(5 votes, average: 3.60 out of 5)
Loading ...The Diversity Culture by Matthew Raley
We are facing a crisis in civility in our society. Whereas in the 1990s polarizing talk radio was a growing novelty, today this level of demeaning, caricaturing, hyperbole-laden discourse is the New Normal in America’s public square. Even worse, it seems to have found a hotbed of grassroots support among American evangelical Christians. Evangelical Christians, it seems, feel the ‘pain’ of our multicultural, pluralistic society more than most. In fact, to many of the rest of us (this would include emerging, mainline, and progressive Christians), multiculturalism and pluralism aren’t negative realities at all, but something to be celebrated. Even so, emerging and missional Christians often wrestle with how to witness authentically to the life of God found in Jesus without culturally steam-rolling our friends, neighbors, and relatives.
Enter a self-confessed ‘conservative evangelical’ California pastor, whose book The Diversity Culture is sub-titled Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Barristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and Everyone In Between.
Oh no, I grimaced when I first heard about this book (Hey – we take our book-screening seriously at TheOOZE!) – another culture warrior with an axe to grind. Not so. Raley is a compassionate, humane voice, who does a surprisingly good (if not slightly over-stuffed) sympathetic portrait of a woman who thinks quite differently than he, right in the first chapter. He then paints a compelling picture of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan (read: wrong religion, wrong culture, wrong lifestyle, wrong gender) woman at the well as an example of cross-cultural communication that is both clear and without fear.
Our new diversity culture makes evangelicals uncomfortable, Raley proposes; not because they feel threatened, but because they feel excluded. Matthew tackles the social tensions between evangelicals and the diversity culture. Drawing on analysis of contemporary media, ancient sources, and Scripture, The Diversity Culture examines cultural barriers and how they can be broken, helping Christians understand this cosmopolitan group on their own terms. This illuminating tome gives Christians the understanding and tools they need to cross socioeconomic, ethical, and ideological barriers and heal relationships in the name of Christ.
timothy_mathis
The latest book I picked up for free from the folks at The Ooze was The Diversity Culture by Matthew Raley. It’s a book written for fat conservative Baptists sitting in San Francisco coffee bars trying to convert post-moderns.
It’s not that it’s a bad book – it’s an earnest and insightful introduction to modern Stuff White People Like culture, actually, written by a conservative minister in rural California. The author writes well, and seems like a nice and genuine guy who understands modern American culture. It’s just that this is another one of those “us vs. them” how-to books – “if you want to save the pomos and the homos, you’ve got to ________”. He really cares about us, and he’s not a bigot or anything, he just wants us to convert from our immoral and unrighteous ways. I’m sure you could find similar examples with the Muslims and the Jews and the Catholics and the Gays and the Teens and the Commies. Good for him for being honest about intentions, but the schtick is getting old. Nice try, but the book just left this pomo with a bad taste in his mouth. Evangelical brothers, it’s time to recognize your intellectual place in the diversity culture with a bit of humility, just like the rest of us.
Tim
Sep 21st, 2009
SGill4613
The book written by Matthew Raley entitled The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and Everyone in Between is certainly one which seems to have a lot of expectations just from the title. Yet Raley’s book does not cover any of these specific groups, but wonderfully groups them under the umbrella of the “Diversity Culture”.
Written by a person who does not feel at home in any particular category, but would perhaps best identify with conservative evangelicals, he does a fantastic job of pointing out where they have failed in this new individually tailored culture.
In the past, the evangelical community has attempted to reach out to the people they do not quite understand by using marketing systems which were popular a decade or more ago (us church folks are always a bit behind the curve). Instead of calling for us to catch up with the curve, Raley dares us to disregard the curve altogether and replace it with Jesus’ model which comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 4 where Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well.
Instead of using outdated marketing strategies which people in the Diversity Culture will smell a mile away, Raley points out three different kinds of confrontations which he feels Jesus used, which go from subtle to blunt. First is to give a new point of view. Second is to decline to agree with excuses. Third is to define options. All of these options are ones which Jesus employed with the woman at the well, which led to her declaring that Jesus is the Christ.
