Transnational Identities and the Church: Examining Contemporary Ethnicity and Place

Abstract

Ethnic identities have been problematic for the construction of local churches since New Testament times. Transnationalism adds a layer of complexity to this circumstance, as migrants hold multiple identities and retain strong ties to places of origin. An examination of the history of anthropology's study of ethnicity reveals ethnicity's constructed nature, along with its tendency to demand loyalty as to a family. Given people's very real need for a place of ultimate belonging, churches have sometimes too easily resolved the tension between Christian identity and ethnic identities by segregating themselves. New Testament churches were assemblies associated with place, not ethnicity, bringing together diverse peoples and requiring them to submit to Christ, as to the head of a household. There is evidence that contemporary attempts to form multi-cultural churches out of a liberal political agenda ironically become enmeshed in power struggles. But those that recognize the centrality of the gospel succeed due to the adoption of a central authority, Christ himself, who relativizes all ethnic and national identities in favor of a common purpose, the spread of the gospel to others who have not heard it.

Globalization and contextualization: Reframing the task of contextualization in the twenty-first century

“…For the Christian that identity can only be found in the restoration of the imago Dei through the redemptive work of Christ and the new creation of the Spirit. While local identities should not and cannot be entirely abandoned, Eloise Hiebert Meneses nevertheless rightly reminds us that “We are not truly followers of Jesus unless we relinquish the total hold that family and ethnicity would have upon us, and belong in the first instance to Christ” (2012: 72).…”

Ephesians: An Ecclesiology of Identity and Responsibility in the Light of God’s Cosmic Plan and a Canonical View of God’s People.

“…The newness of this new community demands that we incarnate our unity in diversity. Meneses 48 intimates, "What is needed is a model of the church that acknowledges the value of ethnic affiliations … and yet retains its focus on the person of Christ, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek" (Gal. 3:22).…”