An American is not a Dutchman, just as a German is not a Frenchman. Europe is not a cultural unit, and neither is Dutch society. Over the past twenty years our country has experienced dramatic shifts in its overall outlook and composition. We have received many Turkish and Moroccan immigrants; people from Surinam, the Antilles, as well as migrants from the Third World who sought asylum. Many of them share the same Dutch nationality, but they have very different backgrounds.

The timeworn image of a Dutchman has turned to fiction. How many of us still walk on wooden clogs, with a tulip in their hand, past the famous windmill? The Dutch government is invested in minority policies. We have a Minister for Integration and Asylum Affairs. There is an institute for multicultural development. The position of immigrants in education and in the labour market is under discussion. There is talk of them lagging behind. The Dutch society has to deal with people who are considered stragglers and foreigners, often with fewer chances for improvement.

Tension in a Multicultural Society⤒🔗

About half of the immigrant minorities are Muslim. Shortly we may expect to see one million residents of the Netherlands who are Muslim. There is a need for Islamic religious education for an estimated 120,000 Muslim children. Demands are voiced for academic Islam education as well.

Our multicultural society experiences various tensions. Imams are preaching. Minister Rita Verdonk did not receive a handshake from one of them. A preacher favouring reforms proclaimed from his pulpit that democracy is from the devil. His religious-political statement increases the risk of religious intolerance. Afshin Ellian, a senior lecturer at the University of Leiden, warned that political Islam is threatening the Netherlands. He himself hails from the Muslim world. On the evening of the murder of Theo van Gogh (a Dutch film director), he was a guest of the TV program, Netwerk. He read a column about the murderer who had gone to the mosque, and about the imam who had taught him everything from the Koran. The letter, left behind on van Gogh’s body, spoke volumes.

The Church and Multiculturalism←⤒🔗

Generalizations and prejudices are readily apparent, along with negative perceptions of the other person and the way you address them. Intercultural communication certainly has its challenges. Is there a possibility to build bridges as a Christian?

The role of the church in a multicultural society is on the political agenda. Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen made it clear that something is expected of the churches. In the multicultural society, church members should be expected to adopt and to promote many more norms and values. Minister Piet Hein Donner of Justice indicated that the churches should especially concern themselves with the reasons and goals for how we co-exist in the Netherlands.

How do we as Christians view cultural minorities and strangers in our environment? The dominant place of the church in Dutch society is long past. The church has fallen from its position of power and influence. And that is a good thing; now the church can once again occupy herself with what really matters, i.e., addressing the world with hope; with a very joyful message; the gospel of God.

Focusing on strangers and foreigners—in practice that may result in a variety of things. Do we come across any self-righteousness on our part? Prejudice? Is there a phenomenon where we put up barriers to preserve our own right? Do we seek shelter with others in our own religious group culture? Or do we see opportunities to carry out a mission based on religious inspiration, together being motivated by Christ?

Early Christians in a Multicultural Society←⤒🔗

It is possible to have a positive view of a multicultural society. The history of Christians before us shows this. No, I do not mean the part that Christians played in slavery. Nor am I thinking of the crusades, where grand massacres were committed by Dutch Christians against Turkish Muslims in Palestine; and neither do I want to dwell on the dismissive attitudes of medieval Christians and Reformers toward the Jews. Those “dark pages” of the Christian past do exist. They have everything to do with theological prejudice.

Fortunately, there are also other examples: of Christians with a positive, open attitude toward people from other cultures; stimulating examples of not closing oneself off to people of other religions.

The early Christians took a stand for their Saviour. They themselves were cultural minorities. They lived in a world full of prejudice. Yet they lived and exemplified the gospel. They did not ignore those who thought differently. They tried to make contact and to give further clarification about themselves and about their faith. They proclaimed the Christian message, filled with motivation.

The early Christians tested their own behaviour and that of others. They communicated to those around them what was considered appropriate and inappropriate behaviour among Christians, and they also indicated the reasons why. They expressed their own thoughts and feelings. They clarified the Christian’s way of life. They also discussed cultural differences openly.

