The Wisconsin State Journal ran an article last Sunday about a church on the South Side of Madison which is building a cultural center. The idea is to bring people of other ethnic groups into the church and feel welcome.
At first glance this sounds like a good idea. However, as articles in the State Journal are notorious for leaving things out, it is not entirely clear to me what the purpose is in building this place and bringing in people from other ethnic groups. They said that one of the missions was to "be a gathering place where we can learn about each other's cultures. Fair enough.
But it doesn't say anything about reaching out to people and telling them the Good News of Jesus Christ. That might be the purpose, but there's no real indication that it is.
The other possibility (and the one I unfortunately suspect to be the most likely), is that this church just wants to make their congregation more diverse. They spoke of being a "neighborhood gathering place to bring various cultures together." That alone is not enough reason to build a cultural center.
If the purpose of this place is to reach out to other ethnic groups in order to bring more people into the Family of God, by all means; build this cultural center. Let people come and worship together and enjoy one another in Fellowship. Let us meet with fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus and share God's love with other people. The body of Christ is made up of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation the Bible tells us. But if the purpose is to bring other cultures together for the sake of bringing other cultures together, forget it. Don't build a cultural center. If it is not specifically for reaching out to other people, then there is no point in building one of these places. It's a church cultural center. So what? It's just a church cultural center. That doesn't mean anything to a Christ Follower unless it has the purpose of bringing people to Christ.
I'll agree with the pastor that there is a real problem with segregation. It has always been an issue since our country was being formed. But the purpose must be for the good of God's people instead of being just a cultural center that's part of a church. And as followers of Christ, we don't want the latter.
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UPDATE: It turns out that the church in question is one that my church is partnered with and the pastor is a very Godly man. So this doesn't sound like a bad idea after all. It turns out that the pastor has been working hard in that community, and that if anyone is qualified for the job, he is. We should still pray for this operation, and ask God to let it work the way He wants it to, so that it doesn't become like I often think it will.
As I said, many "areas" need a sense of community, and having a place (not on the streets) where people can do useful things together helps them feel as though they're all in it together, and start to look out for each other.
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