Resisting The Homogeneous Unit Principle

In the last few decades of the 20th century the church growth movement was hailed as the potential plug to stop the catastrophic draining of people out of American churches. Central to this movement was an idea that came to be known as the Homogeneous Unit Principle. The basic idea is that people don't like to cross lines of race, class, politics in general, and are much more likely to come to faith in Jesus if coming to church doesn't force them to step too far out of their usual environments and comfort zones. This was a well-intentioned theory, but I fear misses one of the central callings of Christ - namely, that we are to be a people who manifest the reconciliation of God precisely by crossing lines others won't cross; and so Paul says that in Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female...

The Homogeneous Unit Principle demands that a church "target" a specific, narrowly defined demographic of the population. For instance, I could plant a church for white hipsters who only drink coffee from Starbucks. Who knows, it could work...

So, I'm struggling with this idea. On the one hand, I think it is probably a true theory; people are more likely to sign up for something if we minimize discomfort, and relationships that require crossing lines of race and class will inevitably be uncomfortable at points. Then again, people are also more likely to come to Christ if we drop the whole "repent of your sins" thing, too. So, planting a church for people that look like me, are educated like me, vote like me, and who just like me is probably a lot easier than kind of diverse congregations we are dreaming The CityWell will be. But, on the other hand, do we see these homogeneous churches in the Bible? Do we hear in the scripture a call to do whatever is expedient to grow the church? I don't think so.

I think the reason I'm struggling with this is that, while I can comfortably reject this philosophy, everyone I read and talk to seems to assume it. I read authors and hear speakers say all the time, "Know who your target audience is." Or they ask, "Who are you trying to reach?" These statements and questions are followed by exhortations to be very specific and to base your targeting on personal affinity. Being so utterly surrounded by this mentality makes me feel a little insecure about my convictions.

Honestly, I have a hard time answering the question, "Who are you trying to reach?" at least answering the way people seem to expect a smart church planter to. I want to say things like, "anyone who doesn't know Jesus is their Lord," or "whoever God puts in our path," but these answers don't seem to be adequate, and I feel a bit insecure, wondering if I am just really naive. However, beyond choosing a city, I don't see the great evangelists and apostles in the New Testament employing targeting strategies. I don't think Philip was trying to reach Ethiopian eunuchs; God just put him in the right place at the right time to share the Gospel with a person who did not yet know to celebrate the victory of Jesus. Was Peter working on his marketing scheme for Gentiles, or did God thrust him into relationship with Cornelius and family? And Paul seemed to proclaim the good news to anyone and everyone, just trusting that God would grant the gift of faith to some.

I really don't want to plant a church just for young, privileged, white people, or even more broadly, for the folks who inhabit the same social strata and have basically the same "family values." I don't want to adopt a philosophy of ministry based on utility and rigor reduction. I want to trust God for divine appointments, miraculous conversions, and to tear down dividing walls. I want The CityWell to look like the Kingdom, not a private school. I want to resist the Homogeneous Unit Principle and its attendant practices, but I confess that such resistance is difficult.

What are your thoughts about all of this?