The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hipsters, Political Activists & Everyone in Between [Paperback]

Matthew Raley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2009

Creating conversations of faith outside of the Evangelical norm A new culture is emerging-one of spiritual openness, moral flexibility, and social diversity. This diversity culture makes evangelicals uncomfortable, not because they feel threatened, but because they feel excluded. Writing from the perspective of a conservative evangelical, author Matthew Raley 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 incisive and much-needed book gives believers the understanding and tools they need to cross socioeconomic, ethical, and ideological barriers and heal relationships in the name of Christ.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

What is the diversity culture? And what does it have to do with me?

A new culture has emerged. It preaches spiritual openness, moral flexibility, and social diversity--and it's making evangelicals uncomfortable. Threatened. Excluded. Writing with both 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 hurdles to heal human relationships in the name of Christ.

About the Author

Matthew Raley is senior pastor of the Orland Evangelical Free Church in Northern California, where he lives with his wife and two young children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Publications (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082543579X
• ISBN-13: 978-0825435799
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,731,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raley offers a whole new way to talk about faith, September 26, 2009

By 

Christina Lockstein "Christy's Book Blog" (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hipsters, Political Activists & Everyone in Between (Paperback)

The Diversity Culture by Matthew Raley is a paradigm changing book about how evangelicals need to address the world. Raley frames the book between two encounters: Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well and a anti-Christian Buddhist career woman and a Baptist look-a-like with a ChuckColson book at a neighborhood coffee house. Raley does an excellent job of describing how today's culture has changed remarkably in the last 50 years. It's nearly impossible to stereotype people strictly by their clothing, because Americans take delight in not fitting into neat boxes. Evangelical Christians have for the most part rejected this diversity as frightening and the enemy. The bookshelves at religious stores are heavy with books about how to answer questions from non-believers and defend against verbal attacks, butRaley turns the concept upside down by carefully breaking down the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well. She came from a culture that was opposed to the Jews and had a history that made her bitter and angry at most religion. Jesus didn't reject or accept her views, but created a relationship with her that allowed him to confront her on a much deeper level. Both Christians and atheists/agnostics have becomebunkered down in a fear mentality of us vs them. Raley gives essential keys to breaking through the walls that divide us without ever surrendering our faith.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help for Bible Thumpers, June 22, 2009

By 

Jennifer Bogart "@ Quiverfullfamily.com" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hipsters, Political Activists & Everyone in Between (Paperback)

Time to `fess up - I am not good at witnessing to individuals with a pluralistic worldview. Though it was less than a scant three years ago that I found myself embroiled in the same beliefs, since being born again I've found it immeasurably difficult to put myself in the shoes of unbelievers and to see the world from their perspective. 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.

Matthew Raley is such a one. On a mission to encourage evangelicals to engage without defensiveness The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hipsters, Political Activists and Everyone in Between, he has penned a brief, though provoking, volume. In it he explores a Christ-centered model Christians can use to interact with the growing numbers of postmodernists at large in our culture. Integrating examples from modern media that exemplify the thought processes of the diversity culture, examples from Jesus' life as related to us in scripture as he reached out to the Samaritan woman at the well, and a fictional interaction between a woman who represents the collective concerns of modern un-believers and a Christian seeking to move into relational conversation with this woman, Raley explores his premise at a brisk pace.

Raley's lively writing brings the cultural backdrop of New Testament times into sharp focus and brings the scriptural narrative of Jesus' encounters with unbelievers into sharp focus. Diving for pearls he seeks out principles for relational communication and the techniques that Jesus used to pierce the hardened hearts of his listeners. Of course, Jesus had a distinct advantage that we do not - He is God and knew just what to say -- but as always we can learn from Him in all that He does. In his segments exploring hot topics for folks hailing from the diversity culture, Raley delves into a variety of topics that typically and invariably make evangelicals either tremble or rage: transgendered toddlers, same-sex marriage, and so on, encouraging believers to offer real help and guidance from scripture rather than drawing battle lines.

