Christian Ethics Today

Perils and Pitfalls of Leadership in Multicultural Societies

Nelson O Hayashida

Perils and Pitfalls of Leadership in Multicultural Societies
By Nelson O. Hayashida

[Dr. Nelson O. Hayashida is Academic Dean of Baptist Convention College in Soweto, South Africa and is professor Systematic Theology, Phenomenology of Religion, and Missiology.]

Introduction: The Christian Heritage and Challenge of Multiculturism

The Heritage

When Christianity received its seal from heaven with its Pentecostal baptism,[i] it is recorded that:

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: `Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia. Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" (Acts 2:5-11).

The way, the truth and the life (Christianity) was founded by Jesus Christ in the center of class, race, and religious antagonisms and stresses. Not overpowered, intimidated or controlled by any, He dealt alike with Roman, Syro-Phoenician, Greek, Samaritan and Jew. Can one deny that the entire religious, political and social structure of Jewish civilization was bedrocked on the idea of race? But in spite of that Jewish ethnocentrism, God was seeking to bring the peoples of the world together with the one God for ail people idea by laying a spiritual and moral foundation. Upon the authority of His Son, Jesus Christ, "the Fatherhood of God" and "the Brotherhood of man" were established. The aim was to "break down the middle wall of partition" (Ephesians 2:14-18) between Jew and Gentile, High Priest and commoner, woman and man, slave and free. In Christ.

Standing in the Areopagus, Paul declared to the Athenians that "God has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26).

The Challenge

The nations of the world today are compelled to come to terms–politically, socially and

religiously–with cultural diversity. And Christianity, as in the days of Paul, must allow the authentic Christ to find a place in the constellation of "rulers…authorities…powers…and…spiritual forces" (Ephesians 6-12).

In Latin America the craze is, as in Africa, Europe and parts of Asia, "futbol" (soccer). On South African television in April this year I saw the Moroka Swallows play Helleni and itnessed multicultural harmony in competitive form. There were white, colored and black players on the same sides on the futbol field.

Multiculturalism, though, is more pervasive than skin color. The names of the white players betrayed British, Dutch, French and German ancestry. I`m sure many were of mixed white ancestry. The names of the so-called colored players betrayed white-black mixtures with perhaps even more distant Malay or San intrusions. The black players revealed names that were Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa, Tswana, for example, but many were, I`m sure, mixtures of these. On that futbol field, then, playing solidly for the Swallows or Hellenic, were, in microcosm, the multicultural, pluralistic makeup of South Africa–South Africans all! Arguably, 1994 symbolically represents, for the first time, the spiritual birth of South Africa as a nation, for the liberated nation now has a chance to find its soul, together, multiculturally, unitedly and not dividedly, respecting for the first time (at least legally and theoretically), not only one`s own but the other person`s race, language, culture, and religion.

We need not decry pluralism. We only decry that form of multiculturalism that divides us and allows privilege and inequality to our destiny.[ii]

Unity in diversity, unity without uniformity–can it be achieved? Among Christians? In

the nation?[iii]

Multiculturalism that keeps us distant and uncommunicative at spiritual, social and psychological levels–can it be ejected? From the church? From the state?[iv]

The Purpose of the Paper

The multicultural realities of South Africa echoes the multicultural realities of the rest of the world. Christian leadership in the context of ethnic diversity presents varied perils and pitfalls. Following, I will attempt to define and describe some of these perils and pitfalls as they relate to both multiculturalism and leadership, both in South Africa and elsewhere.

The Peril and Pitfall of Ethnocentricism

Multiculturalism and diversity issues[v] call for each cultural group to reconstruct their own perhaps un-processed, un-analyzed experience. Could the failure properly to analyze one`s own psycho-social history obstruct renewal, healing, reconciliation, and transformation? Indeed, is truth-finding the road to reconciliation, to borrow South Africa`s Truth and Reconciliation Commission endeavors, and will reconciliation be the precondition for healthy paradigms for multicultural transformation?

I would like to contend that one of the perils of leadership in a multicultural society is the tendency to ethnic pride, no matter what color or ethno-linguistic identity it stems from. Ethnic pride that leads to dominance leads to superimposition of the elevated group`s values and worldviews. One of the challenges, then, of church and state, is to create and sustain multicultural habits of dialogue that leads to understanding, and understanding to healing and change, in the sense of true partnerships of faith and destiny, with each ethnic group learning to become "subjects" in the process and not "objects" of it. A dialogical pattern of equanimity is necessary. This can and should be the pattern and hope among denominations in this country and elsewhere.

