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Dismantling “Normal”: A Better Path To An Equitable Future
Throughout the decades that I served with an evangelical Christian organization, there was a common narrative was very proudly centered:
“We believe in diversity of leadership, regardless of gender, race, or language!”
In many ways, it felt true. More than anywhere I had seen, this organization seemed to have a diverse leadership representation. While I acknowledge that when compared to the typical evangelical fare in North America, that is a relatively low bar, in this case, there seemed to be some beautiful expressions of diversity I had never seen before.
However, as the years passed and my own involvement in leadership progressed, I began to get a closer look at this “diversity”. Despite the genuine spectrum of leaders from different races, countries, genders, etc., in practice leadership looked largely the same, with very few exceptions. When I dug deeper, it became clear that there was an unspoken assumption that leadership functioned largely the same, holding to largely the same beliefs exercised in the same way.
At first, I didn’t recognize it for the problem it was because I had been conditioned to see those “norms” as “Biblical standards” that “transcended culture and difference”. And yet, when you…