Justin Martyr←⤒🔗

First we will take a closer look at Justin Martyr (c. 100 – 165 AD). He had been on a serious quest for the truth, which ended after he met an old man who said to him, “Long before there were famous thinkers living in a culturally-advanced Greece, there were men who spoke in the power of the Spirit. They announced the Saviour of sinners”. This old man shared his Christian faith. That is how Justin came to faith. What happened next? He began to speak about it himself.

Justin consciously sought out contact with others. He met people from different cultures, put himself in the position of the other person and looked for the right opportunity to get the message of Christ across.

One day he was walking with some other people. One of the group of walkers said to him, “You Christians have put your faith in a ridiculous story.” A few people began to laugh. Two of them left. Justin asked those who stayed behind, “Why do you condemn our customs? What are the grounds for your criticism?” Justin began to interact with strangers. He entered into conversation with other people. This elicited reactions. Negative ones, but also positive reactions.

Origen←⤒🔗

Origen (c. 185-253 AD) also lived in the early church. He writes that many Christians in towns and villages spoke about the gospel in order to win people for God. He mentions that in those early days there were very few Christians, but that from the beginning they deliberately wanted to reach out to all people with the gospel. Because of this open attitude, congregations arose everywhere. Even though the early Christians were only a small minority in their society, still they stood out. They presented their Lord and Saviour. They combined faithfulness with openness.

An unknown writer, who was not a Christian, expressed this attitude of openness toward the world 1800 years ago as follows: “Christians do not differ from other people by their place of residence, nor by their language or special customs. For nowhere do they live in isolated cities. Nor do they speak a language of their own...In terms of clothing and food and other such matters of daily life they conform to the customs of the country. Yet there is something very distinctive about them”.

The early Christians presented the Christian religion in such a way that the distance from the culture was bridged as much as possible. At the same time it became clear to everyone: Christians have their own identity. This combination was striking.

Origen, who we just mentioned, compared the god of the Greek philosopher Plato with the God of the Bible. According to Origen, the Platonic god is incapable of changing people’s hearts. And that means that the lifestyle of this philosopher cannot be radically innovative either. With Christians, according to Origen, the situation is remarkably different. Christians pray for other people, even for their enemies. And the Christian demonstration of love convinced people who thought differently. They yielded because they saw the behaviour of their religious neighbours or had experienced them in doing business.

Tertullian←⤒🔗

Another ancient Christian writer, Tertullian (c. 155-220 AD), relates that Christians raised money to bury the poor, to care for orphaned children, to help the elderly, to assist shipwrecked people, and were concerned to improve the lot of slaves in the mines and that of prisoners.

The first Christians built up a reputation for themselves of demonstrating mercy and social work. This serves as an indicator for us as Christians to also show social compassion to the underprivileged of society.

The same Tertullian asked the cultural leaders of his time: “But are we not people who share the same existence and who use the same food? We do not live without a meat market, bathhouses, stores, factories, inns and market days. We live together with you in this world. We too are sailors, we also serve in the army, or serve as farmers and representatives”.

Here we see the members of the Christian church at work in the Roman empire; Christian communities that were mainly located in urban areas. In the large Roman empire they were but a small religious minority; at the same time they knew themselves to be fully involved citizens, reaching out socially with a sense of responsibility and social commitment, right to the fringes of Roman culture. It was done to such an extent that even a non-Christian Roman emperor wrote about them, “do we then have no regard for their benevolence toward strangers and for their lifestyle?”

Church Language in a Multicultural Society←⤒🔗

After the Roman Empire collapsed, a new Christian realm arose in Europe. It consisted of many peoples: Gallo-Romans, Franks, Lombards, Goths, Alemanni, people from Thuringia and other Germanic peoples, Slavs and Dalmatians, Burgundians, Frisians, Saxons, Anglo-Saxons, Celts, Danes, Norwegians, and so on. The state was a melting pot of ethnic minorities; a multicultural situation of multiple forms of paganism and Christianity. The influence of the church and of Christianity on this multicultural society was significant.