That is, instead of being an object of analysis, an object of often misleading statistics, and an object of emotionally distant scrutinisation, shouldn`t we instead seek the process of "dialogue-seeking-understanding-to-lead-to-change" in which each cultural group has the opportunity to participate, not as an object, but as a "subject," a subject of self-analysis, a subject seeking identity, a subject seeking healing and wholeness, a subject able to see flaws and corrosive tendencies from within its own cultural ranks, a subject being, equipped to carve its own destiny, a "shared destiny" however, therefore not in a vacuum or without the collaboration and participation of others, but in conjunction with and in the macrocosm of the larger, multicultural whole, a subject learning to make unique and vital contributions to the socio-political, religious and ethnic diversity in the communities of our shared world, a "subject" of worth and dignity able to inform and be informed?[vi]

The Peril and Pitfall of Spiritualisation

One of the reasons why theologies of liberation and theologies of hope came into being was because Christianity coming out of the West often "spiritualised" the Gospel, totally ignoring in some cases the humanitarian plight of poor people. Salvation must be holistic. Redeeming one`s humanity and dignity (mind, body, spirit) is the transforming miracle of salvation–it affects every area of life on earth (Matthew 6:9-13).

The pitfall in failing to come to terms with leadership in a multicultural society is to continue to see salvation, and the whole mission of the church in a "spiritualised" way. This way does not easily connect with the rest of life. The tangible Gospel is paradigmatic of salvation and hence must manifest tangibility. Is not salvation like the hum of an engine–exuding power and potential? That humming engine, however, if left in an idle state, makes a sham of its power and potential. A vehicle with that humming engine is to move to reach objectives. Likewise, salvation that hums with power must move to reach objectives[vii]–the healing and wholeness (salvation) of persons (mind, body, spirit). Women and men, as psycho-social beings, are found feeding on their personal and social evils and psycho-social pains, fears, and sufferings (mind, body, spirit). Salvation, as liberation, seeks to make changes. It seeks to make its case for God`s will and good pleasure to be done "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6-10) in terms of mind, body and spirit.

Justice and equality must be part of the leadership task of the salvation-rich church as it intersects with both clerical and municipal orders, constantly participating with religio-governmental authorities to create and recreate righteousness in the land. If the gap between the haves and have nots widens in any country, the psycho-social gulf between cultures and subcultures will necessarily intensify,

We ought not, therefore, to spiritualize our humanity away. We are redeemed in our humanity, not from it (Genesis 1:26-311, Romans 8:8-11). Perilous theology produces behavioral pitfalls.

In Jesus Christ, God`s Son, the full potential of humanity was evident (Matthew 4:1; 27:30-31, 50; Mark 10:13-16; 14:35-36; Luke 22:15, 44, 51; John 1:14; 11:35). If then, as we are exhorted in scripture, we are to become like Jesus, we must become more fully human. I like what Albert Nolan has said:

When one allows Jesus to speak for himself and when one tries to understand him without any preconceived ideas and within the context of his own times, what begins to emerge is a man of extraordinary independence, immense courage and unparalleled authenticity….To deprive this man of his humanity is to deprive him of his Greatness.[viii]

In this vein, Rahner writes that Christology is the beginning and the end of Anthropology.[ix]

When the Jewish Jesus conversed with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4ff ), He breeched customary behavior in three ways: He addressed a woman in public, he interacted with a prostitute, and he associated with a Samaritan. Was it Jesus` authentic humanity that compelled him to disregard what would have been normal behavior for him in terms of his gender, his religion and his nationality? As I see it, he was able to rise above his culture for the simple reason that holiness was made concrete in the magnitude of his humanness. To be saved is to exude tangibility, to become truly human, as Jesus was.

The Peril and Pitfall of the Popularity Contest

The Corinthian city was, in the time of Paul`s missionary journeys, a mosaic of cultures and religious persuasions. That human mosaic was, in good measure, brought into the Corinthian church. It so happened that Paul`s leadership was put into question, his authority frequently disputed. In this setting Paul takes the role of chief exponent for his own night to leadership (selfhood):

We put no stumbling block in anyone`s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way; in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report, genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich, having nothing, and yet possessing everything (11 Corinthians 6:3-11).