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars Respects Diversity w/out Compromising Scripture, December 29, 2009

By 

Michael Duran "cerebral grump" (SoCal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hipsters, Political Activists & Everyone in Between (Paperback)

If post-modern Christianity is faithful to its "relativistic" roots, there is no need to convince anyone of its relevance. Why? Because all faiths are equally true. While pluralism poses a distinct problem for traditional, absolutist, evangelicals, evangelism creates a similar quandary for post-moderns. I mean, why engage someone about the truth of Christianity when one views all beliefs as equal? Post-modernism effectively strips Scripture of absolutes, which creates a problem for a movement whose Founder claimed to be the only way to God (Jn. 14:6).

Pastor Matthew Raley's new book "The Diversity Culture" tackles the relational intersections of the Gospel in a secular society. The book's subtitle is "Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and Everyone in Between. " Whew! Did he miss anyone? Actually, the colorful demographic sampling is representative of the daunting task facing evangelicals. Our ever-expanding multicultural vista can be intimidating... especially for those who still take the "Great Commission" at face value. So how do we engage those of differing philosophical persuasions without coming across as elitist, judgmental, or close-minded?

Part of it is overcoming our own fears and misconceptions about the culture of diversity.

"...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? ...More deeply, evangelicals can easily brand an openness to new perspectives as "relativism." But is it relativistic to hear someone out, or to participate in discussions that may not resolve neatly?" (pg. 14)

I think Raley's right about our tendency toward "blanket rejection," to pigeonhole people, whether they're on the political or religious left, and the barriers to conversation those prejudices create. We simply cannot rush to judgment about someone based on the color of their hair, the bumper stickers on their car, their political party, or their tattoos and ear awl.

And lest we conceive our current plight is without precedent, we need only remember that the first-century church was birthed in a culture where politics, pagan gods, Stoics, Gnostics, spiritualists, and hedonists cavorted. Raley illustrates this by threading Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well throughout his book, extracting insights from their conversation. It's a helpful illustration and one that Raley plumbs in detail, and rather effectively.

But perhaps my greatest concern in reading "The Diversity Culture" was how the author would approach the undermining of biblical evangelism that inevitably results from strict postmodernism. Why "create conversations of faith" (as the book's subtitle states), if all faiths are legit, or at least neutral? And if Christianity is worth defending and/or propagating, on what grounds do we base its precedence?

Such discussions usually divide along two lines: either the way of Christ is compromised to include other faiths, or other faiths are viewed as inferior to the way of Christ. Perhaps this is why the book has taken some heat from postmodern Christians. As one fellow blogger and reviewer said about "The Diversity Culture,"

"It's a book written for fat conservative Baptists sitting in San Francisco coffee bars trying to convert post-moderns... 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 ________'. [Raley] really cares about us, and he's not a bigot or anything, he just wants us to convert from our immoral and unrighteous ways."

The question I would ask this reviewer is. Does Jesus still want to 'save' anyone? Does Jesus still want to 'convert' us to anything? If so, what does that 'saving' and 'converting' involve, and how do followers of Jesus engage in that process? The last time I checked, the Gospel was still about converting us from our "immoral and unrighteous ways." But if we become the arbiters of what is "immoral and unrighteous," then we're screwed.

The fact that some post-modern Christians have reached the aforementioned conclusions is, in my estimate, a validation of Raley's position. He writes:

"There is always pressure to redefine the faith so that it fits ungodly prejudices better. For instance, some are experimenting again with the notion that people of other faiths will be saved as long as they are sincere. Some others want to blur biblical standards on sexuality so that we seem less prudish. None of these faux-biblical teachings will lead people to Jesus.

...there will be times to say things that open us to slander and mockery. Jesus calls us to do no less. He was impaled on the cross for exactly such uncompromising stands." (pg. 120)

Both evangelicals and post-modern Christians are guilty of trying to "redefine the faith so that it fits ungodly prejudices better." The sooner we recognize the errors on both sides, the closer we are to productive conversations between ourselves and our culture.

If you're looking for a book concerning the philosophical defense of the Gospel or apologetic approaches, "The Diversity Culture" isn't it. However, if you're contemplating how to "create conversations of faith" with your agnostic brother-in-law, transgendered co-worker, bitter ex-Catholic neighbor, or confused teenage daughter, Raley's book provides a practical, biblical framework for building relationships and engaging in civil, non-judgmental dialog. And as our culture becomes more and more diverse, Christlike listening and engagement will become all the more important.