This is not a book for someone looking for a quick answer to convert someone who does not believe in the same things you do, although the sub title might seem to imply it. Using Jesus as a model for conversion is not an easy task, but reading this book will help give you the confidence and biblical background necessary to take on the hard job ahead.
Sep 29th, 2009
RyanBraught
As a member of the Ooze Viral Bloggers I get to review a book about once a month and write a blog about it. The book that I am currently reading is called “Diversity Culture.” I picked it because of the subtitle. I got it a week or two ago and started reading it. So far it is an interesting read, especially because of the Scripture Text that the author Matthew Raley uses as a Case Study of how we should engage our Diversity Culture. He uses John 4, which is become more and more one of my favorite passages of Scripture. He does a great job of doing some exegetical and historical work on the setting of John 4, in relation to Jewish/Samaritan relations, prejudice regarding race and gender, and a host of others issues that show up in John 4.
Here are some quotes that have stood out in the first 4 chapters of the book.
“The Diversity Culture: The dominant American ethos of openness toward all beliefs and spiritual traditions.”
“Evangelicals in America have a distinct subculture. They tend to worship in churches with conservative political and theological views. The strongest bases of evangelicalism are in suburbia, and the movement is disproportionately white and middle class. Evangelicals have their own media, reading different books and magazines than secular people, visiting different Web sites, listening to Christian music and radio, and often watching Christian TV stations and movies.”
“the fear often drives evangelicals to a blanket rejection of every aspect of the diversity culture without asking enough questions. For example, the diversity culture is overwhelmingly on the political left, while evangelicals are mostly on the right. But progressive political views are not necessarily anti-Christian. Is evangelism about winning souls, or votes?”
“The term postmodern has too convulted a history to summarize so simplistically.”
“Street Postmodernism: A set of attitudes that enables a person to navigate today’s social ambiguity without getting hurt.”
“Today’s street postmodernism is another form of the street philosophies that people develop in every age. And what do I mean by street philosophy? It’s an ethic developed by living, not by studying.”
So I am only on the fourth chapter of the book, and there is much more ahead. I will blog about the book in the days to come as I continue to read it. I am hoping it will give me more insights for my preaching, my missional kingdom life, and how to interact with people who are distinctly different than myself.
Sep 30th, 2009
gieseguy
A few weeks ago I received a book from Mike Morrell of the Viral Bloggers to review. The name of the book is “The Diversity Culture” with a tag line of “Creating conversations of faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and everyone in between”. I must say I was hoping to get one of the other more interesting titles and well known authors. To my surprise however this was a very interesting and engaging read.
The author is Matthew Raley a Pastor of an Evangelistic Free church in California. He comes across in this book as more of a prophet to that body (evangelicalism) than a defender of its culture. He is clear at bringing out the pitfalls of bigotry, stereotyping, labels etc… that so many of us in evangelicalism are guilty of. He calls this the “reject correct” approach. He doesn’t let those in the post Modernism or emerging streams off either as he shows that the “accept-affirm” approach also has its weaknesses. These are just a couple of the great points of tension he writes about in the book relating to the diverse culture we are all in. He then contrasts and compares this tension with the way Jesus related to the women at the well. The dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well has always been one of my favorite biblical narratives. Raley takes this narrative to new heights as he applies it’s principals to how we as Christians can effectively relate to the diverse cultural mindsets that exist in our culture right now.
This would be a great book for Christians to have a discussion about. It’s not only current in its relevance but prophetic in its overall message of hope in relating to others of diverse philosophies.
Sep 30th, 2009
frgregoryj
When I was in college I remember complaining to Fr Chris, my confessor at the time, about having to read Freud. For the life of me, I can’t remember what my actual complaints were—or even if I actually had any substantive objections to Freud besides the fact that he wasn’t Christian and he was hard to read (and of the two I suspect the latter was more my concern than the former. I was a bright but lazy undergraduate.)
Anyway, looking back on the situation I imagined Father and I talked about the matter a little bit. Eventually though Fr Chris would (as he usually did) quiet, bow his head for a moment and then look up and say “If Freud says anything true and all you can’t find Christ in the truth that he presents, the problem isn’t Freud it’s you! You shouldn’t be reading Freud!”