Nevertheless, the language, social rules and social customs continued to be very different. The official church language was generally Latin. The vernacular could sometimes be used for non-religious people. The church respected also the cultural individuality. Among the Slavic peoples, for example, Slavonic was already the official church language for the Bible and for worship in the Middle Ages. The Reformation made a break with church Latin for good. Luther wanted the gospel of God to be heard in understandable language. He sought to extend the effect of the joyful message into everyday life. His German vernacular Bible appealed to the people. The church thus connected positively and openly with its cultural environment.

A Theological University in a Multicultural Environment←⤒🔗

Our society, too, needs people who are willing to spread the message of Christ and who seek to give expression to Christ’s example, i.e., to show life in the full richness of God. Christians do not belong in the shaded parts of society. God’s message needs to reach and enrich our multicultural society. Christ wants to be proclaimed. We are not to be a group that shuts itself off in some ascetic behaviour and language. Did we make a positive choice for God? Did we realize that he chose us, undeservedly? This has to become explicit: in simple witness, in our way of being church and in our theological language.

Today we are gathered here around our theological university—one with a special identity: a Reformed university in the midst of a turbulent, multicultural situation. The foreigners and new arrivals in our society are for the most part religious. Islam is essential for many of them. We are to take that serving of God on the part of others seriously. We do not place banners proclaiming hatred for Muslims. We do not smash the windows of mosques. Islam is entitled to have a place in public life. We take that into account. In the meantime it is our duty to bring God’s riches to light. We think about how the message of God’s grace can be convincingly conveyed in the given situation. We look at others with a Christian eye. This determines our perception and image.

The Christian perspective can become a trap. We condemn violent excesses and inappropriate behaviours. But it would be a pitfall for Christians when we secretly or unconsciously assume stereotypes and prejudices about people from other groups. This needs to be prevented. Learning to deal with cultural differences is not all that simple. It requires attention to our own speaking and listening skills. Saying the right things at the right time requires practise and sensitivity. We need to train ourselves in being sensitive and adaptable. In such training, knowledge about others and their often very different cultures is imparted. Preachers must be able to communicate the Christian message in an appropriate manner. Students need to learn to deal with feelings of insecurity (the subcutaneous fear of what is different and strange). The greater the cultural distance, the greater the uncertainty about establishing contact. This requires a strong motivation to actually establish such contact, along with critical self-reflection: what am I aiming for? What is my deepest motivation? Do I want to share the salvation of Christ with others?

The Good News as a Prism←⤒🔗

As instructors and as students we all face the question: Do I receive my own energy and strength from God’s message of joy? Am I open to receive the power of God’s grace, also for me? Is Christ the prism through which I look at my environment? God wants to communicate his joyful message in our multicultural world. Does God’s Word urge me to openness, to having a focus for the other person, to empathy and a receptive form of listening? Do I dare to be vulnerable? Do I do my best to understand the behaviour of the other and not to assume stereotypes and prejudices about people from other groups? Do I know how to avoid generalizing views about fanatical Moroccans, lazy Turkish workers, bragging Germans, immigrants of colour and asylum seekers who are demanding to get their share of public funds? Can I identify with their views on politeness, friendship, family relations and hospitality? Also by not making my own cultural norms and values into absolutes? Does the love of Christ win out over our self-evident truths and fear of interacting with people from other cultures?

“Our” theological university takes a close look at all kinds of foreigners. It does not limit itself to its own cultural glasses. There are others present among us, sitting next to us in the lecture hall: people from Korea, South Africa, students coming from Syria, Indonesia, and the Ukraine. The university offers young people knowledge about other contexts, customs, norms and values. It also teaches them to reflect on their own behaviours and emotions. The role of the church in the multicultural society has a place on the agenda. Under God’s blessing, we aim to work with motivated Christians who have learned to look at their future task also through the eyes of others.

It will require prayer and further thought as we hope to make progress in this work. It also requires our encouragement. And above all it requires that we continue to look up together. Christians, already from the time of the early church, show us the way: it is the way of talking openly and respectfully with the other, showing in their example that they follow Christ and show mercy. I trust that this Christian attitude will be further strengthened in Kampen, also in this new academic year.