Ethnic Blends – A Review

DeYmaz, Mark and Harry Li. Ethnic Blends. Zondervan, 2010.

Today’s Christian book market is being increasingly populated with books on multiethnic ministry, from planting churches to reinvigorating existing homogeneous churches. Ethnic Blends by Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li is another one of those books which purposes to take on the hard task of creating biblically mandated multiethnic ministries.

DeYmaz and Li have been leading Mosaic church in Little Rock, AR since the early 2000s; having experienced a variety of successes and failures in their effort to create a multiethnic church environment. Both men are passionate about the biblical mandate to create multiethnic ministries.

Before the authors get to the main part of the book they note the unfamiliar direction it will take the church and how it is important to understand where a church is starting from (20-21). Even before introducing his co-author Henry Li, DeYmaz introduces the movement toward multiethnic ministry. In introducing this movement, he also introduces a variety of resources which may prove beneficial to those who wish to study this mandate further.

In what may be an effort to scare the reader into understanding the gravity and import of their position, the book opens with a discussion on the transition in American society and its impact on the church. The authors believe orthopraxy in this time is critical because “those without Christ will respond not to platitudes but rather practice, not to words but only to an authentic witness of God’s love for all people that is daily displayed in life and action.” This is not to negate the importance of being rooted in orthodoxy nor deny the goal is “about reconciling men and women to God through faith in Jesus Christ.”

With the foundation set of reconciling the lost to God, DeYmaz and Li then set out in the remaining chapters to explain how ethnic unity is mandated in Scripture. This is partly done through the authors providing “Seven Core Commitments of a Multi-Ethnic Church.” Many of these steps are meant to be practical and measurable steps for ministries to take in their effort to become more multiethnic in nature.

Throughout the book the authors are also clear about many of the problems and issues which arise from the effort towards multiethnicity. They describe issues ranging from spiritual warfare attacks emanating from both in and outside of the church. There are also discussions of how issues can also arise within the staff of a church where preconceived ideas and attitudes may clash and where past experiences can lead to confusion.

Ethnic Blends also tackles the issue of incorporating different language groups into a single church body. The experiences of DeYmaz and Li show through as they relate the different approaches taken not only by them, but by other churches, in trying to minister to an array of people who come from different country origins and tongues. Not only do they discuss their approach but some of the errors made along the way.

The authors also bring their discussion into areas such as music, speaking in tongues, empowering leaders, and community engagement. Not only are they clear throughout the book there is no other option given in the New Testament but to build multiethnic churches, but they are also clear about the wide-ranging issues facing those who strive toward multiethnicity in ministry. This is not an easy or quick task.

Both authors come from a view Scripture clearly mandates multiethnic ministry. This view doesn’t come from just a desire to seek social justice but an understanding of the need for reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. Their goal appears to be to get the reader to understand how bringing reconciliation through Christ cannot be rightfully accomplished if we remain within our own homogeneous groups and don’t reach the ethnic blended communities around us.

Community involvement is very much part of the strategy laid out in this book. In their experience they have come to understand what the bible teaches throughout, we are supposed to make a difference in the lives of others and in the community. Ethnic also holds nothing back in its warnings of the complicated nature of community involvement. Not only will there be complication and difficulty outside the church walls, but there also will not be a stress-free environment inside either.

The book brings up several stories of conflict the authors have dealt with over the years at Mosaic and some of the ways they’ve dealt with those issues. One of their pieces of advice which may fall into the category of “easier said than done” is when they suggest “your goal is not to convince those who are resistant to the message but rather to create a new reality.” Using the wine skins passage from Matthew 9, DeYmaz and Li suggest the reader “focus your energy on the future.”

While this advice sounds easy on the pages of a book written by those who have come through the fire, it could possibly give a wrong understanding of easiness to someone new to ministry. Furthermore, they seem to contradict their own advice a page later when they state, “the difficulty of a task is not a reason for us to avoid it.” Although this is about the starting of a multiethnic church, it could also be applied to dealing with those who may not be open to such concepts. God does not send men and women into ministry for a life of ease or luxury but for a life lived glorifying him. Knowing which battles to fight is important and if leaders are to move ministries to a multiethnic mindset there will come moments where convincing others is imperative.