Over the last almost 30 years since that conversation I’ve thought about Father’s comment. If I can’t find Christ in a thinker, a situation or a person, the problem isn’t outside but inside; it is me who is blind to Christ as He is present in that moment.
The late Fr Alexander Schmemman had a similar observation about missionaries. Somewhere he says that a missionary isn’t someone who goes and brings Christ where He isn’t. A missionary is someone who goes somewhere and finds Christ there waiting to greet him. Christ waits to greet me, He waits to greet each of us, if only I am willing to see Him.
Learning how to see Christ in the midst of my daily life, in the face of my neighbor, in the books that I read, in the events that make up the ebb and flow of my day, is more a challenge than I think many of us realize. For not a few Christians, especially if they take the spiritual life seriously, life is often a more or less frantic and desperate search for the presence of Christ in their lives.
None of this is to say that these desperate seekers are passive Christians. They aren’t. In fact, the more I have trouble encountering Christ in my everyday life the more I am likely to fill my day with activity, purposefully, driven activity, that I hope will (some how) reveal Christ to me, Or failing that, I hope that the work will fill up the emptiness of my life.
I know so many Orthodox Christians who approach the spiritual life as merely one more thing on their to do lists. For these people the spiritual life is just another series of tasks—take out the garbage, pay the bills, make the beds, do the shopping; daily prayers, spiritual reading, fasting, Vespers, Orthos, Divine Liturgy, and confession—things that have to be done because their in the job description of a pious and Orthodox Christian.
But amidst all the activity there is emptiness, a discontent and discomfort with self and others that takes the makes the compulsive in their approach to the life of prayer and which bears the bitter fruit of impatience and even anger with others. Above there is in them an anger at God Who just isn’t there.
While all of this is tragic enough for the person (and again, there are many, many, many Christians in this situation, no few of them clergy), it becomes more tragic still when the person tries to fill the emptiness through evangelism. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matthew 23:15, NKJV).
The human ground of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy is as common as it is real. While it is a temptation for all of us, it is a special temptation to those who are involved in ministry—whether we are clergy or laity, Orthodox Christian, Catholic, Protestant or Evangelical.
One Evangelical Christian pastor, Matthew Raley, has taken a hard look at this temptation as it is embodied in the discomfort many Evangelical Christians have with what he calls the “diversity culture.” He describes the evangelical and pastoral challenges (and opportunities) facing American Evangelical Christians (and I think most orthodox, and Orthodox, Christians) in his book The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hipsters, Political Activists & Everyone in Between.
For better and worse, diversity culture, that shared commitment to “openness toward all beliefs and spiritual traditions” that sees as “bigotry” the “worst evil” has become the “dominant American ethos.” For those who embrace the ethic of diversity—and Raley argues correctly that most Americans have—“Every shelter for narrow thinking must be eroded by fresh winds” of modern (or actually, post-modern) relativising thought (p. 13).
The author uses a number of devices structure his analysis and the practical suggests that make up the book.
The first is a fictional encounter between two, middle aged, representatives of Evangelical Christianity and diversity culture. Representing the latter is a graphic designer, the former is represented by a man in a cheap blue suit. They meet in Café Siddhartha a San Francisco coffee shop.
Each chapter begins with a selection “from the ‘Most E-mailed’ list of articles on the New York Times Web site in 2006-2008.” The author does this in an attempt (largely successfully I think) to allow “the diversity culture to speak for itself, even to choose the topics of discussion.” In order to gain some critical, biblically informed, distance of diversity culture and the negative response it evokes in Evangelical Christians, he concludes each chapter with an analogical reading of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John (4:13-30).
While I admire the attempt, I think that the author is less successful here. His attempt to see a parallel between “the Samaritan-Jewish hostility and the [Café] Siddhartha-evangelical hostility” depends on his using historical research to re-create the internal dialog of Jews and Samaritans of the time (p. 18). While this can be, in small doses, a powerful preaching tool, it became distracting for me especially in comparison with the author’s greater understanding of contemporary culture.
More serious theologically, is his attempt to apply his analogical method to the Person of Jesus Christ. I found this more than a little distracting especially since it seemed to me that in his attempt to reconstruction of Christ’s psychology he lost sight of Christ’s divinity. Again, while I understand, and even appreciate, the pedagogical intent, there are times when the text flirts with Christological heresy.
