Excerpted from
The Beautiful Community
By Irwyn L. Ince Jr.
Instead of embracing unity in diversity, the human story is often defined by militant disunity and what I call “ghetto living.” In this context, a ghetto is not merely a geographic location characterized by poverty, but an environment where people live or work in isolation—whether by choice or circumstance—deriving their sense of worth solely from that specific community. Biblically, this isolationist mindset finds its roots in the rebellion of Genesis 11:1–9.
The spirit of Babel remains, as we often stand in solidarity against God through these isolated communities. Because these ghettos are built on a foundation of rebellion, they naturally foster conflict with one another. We frequently mistake our identification with ethnic, social, or academic ghettos for true human dignity. When we encounter cultural differences, our instinct is often to distrust or reject rather than embrace, yet perhaps current global shifts can break us out of gospel ghettos.
Our understanding of what it means to be human—how we love, work, and build relationships—is profoundly shaped by the ghettos we inhabit. We are often blind to these influences because they are the only waters we have ever known. When faced with something different, our first impulse is judgment rather than curiosity. To overcome this, we must deeply understand the relationship between belonging and exile in mission.
Our ghettoization has deadly consequences. Racism is one of those consequences. Indeed, the creation of different races is full-blown ghettoization and idolatry. Why did racist ideas come to be?
Put in theological terms, our racialized society is an outworking of our ghettoization at Babel. And the devastating reality is that groups of people still seek to serve the interests of their ghetto. The idea of different races is a social construct. It was created by humanity, but it is not a reflection of the beautiful image-bearing creative. It is strictly relegated to the sinful and depraved purposes of exploitation and oppression. To be clear, it served as a justification to overtake and enslave whole people groups.
Some Christians do argue that we shouldn’t even talk about race or use the word since it’s a man-made concept. Using the term only serves to further divide us. There’s only one race—the human race—so shouldn’t we just categorize differences between people with terminology like “ethnicity”? In a word, no. I believe that Scripture compels us to speak the truth about the primary way our ghettoization has manifested itself in the American context. Discarding the word “race” would make it easier to ignore the devastating and deadly impact of racialized ghettoization. Further, we would fool ourselves into thinking that this is just a problem of the past.
In a racialized society, racist ideas become embedded in individuals, institutions and systems. They manifest themselves in both aggressively active ways and subtly passive ways. However, every manifestation has the capacity for deadly violence. We have lived in ghettos ever since Babel, finding our sense of value and worth in our group. But whatever your group may be, it’s only a facet of the human experience. What’s most tragic is that Jesus’ church has a ghetto-busting responsibility, but it has, like the people of Babel, ignored that command.
How do we get out of the ghetto? What’s the solution to so much brokenness? It’s nothing short of the blood of Jesus. It’s in the community of the redeemed that we should see the dividing line of hostility broken down (Eph. 2:14).
What does this mean on the ground in our day-to-day lives? It means you have to walk with humility. You have to know that when we’re talking about and engaging the issues that still divide us in this land (and in the church), your thoughts are informed by the ghetto that formed you in ways that you’re simply unaware of. And we need to be shaped and reshaped by other brothers and sisters in the Lord who come out of different ghettos if we’re going to learn to love well and strive for justice and righteousness in our communities.
I used to say to the church I served that God was giving us a particular kind of grace as we pursued crosscultural living. I knew that we would regularly offend one another because we speak different languages. That is, we come from different ghettos. When we offend one another, that grace takes the form of asking ourselves, Why am I offended? Is the heart of this issue really about my preferences and desires that have been shaped by my ghetto? Would the Lord have me die to this for the sake of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?
What I’m about to say may not be popular, but in America the greater burden of dying to preferences is borne by those in the majority white culture. Among the many points we can make about America’s founding, we must include the establishment of a white cultural normativity. Its existence has made the norm for minorities in America to embrace discomfort in majority culture contexts—an experience no less true in the church. As I mentioned earlier, we have no idea the depths to which our expectations, desires, preferences and predilections are informed by our ghetto. When your ghetto is the norm, your default position is to expect others to conform to your way of being.
We must realize that getting out of our ghettos isn’t free. It’ll cost you. You’ll have to examine your preferences. You’ll have to regularly embrace being more curious than confident when you’re in a situation involving diversity and difference. If you’re a part of the majority culture, you’ll have to learn how to listen to and learn under the influence of non-majority culture people. If you’re a part of a minority culture, you’ll need to learn how to trust majority culture folks—especially if your corporate/collective history is covered in wounds.
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Excerpted from The Beautiful Community by Irwyn L. Ince Jr. Copyright © 2020 by Irwyn L. Ince Jr. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. IVPress.com