Thoughts on life, love, and politics

Why I Have a Problem with Jokes Aimed at a Culture Group

This is in response to a post on another blog. There was a joke that I felt was perhaps not the most appropriate joke and many disagreed with me. These are the reasons that I believe it to be wrong to joke in that manner.
During my time at Grace I have been challenged in many of the ways I and fellow US Christians naturally think because of our American culture. I have been challenged to think about how my cultural values affect my witness. Sometimes it has been difficult and I haven't liked what I saw. This issue is one of those things.
In the Warsaw - Winnona Lake area (where I attend school) there are a high number of immigrants from many different countries (because of factories and farm work). In addition there are a high number of US Christians. This area was considered the capital for Christianity in the US for many years (all the churches including the RP church used to have their conferences here:). You would think this would be the perfect opportunity to witness to the nations in the way Christ commanded. We can do it right here in our backyard. This has not happened. In fact currently a church in Mexico has a missionary here to reach the Mexicans living in our midst. When I met this missionary I began to wonder what was wrong with the people here, what was wrong with me, that a church in Mexico did not think the Christians here could minister to immigrants living in our midst.
At about this same time I began meeting some other Mexicans who came here as children. Now remember all of these people came LEGALLY and lived here LEGALLY. They came to an area of the country that is highly Christian (I have seen passages read from the Bible in public school classrooms and no one cares). As I heard some of their stories I was shocked by the treatment they had from many people in the community. Because they were Mexican they were looked down upon. Often they were thought to be unintelligent and lazy. All of the awful stereotypes that we put on illigal (we claim) Mexicans, were put on these people.
Now these people who shared this with me are fellow believers who are attending my school, or have some connection with me through the body of Christ. Is it any wonder that if our law abiding brothers and sisters in Christ experienced this type of racism that the church would have difficulty witnessing to Mexican immigrants? These people had difficulty joining other believers in worship because of these issues.
As I thought more about my beliefs about Mexicans I realized that I shared some of the same beliefs. I had stopped seeing a Mexican I passed on the street as a fellow human, instead I viewed him through some narrowly defined cultural values I held. I had forgotten that he was a fellow human with a soul, that he was part of the nations Christ has commanded us to go. It is easy to do all of these things when we put people in a group. It is easy to think about illegal immigrants and group Mexicans in that way. However, when we do that, we forget about individuals. We hurt our brothers and sisters in Christ. We ignore people made in God's image.
I guess what I am saying is that Mexicans are made in the image of God. Mexicans are part of the world Christians are commanded to reach. Increasingly they are literally our neighbors. Jokes such as the one told on that blog hurt relationship building not just with the illegal immigrants but with the legal. There is no way to differentiate between the two. When you pass a Mexican on the street you have no idea who they are. These types of stereotypes have hurt people I know and they have hurt your brothers and sisters in Christ. They have damaged the churches witness. They have in fact caused some to think Christians are worthless.
You know the Mexican missionary that is here. Some Mexicans have rejected him because he is a Christian. They do not want anything to do with Christians because they know what we believe about them.
Scripture teaches us the tongue is a powerful thing. What we say is something that we believe at some level. Out of the heart the mouth speaks. Any joke that stereotypes a people group I believe damages our witness to and relationship with that group.
This is an issue that I have struggled with a lot. I know this is not well organized... just a bunch of thoughts. But I ask any of you that read this to think about the words you say and the way it might impact others, but especially the way it might impact the church of Christ and her witness to the world. You see what any of us says has a reflection on any group we are a part of (our family, our friends, our school, and yes our church). Think about whether your words are reflecting God's attitudes or are bringing shame to his name. I think each of us needs to be more careful with the words we use, not just in relation to this issue but in all areas of our life.
I know the particular joke was used in fun, but I question whether God would find it fun for his children to be joking in this manner.

posted by rayhe @ 9:54 am