Putting that to the side, however, I do think that Raley has much to say of great value not only to his own Evangelical Christian community but all of us who would engage the patrons at Café Siddhartha.
For those who are familiar with post-Modern thought (to say nothing of historical Christian thought and theology) much of the book will be distracting. At the same time I think it is unreasonable to criticize an author for not writing the book I would have written. Raley is offering his reader a primer on the theory and practice of evangelism in a post-Modern context and on that score he succeeds admirably.
What I found most valuable (and personally moving) were his concluding mediation on would I call the vocation of being an evangelist to the patrons of Café Siddhartha (pp. 163-164). I won’t quote it all, but let me offer a few lines:
“. . . America is full of believers who don’t fit anywhere, but who were made to leave an impression.”
“If you follow Christ, you have a wealth of insight that is uniquely yours.”
“God has . . . selected experiences for you, many of them agonizing—experiences that make you feel cut off from others. . . . These experiences, in spite of the isolation they create, are more of the wealth with which God has endowed you.”
Yes, yes, I know, especially taken out of context, these quotes read like a series of slogans on inspirational posters. And yes, there is a great distance between the affirmations above and actually putting these insights into practice. But we most start somewhere mustn’t we?
Thinking back to my conversation in Fr Chris office, I realize that what was true for Raley as an undergraduate was equally true for me at that time in my life. “As I discovered, the thing that kept me from winning souls was my self-indulgence. I was too confident that I knew the people I was dealing with, too quick to judge their attitudes and experiences.” As a result, and again like the undergraduate Raley, “My Gospel was
self-indulgent too. It consisted of the points I wanted to make rather than the truths people needed to hear” (p. 165).
And if I think about it a little more, I realize that for all I’ve changed and matured, I am still a little bit like my 20 year old self. And it is as a gentle correction to that residual, but still real, spiritual self-indulgence that I think Matthew Raley has the most to offer me and any reader who takes serious an approach to evangelism grounded in personal sanctity and who wants to find the welcoming Face of Christ in his or her everyday life.
In Christ,
+Fr Gregory
Oct 1st, 2009
ironman15
The premise of this book is fairly simple: he weaves the narrative of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-26) as an example of how to engage those who are different than yourselves in conversations about Truth. I thought this was one of the real strengths of the book. His writing in these parts has the ability to bring the story to life, and I agree that it is an amazing example of the point he is trying to make.
Raley also sets up two stereotypes and contrasts them: a woman at Cafe Siddhartha (the birth name of the Buddha) and a Baptist at Cafe Siddhartha. This is one area where he lost me. I’ve never been one for stereotypes, and I felt like he lost momentum every time he would reference these two make-believe people throughout the book.
The book does have some interesting and articulate parts, but overall, it failed to fully engage me. I never got lost in a chapter (in a good way). In fact, it often felt like I was pushing through a section just to see what was next. In addition, he did something that I’ve grown to loathe with so many Christian writers today: taking pot-shots at megachurches. For example, he states that “the reality is that the growth of megachurches is the result of many evangelicals making the same choices, adopting a religious lifestyle that matches American consumerism. The responsibility for megachurch superficiality is broadly shared.” It sounds like he is arguing that growth = superficiality. That isn’t Biblical, or accurate. Anyone can make a straw-man church and then tear it down. His description of megachurches hasn’t been what I’ve seen at Central or a handful of local megachurches in Arizona.
Despite this, here are a few quotes that stood out to me and developed his point well:
“We interpret people as stock characters, as members of groups. Jesus interpreted the woman at the well using a story about her as an individual.”
“People wear and carry objects that feed stories about who they are, how they see themselves, and what their agendas are. Sometimes the mixed signals are calculated and even defensive, but in other cases they simply reflect the bearer’s experiences–and evangelicals can have trouble discerning which.”
“…we can see how John pits individuals against their groups. Whether the characters are Jesus’ disciples or his enemies, the crowbar that pries them away from their worldly loyalty is their knowledge of Scripture. The pattern is consistent throughout John’s gospel…”
“We cannot break the power of groupthink by opposing it with more groupthink. We need to restore one of our oldest appeals: Sola scriptura. The signature of biblical Christianity has always been freedom of thought.”