The discussion of battles to fight includes how to overcome the different philosophical approaches to multiethnic ministry. In one of the most enlightening chapters the authors discuss different approaches to engagement with different people groups. From the “Us and Them”  approach of separate congregations in the same facility to “Graduated Inclusion” model of Mosaic, the authors provide a topic for discussion which is likely avoided by many churches and their leaders.

Many who think they are multiethnic while using the segregated approach may find this discussion troubling as it will challenge assumptions. It will also force the reader to deal with the thorny issue of integrating those who don’t look like them or talk like them. How churches integrate other people groups is not an issue which can be set aside or ignored if the church is going to be the blended body called for in Scripture.

One of the other thorny issues this book addresses, is the question of those who are undocumented and have entered the country illegally. In our current political and social justice environment this should be thought about ahead of time by ministry leaders. The time to have a plan on incorporating these individuals is not after they have shown up in our pews and padded seats.

It is obvious in this work DeYmaz and Li have extensive experience in forming and leading multiethnic ministries. Through these experiences the authors understand “diversity in the body is not, in and of itself, sufficient to ensure that you will have a healthy, biblical church.” The authors know diversity is not a cure for problems in a church but the sign of a healthy, obedient church.

The discussion of spiritual warfare within the church is up front and useful for anyone who wishes to take on this issue. Relating how Satan used those within the body to bring division and conflict, even after the individuals have departed, was something that most any pastor who is following God’s will would understand. The experience of having volunteers and members turn on a church and continue to try to harm the ministry of the church is something that is not discussed enough in seminaries or books. Ethnic Blends delves into the issue with clarity that is borderline shocking to read.

Despite the areas of clarity provided by the authors, there remain gaps in practical guidance for those in established homogenous churches, especially ones with limited staff and resources. It is helpful to have the warnings about the difficult nature of leading intentional multiethnic ministry efforts, but the warnings seem only to focus on ministries like Mosaic Church who were intentionally founded to be multiethnic. While they wisely advise to take it slow, not enough detail is really given to be beneficial in how to go through the process in an established ministry. Furthermore, like most ministry related books, there is the feel of being limited to larger churches with multiple staff or active lay leadership. The leader of a small church with less than 100 members and lacking even a secretary may look at all the advice and ask, “What about me?”

One other area where the authors seem to lack coherent guidance related to diversity in ministry is in dealing with the inevitable question of women in leadership positions. Even after appealing to Scriptures (1 Timothy 3:1-11; Galatians 3:26-29), the book fails to close out the discussion and merely leaves it in the reader’s lap to figure out. When they spend so much time and effort in the book to address ethnicity, language, and legal status, the treatment given to discussing women in ministry is so weak as to wondering why it was included to begin with.

The book answers a great many questions, but it also leaves room for further scholastic study. Areas of inquiry where the book might be helpful include looking at the role of women in ministry and how that might be impacted with different cultures in the community. Some might find women in leadership to be more acceptable than others. Furthermore, more needs to be done in addressing this issue from a small church perspective. How should a church with fewer than 100 members no secretary proceed besides prayer? What is the path toward multiethnicity in a well establish homogeneous church? Much more study is needed in these areas.

Ultimately, the strength of the book is twofold. The points in it are soundly based in Scripture and reflect the mission mindedness of its authors. There is no ambiguity about where they stand regarding the key mission of reconciling lost people to God through Jesus Christ. Nor can the reader mistake their desire to reach all people groups to fulfill that mission.

DeYmaz and Li bring a passion and a seriousness in addressing the different facets of leading multiethnic ministry. It is due to these traits Ethnic Blends has several key junctures where the reader will be forced to wonder where he or she stands in relation to the subject at hand.

At one of these points one is likely to ask themselves if they are “cross-culturally incompetent in an increasingly interconnected world?” Self-examination of pastoral ministry is always beneficial for those who understand the failings of human nature and self-examination of cross-cultural competence is certainly more important in today’s church than ever before. If the numbers are to be believed, within the next twenty years the white population will be in the minority and our main targets of evangelism will have a mosaic of skin colors. It is no longer acceptable for evangelicals to spend the majority of their “social time with people from their own congregation. Every church will have to become a mosaic, or it will end up closed.