Paul was no stranger to popularity contests (1 Corinthians 1:11ff). He vigorously defended himself, and others for that matter, for the right to become common soldiers or captains in God`s advance in salvation history. He admitted he was not usually the most articulate, nor the most handsome, nor the most professional,[x] nor the one with the most imposing figure, nor the most righteous. But he was intransigent in his opposition to popularity contests as the modus operandi to leadership.[xi] We can surmise from Paul`s writings that while the flamboyant personality is often put in the forefront of leadership, God uses commonness and weakness to accomplish his purposes. That weakness transfigures into divine strength when God`s chosen has survived the

Crucible of "hardships and distresses."[xii]

Modern leadership qualifications subvert biblical principles when prophetic character is sacrificed for mold-fitting, flag-carrying denominational loyalism. Jesus was against fanatical loyalism as he was against religious snobbery and social intolerance.[xiii] In the context of Jewish society), his world view and behavior were deemed dangerous and blasphemous. They were not. The perception was not the reality. What was under attack, actually, was an institutional religious order truncated at its spiritual roots. Anti-establishment views are seldom stepping-stones to establishment advancement.

How many prophetic leaders do we marginalize or crucify today for similar reasons?

Leadership finds its scriptural mark in the person who has endured the trials and tribulations victoriously, and who has demonstrated a mature wisdom, resiliency and commanding character transformations as a result. The challenge in becoming a leader in a multicultural setting where one reckons with one`s own identity (ethnic, spiritual, social) but respects others` identity (ethnic, spiritual, social) with "understanding, patience and kindness" (11 Corinthians 6:6) is for us today strikingly reminiscent of Paul`s own challenge among the ancient Corinthians.

The Peril and Pitfall of Cowardice

There were cowards before him, and after him, but the cowardice of Pontius Pilate (Matthew 27:11-26; Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:38-19:15) uniquely haunts our memory of him.

Courage of one`s convictions. Martin Luther King, Jr. had it. Simon Peter had it, lost it, and then regained it (Matthew 26:30-38; John 18:15-27). J.J. Doke had it. So did Mahatma Gandhi.

There existed a special relationship between J. J. Doke, the pastor of the Central Baptist Church in Johannesburg (1908-1913), and Mahatma Gandhi, who was practicing law in Johannesburg. As an advocate of Indian rights, Gandhl was often maligned by the government authorities, even by Indian extremists. Beaten nearly to death once by Indian extremists, Gandhi was provided refuge in the Doke home where he was nurtured back to health. When Doke met an untimely death while traveling in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1913, M. K. Gandhi offered a tribute to J. J. Doke at the latter`s memorial service in Johannesburg. Echoing the sentiments of the oppressed Indian people of South Africa, Gandhi proclaimed, "Mr. Doke was not modernized and civilized Christianity. He practiced the original."[xiv] The courage required for Rev. Doke to fully embrace an Indian "radical" in this period of South Africa`s history is monumental. Doke appears to have been a leader of unquestioned integrity and driven by a deep commitment to freedom of conscience. As if speaking directly to that Doke-Ghandi tryst, C.W. Brister states, "it takes courage to care, as well as to share one`s suffering with another. Courage is that quality which keeps one going in the face of danger or discouragement."[xv]

Leaders in our world who compromise their convictions have not only compromised their integrity but the biblical witness of Jesus Christ himself.

Final Remarks

I live in Roodeport in greater Johannesburg. I remember the first time I encountered a black mother walking with her very small daughter. As I was jogging past them, I smiled and said "Hello." It brought no response from them except perhaps a slight facial acknowledgment from the mother. Another day, jogging again, I approached them and said "Hello." The mother said "Hello" with a little smile. The little girl only stared with astonishment. By about the third or fourth encounter, the five-year-old girl was recognizing me and smiling shyly at me, this strange man who greets them with "Hello," Now, every time we pass on the street there are warm smiles and greetings.

Raging rivers separate cultures and people groups. Christians ought to build bridges over the rivers that separate the plural cultures of our societies. Cultural differences constitute a great chasm; they in part create the rivers. This chasm is characterized by doubt, fear, misunderstanding, ignorance, even hatred.[xvi]

Why build bridges to other cultures? The Gospel mandates it. Our lives are enriched by it. We learn about our humanity through it. In fact, we have no choice but to build bridges if we want communication, peace, and stability in South Africa, in the world. Even when it is for the first time we must experience our common, human family.

"Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Romans 13:9) the Bible demands. Historically, we have defined too narrowly who our neighbor is. Does not the Bible which mandates, also define?

Let us call our leaders to be bridge builders. Let us raise up leaders with deep spiritual maturity, who have been tried through hardships, tested and proven strong in the Lord, who may not win popularity contests but upon whose lives the hand of God is resting. After all, it is God`s hand that counts.

Bibliography

Abdelkebir, Kathibl. "A Colonial Labyrinth." Yale French Studies 83 (1988)

Brister, C. W. Pastoral Care in the Church, New York: Harper & Row, 1977.

Corbitt, J. Nathan. "Building Bridges of Multi-Cultural Communication." Afri-Com 10:1 (March 1998): 18-27.

Jonsson, John N. "Freedom of Conscience and Social Justice: Baptists and the Demand of True Religion." Review and Expositor 89:1 (Winter 1992): 23-34.

Mazibuko, Bongani and Johnson-Hill, Jack, "The Umlazi Project as a Case Study in Liberating

Theological Education." Journal of Constructive Theology 3:1 (July 1997): 49-76.

Means, James E. Leadership in Christian Ministry Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989.

Nolan, Albert. Jesus Before Christianity. Cape Town: David Philip, 1986.

Nouwen, Henri J. M. Creative Ministry. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, 1971.

Oosthuizen, G. C. "Christianity`s Impact on Race Relations in South Africa." in Christianity in Africa. Edited by Martin Prozesky. Bergvlel: Southern Books Publishers, 1990: 101-121

Pieterse, Edgar. "Reflections on Postmodernism and Faith in a South African Context." Journal

of Theologv for Southern Africa (March 1996): 50-64.

Rahner, Karl. Schriften zur Theologie, Vol. 4. 1960.

Rapelego, K. Essay for Systematic Theology 3 class at Baptist Convention College, Soweto, South Africa (17 April 1998).

Shenk, Wilbert R. "The Mission Dynamic," in Mission in Bold Humility Edited by William Saayrnan and Klippies Kritzinger. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books; 1996: 83-93.

Wiersbe, Warren W. The Integrity Crisis. Nashville: Oliver-Nelson Books, 1991.

Zygmunt, Bauman. Postmodern Ethics Oxford and Cambridge: Blackwell, 1993.

Endnotes

——————————————————————————–

[i] According to Shenk, at Pentecost the Holy Spirit inaugurated a new Koinonia. At Babel, humankind`s rebellion resulted in a judgment the confusion of languages. The Holy Spirit reversed Babel at Pentecost. An altogether new people, arising from the nations, whose multiple linguistic distinctiveness is the channel for each to hear of "the mighty acts of God" (Acts 2:6, 11), is birthed. Their unity in diversity is experienced neither through ritual nor culture but in preaching and hearing of the gospel together. (Acts 2:14-26). Wilbert R. Shenk, "The Mission Dynamic," Mission in Bold Humility, (Edited by Willem Saayman and Klippies Kritzinger) Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1996, 88.

[ii] One of our students at the Baptist Convention College, K. Rapelego, stated in an essay (17/4/98): "As blacks today in South Africa, we are weak because we are dependent on white folks. We are never taught on how to dig…own well and live an independent life. There is a saying in our Tswana language…`A remedy of a black person is a white person.` Of which this shows how weak and poor we are.

[iii] The complexity of resolving the tensions in a multicultural society is expressed in the following way: "A society is `modern` in as far as it constantly but vainly tries to `embrace` the `unembraceable,` to replace diversity with uniformity and ambivalence with coherent and transparent order–and while trying to do this turns out unstoppably more divisions, diversity and ambivalence than it has managed to get rid of Bauman Zygmunt, Postmodern Ethics Oxford & Cambridge: Blackwell, 1993), 5.

[iv] Pieterse contends that in the post-apartheid era of South Africa`s history where many cleavages along, ethnic, religious, racial, gender, class, sexual orientation, etc. lines will continue to tug and tear at the garment of "national unity," what is needed is to individually and collectively weave a resilient tapestry of "communities of difference," which capture diversity in multiple dimensions without any assurance that the final pattern will be pleasant or aesthetic. Such weaving calls for honesty, bold action, and sincere acceptance of difference. Edgar Pieterse, "Reflections on Postmodernism and Faith in a South African Context" in Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, (March 1996), 63.