“Once an individual is thinking for himself, he is ready to meet Jesus.”
Oct 12th, 2009
trooperdog
As a book review blogger for two different organizations, I get to review books from time to time on my blog. Today I finished a book entitled, “The Diversity Culture” by Matthew Raley.
The subtitle of this book is “Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and Everyone in Between”. There’s a mouthful! But that subtitle grabbed my attention and made me want to read this book. In some respects, the book succeeded in the subtitle but in other ways it didn’t.
The author describes himself as someone who never fits the stereotypes that people could easily lump him into. And that idea is what the first part of the book is all about. Matthew Raley seeks to help us to understand that the ways that we view people and the stereotypes that we tend to lump people together into really don’t fit across the board in our culture anymore. So Raley takes several chapters to describe our current culture. My one complaint with his descriptions is that he tends to paint people into “us” and “them” boxes…people who are Christian and people who are of our current culture. That distinction was very hard to take as he continued through the book.
I think Raley does a great job of explaining the state of our current culture…and at times he gives great explanations as to how Christians can speak into the culture. But the book never really grabbed me and it felt too much like he was trying to give answers that would make Christians happy. I wish he would have spoken more about the art of listening. I really think listening is the best way that anyone can interact with the culture around us.
Overall, I’d give this book 3 out of 5 stars. There were some good parts…but some of it just didn’t speak to where my faith is at in regards to our culture.
Oct 12th, 2009
SPalm
I picked up Matthew Raley’s. “The Diversity Culture” with great anticipation. Raley is a pastor in my new neck-of-the-woods, dealing with the same social, cultural and spiritual challenges that I have, and the topic – Christian engagement with others – had lots of promise. Plus, it ‘s been a busy month, and if I were to review a book this month, I wanted it to be short, which “The Diversity Culture” is. The information I received regarding the author, projected him as a political and social conservative and the church is woefully short of these kind of men and woman who are engaged in meaningful dialogue with the irreducible Other – or at least are willing to write about it!
After giving Raley a solid read, I must confess I found his work to be a mixed bag. That’s not to say that “The Diversity Culture” is a poorly written or overflowing with poor ideas. Rather, Raley and I, while sharing a desire for similar outcomes, we come at interaction with the Other in some significantly different ways.
My task here is not to argue with Raley – that would be counterproductive, not to mention out-of-school. Raley has some significantly useful points and perspectives that more Christ-followers would be wise to incorporate. Therefore, I will simple lay out what I consider to be the good, the bad and the ugly and allow you to decide.
The Good
Raley’s best work surrounds his ability to give Christians a language and process for engaging the Other. This, I know, can be discombobulating to some, especially those that view increasing diversity in America as some kind of threat. Describing the stereotypical World War II man, Raley explains that he “knows who he is.” This kind of knowing is often – and I may be reaching here myself – unsettled by cultures and epistemologies that the World War II man doesn’t understand. If that is the case, then Raley is a great place to begin.
What’s more, Raley, gives a step-by-step guide to engagement – the perfect solution for those who don’t quite know what to do. Raley offers scripture, community, and testimony as a way forward. For some this will be a great challenge and Raley gives them glimmers of hope and thoughtful ways to engage. If you know someone who wants to interact with Others, yet is too uncomfortable to do so, then Raley is a good place to start.
What’s more, Raley committed works from a Biblical perspective. He is not attempting to create conversations by distancing himself or the church from the claims of scripture. He is not even advocating that we see the Biblical text in a new way. Rather he is attempting to bridge the divide, giving Christ-followers helpful ways to move the conversation along
The Bad
But what Raley does well is also the Achilles heal of “The Diversity Culture.” Admittedly, most of these critiques involve the first half of the book, which was difficult to get through. First, while reading “The Diversity Culture” I got the distinct sense that the Other is a problem to be dealt with, not a person to be loved. The books aim seems to be this: “How do we get the irreducible Other to think and act like typical American evangelical Christians?” This fact is embedded in the book’s title. The subtle suggestion is that there is a “diversity culture” that we need to learn to reach and teach – as if (1) we are not all a part, in some degree, of the same culture and (2) that other cultures out to acquiesce to “our” culture.
