Several years ago I was introduced to a term from writings generated by the Church Growth Movement called the Homogenous Principle. Mega churches like Willow Creek in South Barrington, IL experienced exponential growth, because they evaluated their market, and targeted a certain portion of the population. I realize that a single church cannot touch people from every walk of life. In our situation, we are not geared up at the present time to reach out to people who live in our area who only speak Spanish. (You note I said not at the present time.) The Homogeneous Principle troubles me. I really don’t like it all.

It is all too tempting for churches to find their niche market so to speak to be white, upper-middle class professionals. The church grows for sure. It becomes a very white, very educated, and reasonably prosperous group of people. What would happen if we purposely tried to reach out to people of several races, cultures, ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds? I wonder if it would be a mass failure… That is certainly a possibility.

We had a party in our Spanish class today. Three classes came together. We ate traditional Mexican food, listened to Latino music, and learned some traditional Latin American dances. I enjoyed the tacos and the company as well. But I could not help but look around and watch the people dynamics going on in the room.
MY class all sat together. We are a diverse group ourselves! Our group includes two young African American girls, a couple of married students, and a theater major…And then there is me. I am the senior member of our class. I was the old man in the entire crowd today for sure. There was one lady who might have been 30, but the rest of them have probably not celebrated their 20th birthday yet.

I felt very comfortable in the larger group today, but I must admit I too was eager to sit with my own classmates. Does my little social experience at the junior college today reveal that the homogenous principle is inevitable? Not necessarily… Perhaps the opposite is actually true. When our class formed at the beginning of the semester, we were a very diverse group brought together by our common need to take a course in Spanish. Nearly three months have passed now. We are starting to bond at least at a superficial level. Why can that not happen at church? Why can we not take diverse people of all ages from all walks of life and allow the test of time to forge relational bonds that move well beyond the superficial level. You know…I think that can happen.

My little fiesta at school today inspired me in all sorts of ways today.  Diverse groups can bond with each other.  Racial barriers can be overcome.  Age does not have to a hindrance in friendships.  And… I still don’t like the Homogenous Principle very much at all.