[v] Many of these issues are bound up in the fact that, "in principle, each nation is a plurality, a mosaic of cultures if not a plurality of languages and genealogies (between groups, cultures, sexes, powers) but is one of hierarchy and asymmetry." Kathibib Abdelkefir, "A Colonial Labyrinth" in Yale French Studies, No. 83 (1988), 10. Leadership perils in the modern world cannot be isolated completely from diversity issues, for the challenge of Christian leadership is wedded to the challenge of multiculturalism.

[vi] In speaking about a unique theological education experiment called the Umlazi initiative being held in Kwa-Zulu by the University of Durban-Westville, a summation is made which is appropriate for this discussion on multiculturalism: "If the white church in South Africa is to reverse its rapid marginalisation vis-a-vis the larger society, white students and teachers need to be made aware of how black religion bisects and influences the secular community, in ways that mitigate against the sharp dichotomy between secular and sacred which generally characterizes the white church." Bongani Mazibuko and Jack Johnson-Hill, "The Umlazi Project as a Case Study in Liberating Theological Education," in Journal of Constructive Theology, Vol. 3, No. I (July 1997), 55.

[vii] This "motion to reach objectives" is to be seen as one motion, a synchronised humming and movement, movement that reaches objectives along the way, conversion (motion) that leads to change (objectives), whereby change (objectives) fulfills and authenticates the conversion (motion), without which, in my way of looking at it, conversion (motion) would not be conversion (motion) at all (Luke 19:1-10).

[viii] Albert Nolan, Jesus Before Christianity (CapeTown: David Philip, 1986), 117.

[ix] Karl Rahner, Schriften zur Theologie, Vol. IV (1960), 151.

[x] Nouwen advocates a movement from professionalism to spirituality. The ambition to find one`s professional identity should be rooted in the minister`s shift from self-affirmation to self-denial, and from self-denial to contemplation, resulting in a leader who is a faithful witness of the gospel. See his discussion in Henri J. M. Nouwen, Creative Ministry (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971), 64. In this sense, Jesus was not a professional. He was, of all persons, the most authentic human being alive, therefore He was the most divine.

[xi] Means would say the influence and command in church leadership is rooted in the power of personal spiritual authenticity. In that sense spiritual leadership is not artifice at its center, but in the validation of biblical truth in the leader`s life. James E. Means, Leadership in Christian Ministry (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989), 109.

[xii] In the New Testament churches, character, conduct and commitment were the hallmarks of leadership. These biblical qualifications were prerequisite to leadership. Today, personal charisma is the criterion for leadership–not the godly person but the gifted one, not spirituality but personality. See the discussion in Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis (Nashville: Oliver-Nelson Books, 199 1), 11 8f.

[xiii] In the case South Africa`s past, Oosthuizen suggests that pseudo-theological rationalizations were used to argue the case for segregated churches within the milieu of segregated political structures. G.C. Oosthuizen, "Christianity`s Impact on Race Relations in South Africa," in Christianity in Africa. (Edited by Martin Prozesky) Bergvlel: Southern Book Publishers, 1990:115. When anti-social behavior (multicultural intolerance) mutates into political and religious "orthodoxy," prophetic leaders of protest are often put away or silenced.

[xiv] John N. Jonsson, "Freedom of Conscience and Social Justice: Baptists and the Demand of True Religion" in Review and Expositor, Vol. 89, No. 1, (Winter 1992), 28-30.

[xv] C. W. Brister, Pastoral Care in the Church New York: Harper & Row, 1977), 104­-105.

[xvi] See J. Nathan Corbitt, "Building Bridges of Multi-Cultural Communication," In AfriCom, Nairobi, Kenya, Vol. 10, No. I (March 1998), 18-27. Surely as people made in God`s image, we can all agree with Hesselgrave that the biblical writers and astute communicators of every kind see the need to look below the surface for a kind of spiritual or psychic unity which transcends our outward and social differences. These universals or deeper similarities are essential to coexistence yet so seemingly elusive. David J. Hesselgrave, Counseling Cross-Cultural (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984), 148.

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