Raley’s bias is exposed in his exegesis of the Samaritan woman, whom he constructs as the necessary Other to be engaged. Looking at Jesus’ interaction with the woman, Raley offers their interaction with one another as a model for the church. Here’s the problem with that model: (1) Within this interaction, Jesus is socially and politically the superior. This necessarily effects the engagement. We must ask whether or not this kind of engagement is a proper equivalent. Do we want to use an image of superiority when engaging the other? Perhaps one of Jesus’ encounters with a social equal might be better.
As Raley writes, you get hints of this superiority in his descriptions of others, such as a New York Times reader or the lady at Café Siddhartha. Raley characterizations may come off to some as flippant stereotypes that may make some readers wonder whether or not he took the irreducible Other seriously as a person. Along with this, Raley offers a popular exegesis of the Samaritan woman that simply is extra-textual. Like many before him, Raley posits that the woman was divorced by her five previous husbands, which may be true but is not actually in the text. How might the reader engage the Samaritan woman if through the devastating blows which life sometimes deals, they discover that she is a five-time widow? Sounds extreme? Maybe. But it is no more or less explicit in the text than a five-time divorcee. Oddly, I happen to know a woman who is a three-time widow. Given the disparity in ages, which occurred in the marriages of antiquity, it’s not entirely far-fetched. Perhaps Jesus’ interaction with the woman is less concerned about sin and more with compassion – but now I’m rambling. At root, however, for Raley the Other seems to be less a person and more the object of a ministry designed less to convert from darkness to light and more to assimilate. But, (and I mean this sincerely) I may be woefully misreading him.
Second, because Raley switches back-and-forth between an imagined scene in a café, his own insights and Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, his writing style seems herky-jerky, at times. Though not a major problem, there are points in which his argument is lost in transition.
It should be noted that Raley’s instincts get better as the book wears on, but it’s hard to give him an audience for that long. As a pastor desirous of conveying the message of the gospel, I respect Raley, and his desire to engage the Other in meaningful way. For that we can all be thankful.
Oct 15th, 2009
Ron Cole
The Diversity Culture, at first glance, glossy cover filled with visual screen shots of todays culture. A diverse culture magnified, frozen to still life. The back, the bait to lure into the book.
“ A new culture has emerged. It preaches openness, moral flexibility, and social diversity…and it’s making evangelicals feel uncomfortable. Threatened. Excluded. Writing with both a Christian worldview and an open mind, author Matthew Raley tackles the social tensions between evangelicals and the diversity culture with honesty and understanding.
Analyzing contemporary media, historical sources, and scripture, The Diversity Culture looks at the cultural barriers of society and how they can be breached, so readers can understand…and approach…cosmopolitan peers on their own terms. Incisive and indispensable, this book challenges believers to cross socioeconomic, ethical, and ideological dividing lines to heal human relationships in the name of Christ.
If you’ve been living in the Christian bubble, and accidently walked outside you could say a new culture as emerged. The reality is this “ culture” has been evolving for years. It hasn’t been like throwing a light switch, or crossing a threshold from light into darkness. As technology has changed, science has changed, theology has changed, our understanding and the conversation has changed. The sad reality most churches have not engaged in the conversation. I think Matthew Raley addresses this reality in his book. That in our defending of the faith, we have struggled for certitude and have forgotten the real spiritual life of the faith. In the void, in the lack of understanding, how do we engage?
Matthew Raley attempts to bridge this void by drawing parallels of a fictitious meeting a woman of the diversity culture, and a conservative Baptist man in Cafe’ Siddhartha. At the same time throw a long line and pull the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.
I think for me, one of the strengths of the book was in helping the average reader understand the tension of what the diversity culture. He brought to the surface a lot of what makes up the diversity culture, and brought in what he calls Street Postmodernism. I found it be over simplified, in that he kept trying to paint an image of the diversity culture person with a broad brush stroke almost a stereotype. I think for anyone trying to grasp a better understanding of postmodernism there is certainly better books. That’s another thing that I found confusing, is it about the diversity culture or postmodernism, and what’s the difference. But, then again, if your just hanging out with Christians, not talking to anyone between your house in church, this book will help you understand what’s surrounding you.
