We Love Folks!

I'm working on a story for the Oklahoma Gazette this week, and it's left me pretty depressed. The Human Capital and Diversity Project is an initiative in OKC to attract and/or keep the creative class in OKC. The idea, drawn from a book by Richard Florida, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, entitled The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life, is that cities with a healthy, longterm economic outlook are able to recruit and keep these freelance creative types. The fields including art, journalism, biotechnology, and biomedical research.

What's wrong with that idea? Well, my editor rightly assumed that Oklahoma City's tens of thousands of religiously conservative citizens wouldn't be thrilled about ethnic, religious, and sexual (read homosexual)diversity. I've spoken to several religious leaders and pastors this week. Most are "cautiously optimistic" that this group might help the city and provide a new field for harvest. One pastor said he sees it as a great opportunity to reach people for the kingdom.

Okay, allow me to make some observations:

• People are more than targets for evangelism.
• People have value however responsive or unresponsive they are to proselytizing.
• People are annoyed by being treated as a target for evangelism.
• The Church should learn to make friends with others, not try to save them. It's easier to save a friend than an adversary or a leery target of evangelism.
• Why can't the church in OKC be happy that this creative class might help the educational, cultural, and economic bottom line in this city?

That's enough. Only my liberal friends said we should embrace diversity. I'm all for evangelism...really. But I'm also for respecting people who can't stand us and who'd sooner smoke dope, dance all night to techno, and tattoo "Prince of Darkness" on their forearms than come to church. Rather than see this as a chance to learn and grow from other cultural perspectives being shared, the church in OKC is going to embrace this as some move of the Spirit to bring on the Last Days Harvest, or some crap like that. Aaarrgghh!

Comments

[Ryan]

Well said.

[Dave]

I read Florida's article, which outlined his ideas on the "Creative Class" when it was published in The Washington Monthly (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0205.florida.html). It was an excellent article. But my own hometown of Louisville, KY is listed as one of the "bottom 10 cities" (poor creative class ranking) and it wouldn't be a surprise if part of that was because of the Al Mohr and the SBTS's influence on Louisville, holding it back.

I left Louisville 6 years ago and have no desire to return. I moved to Maryland precisely because, despite it's deeply conservative Roman Catholic roots, it tends to embrace and respect diversity.

[Scott]

Bravo Greg. The body of Christ has got to realize that discipleship only comes through fellowship (I know that's church talk, please forgive).

Case in point...

I'm a former Youth Pastor of 13 years. I can't tell you how much of Youth Ministry is SCARE TATIC EVANGELISM. That is so wrong. Reltationship is the catalist to influence. Jesus was trashed because he ate with sinners, we're too afraid to be seen at Wal-mart around them.

[Robyn]

If Jesus came to OKC, I for one would think he would be hanging out with the dope smokers, the techno dancers & the "Prince of Darkness"...the modern day version of the despised "tax colletors". Probably wouldn't be able to find him wherever it is the religiously conservative are gathering to plot their bible-thumpin' evangelism.