – it’s his grace. If you have that perspective it changes everything. If all Christians lived that out then the resources released for the Kingdom of God and what we could do together as a result would be remarkable. But some of us just live giving God loose change, as though we are tipping God. There are some strong words elsewhere in Scripture about such an attitude.