Part two of the book tackles the issue of formulating a message, with chapters on The Power of Scripture; The Power of Community; and the Power of Testimony. I found this section a little tiring, looking at the message of the diversity culture and then running from the Cafe’ to the well to look at the message of the Samaritan woman’s culture. Although there is similarities, I found Matthew Raley reaching to read something into a culture that may not have been there. 2000+ years is long ways to drag culture and context from one world into another.
He then looks at the community of the woman in Cafe’ Siddhartha comparing it to the Samaritan woman at the well. He tries to reveal the community that has formed the identity of each. Somehow if we can understand how these communities shape the individual, we can reveal the lies that have entrapped them. In this revelation, we ( the Baptist ) in the Cafe can offer an alternative community just as Jesus did with the Samaritan woman at the well.
From there it is like a simple math equation like A+B=C; the message of scripture countering the message of the diversity culture, the community that Jesus offers countering the myth of identity that the diversity culture offers, add our personal testimony that affirms both.
The last part of the book could be summarized as application of the above. Be a heretic, which is someone who thinks outside the square box. Matthew Raley reduces the box of four sides, to a triangle with three sides; don’t be certain, don’t be a hero, don’t be a critic. It comes down to a heretic being all those things without being obvious. Next is the mode of attack. There is the frontal attack which he describes at the “ideological mode“, characterized by attack, defense and spin. Then there is the “ relational mode”; a discussion characterized by trust, openness and often risk. And it culminates in what he calls “ Answer the Question.” Our answers must be focused, too often we answer to what we perceive the agendas are. Also our answers must be focused. Our answers don’t merely respond to the persons issue but to our end goal.
This book is not all bad. It helps us understand the culture in which most churches are surrounded. To engage culture, we need to understand culture. But individuals are more complex. I’m still put off by the “us” verses “them” mentality, as if the the diversity culture is all darkness and the Christianity culture being all light. I almost shut the book for good when he dare to wander in the issue of human sexuality, call homosexuality a lifestyle choice. I think this book would have far more credibility if it were not a work of fiction. How about a story of a real Chrsitian that struck up a conversation with someone in a Cafe’ that led to a real friendship over period of years. A story about real transformation in the life of both people. So despite the glimpses into what the diversity culture and postmodernism is, it’s just more of the same old thing. It’s a myopic vision of what salvation, redemption and the gospel are all about. In the postmodern world it is larger than saving souls, in God’s world it’s much bigger than saving souls.
Oct 17th, 2009
tghali
Who I Think the Book is For: A thoughtful, very conservative evangelical whose looking for a change from being inspired by Max Lucado, angered by Bill O’Reilly and has already read all the Ravi Zacharias, John Piper and Chuck Colson one can handle. If that’s been your diet of books lately, than I suspect that you will appreciate this offering from Matthew Raley. Honestly, I think this book is for my parents. Even further for any boomer age parents who have felt they have lost their son/daughter to the “relativism and humanism” taught in the university, this book would help in understanding where their children are/were coming from.
Who I Don’t Think this Book is For: Me. While I enjoyed reading it, it didn’t alter or challenge me in any dramatic or profound way. And that’s ok. I don’t think Raley had postmodern seminarians like me in mind when he was writing it. I think Doug Pagiit’s A Christianity Worth Believing would be more helpful for the postmodern believer or skeptic. That said, it probably did help me in trying to communicate more effectively to the Boomer generation. Like Raley, I am a pastor in a Evangelical Free Church and I see myself as a mediator,
What Raley Does Well: 1. I think he offers excellent caricatures of those outside the Christian faith. There’s a couple but the main one focuses on “The woman at Cafe Siddhartha” which is his coffee shop equivalent of the well. She really takes life in chapter four or at least that’s when I connected with her. She’s an intelligent, culturally savy woman who has given up on the basic faith she was raised with.2. I like the whole “Cafe Siddartha” theme. As he explains in the beginning, “Siddartha is the birth name o f the Buddha which translates to “One who has found meaning”. Among other things, he explains that this is the place of understanding the diversity culture. 3. I liked how he continued to weave through Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman as an excellent approach of creating conversation outside of our walls. 4. I liked how he criticized the lame approach of Teen Mania. Although it was too polite, a thoughtful Boomer will nod in agreement.
