I am always reminded of cultural appropriation around this time of the year. Many of you may not know what that even means or looks like but for my Native Americans friends it looks like “sexy Indian” Halloween costumes and hipster headdresses that ridicule their rich heritage and I feel for their pain. Cultural appropriation is a hurtful phenomenon that occurs when people of power and privilege take things from minority cultures and disrespectfully use them. Usually this happens in the sexualization of traditional wear (such as when Lady Gaga wore a pink see-through burqa), but it can happen in many other ways depending on what the minority culture believes is offensive. Obviously, it is then hard to pin down when something is appropriation and when it is not. Therefore, I also feel for the little child who just wants to be an “Indian” for Halloween because they think feathers are pretty. It is not about choosing sides; we need to find a peaceful middle ground. Living in community is a spiritual discipline.
American Christians can learn tremendous amounts of spiritual wisdom from being mindful of appropriation. This is not political correctness gone overboard, this is a spiritual discipline. In American culture we think very highly of freedom, and this sometimes causes us to be egocentric. But we can more fully be the body of Christ when we are aware of all the other members of that body and what they think about how we are treating them. If some minority group says something hurts, we have nothing to lose by listening; in fact, if we do listen we are much more likely to die to ourselves which is all for gain in the kingdom of God. When we listen to a people that we have hurt we start to let go of the hero complex we are all guilty of.
We can learn to work together as a body of Christ much better when we listen to the neglected parts of the body We can evangelize much better when the people we are trying to reach know we care deeply for them.
Jesus prayed for unity amongst his believers. Unity is hard. It requires becoming open to the other and letting the other become open to you. And when we appropriate instead of truly respecting and loving each other, we lie to ourselves and deface the sacred ground between the members of the body. To truly love one another and care for each other burdens we must be welcomed in and we must listen to what is asked of us. We must not burst through doors with disruptive, self-confident enthusiasm. We must be patient and kind. And on the other side of the table, we must be welcoming. We must be willing to answer naïve questions. We must be willing to share stories of our pain without the sting of bitterness and accusation. We must love our neighbor even if they are not as easy to love as the kids you see on child sponsorship commercials. We must love our neighbor even if they say we cannot wear anything we want to. We must love our neighbor even if they made afro jokes in middle school. We must love our neighbor. So go in peace and speak the truth in love.