Kris Vallotton • May 03, 2022

Why Diversity and Culture is Important in the Church

A THEOLOGICAL IDENTITY

We cannot ignore the important topic of culture and race in the Church today. We live in a time when the history of our nation is unraveling in the pews of our Church, as the hearts of our congregations are confronted with the pain of centuries past. Very real discrimination that affected people groups for generations took root in the hearts of a nation, and rotted at the soil of unification. 

So, how do we respond? What is the importance of the conversation? 

I want to be clear, I am far from an expert on the topic, but I recognize the importance and can’t remain silent for fear of being misunderstood. 

I recently sat down for a conversation with Jamila O. Page, the Multi-cultural ministry and BSSM pastor at Bethel Church. When I presented Jamila with the question “why is diversity and culture important?” Her response was “because it is important to God.” That is the truth! It is the truth. It doesn’t matter what our opinions are or what our history is, the Creator of the universe cares about culture ; it is seen throughout all of scripture. Jamila shared powerful revelation about the Lord’s beautiful plan for redemption and unity throughout scripture. All throughout scripture the Lord never refers to race, He refers to people based on their familial relationships — “The son of…” or “ I am the God of…” We also see in scripture that the Israelites were multi-racial; more than a biological identity they had a theological identity. You were considered family because you believed in the one true God of Israel. What a beautiful representation of family; the core distinguisher was the belief in God, not limited to external attributes. 

CULTIVATING FAMILY AMONGST DIVERSE CULTURES

THE ENEMY HAS BEEN BARKING AT UNITY

I want to encourage you to not shy away from challenging conversations or situations that feel uncomfortable — these are the places that as a society we need to lean into. The enemy has been barking at unity for far too long and we cannot resign in despair because he has violently tried to induce fear. It is time to rise to the occasion to put our foot down and demand the enemy flee from his wicked scheme of division. 


I pray that as you watch this episode of Cultural Catalysts you are filled with hope for the future and healed from past pain of division, segregation, and any attack from the enemy on unity. 


Please know that 30 minutes can't possibly cover such huge and important topics such as race and racism. We are all on a journey as a family here at Bethel and KV Ministries. This conversation is a peek into the healing and learning we're engaging in with Jesus and each other. I am looking forward to part two of this conversation in the coming weeks.

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