What I Would Have Liked to See More of: 1. I think i wanted to feel more of the plurality of what was contained in the subtitle of the “Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies…” 2. He has a chapter called, “Be a Heretic” (Ch.
and in truth, I was looking for more boldness (or at least one heresy). It seemed that it should have been called its theme which was “Don’t Be a Hero”.
Concluding Thoughts: Overall, I liked The Diversity Culture. It’s a well written book with excellent themes weaving throughout. I think it’s strength is in opening the mind of a Boomer in helping him/her understand the mentality of those outside the Christian faith. We in the church like to say that non-believers are “lost in their sin” and “have hardened their hearts to the Holy Spirit” and dismiss them. I think Raley will help people see why some non-Christians like being non-Christians and how one can begin a similar conversation as Jesus did with the Samaritan woman at the well at our respective wells and cafes in life.
Oct 20th, 2009
Neal Taylor
Matthew Raley’s The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and Everyone in Between (Kregel Publications, 2009) certainly has a captivating title, and I was excited to receive and start reading the latest book from Viralbloggers. I had not heard of Matthew Raley nor The Diversity Culture previously, so it was the title, with all it’s imagery that lead me to read this interesting, but rather overly complicated book.
Sadly, Raley doesn’t specifically cover the folk from the title, rather lumping them altogether as The Diversity Culture. He then elegantly deconstructs the USAmerican Evangelical culture’s bigotry and stereotyping of this Diversity Culture, calling the reader back to a (radical?) Jesus like approach. He does this through exploring Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well.
While The Diversity Culture was an easy read, with some wonderful imagery of the characters at the Cafe Siddhartha, I was left questioning the need to label people and began to appreciate the exploration of the Samaritan woman’s conversation with Jesus, where, whether intentional or not, it became evident that Jesus certainly didn’t need to categorize folk. This is not to say that Raley’s The Diversity Culture, is a poor book! Far from it! It is well constructed and would benefit many in the pews in mainstream legacy church in USAmerica, or for that matter, Australia too!
Where I am left questioning the need to read such a book, is where my experiences differ from Raley. Where Raley is a USAmerican, I am Australian, where Raley is a Pastor, I am not. But that is not where it started to become evident that this book wasn’t written for me. I realised after some time that my own experiences and life had already lead my through the cafe and out the otherside, where, with my life and work with the homeless and those suffering on the edges of society here in Australia, conversations with the Samaritan woman occur almost daily.
I would recommend Matthew Raley’s The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and Everyone in Between (Kregel Publications, 2009) to those in the pews of USAmerican evangelical churches, but only if they were terrified about stepping out the doors of the church buildings and their circle of Christian culture and engaging with their neighbours. But, I would I would suggest reading along the way to greeting their homosexual, mixed relations, Hindu neighbours!
Oct 21st, 2009
spiritofburning
When I encounter those who profess multiple paths to God or enlightenment I find myself crying out in strident tones John 14:6. Now there are some who feel I should take a softer approach, seeing these misguided souls as individuals who I can relate to before lambasting them with scriptural quotes.
Though Raley’s language seems to target a distinct group of believers termed `evangelicals’, anyone with a heart for reaching the lost should consider investigating it. It would seem that the evangelicals Raley refers to are really any Christian holding to an orthodox understanding of salvation and a desire to reach out into a dying world for Jesus. With post-modernity sweeping across all of Western culture and Christians finding themselves increasingly alone in their worldview, this title is incredibly timely and relevant for believers.
I greatly enjoyed The Diversity Culture and fairly blew through it. I’m keeping it up on my shelf for another read through because as of yet I’ve been unable to move from my ideological battle position to a relational stance of building bridges of friendship and understanding. I can catch a glimmer of what he’s driving at, hear a faint echo in my heart, but for now I’m still counting on John 14:6. Keep growing a heart of compassion in me Lord, keep growing it.
Nov 18th, 2009
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