In “FWB’s in Cities (#1)” I gave a few stats about the lack of Free Will Baptist churches in the top 10 most populous cities in the US. At the end of that post I posed a few questions. I would like to try to answer the first question in this post. The question (based upon the stats in the previous post) was:
Why are Free Will Baptist’s not in metropolitan cities?
To answer this I’d like to tell a story that James Forlines told me (hi James).
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Long Shoo and his wife are from China. They have two children. They are proud of their Chinese culture and heritage. At one point, they decide to move to the United States. The Shoos do everything they can to preserve their heritage in their family. However, since their children go to American schools, they learn to speak English along with Chinese. Long and his wife only speak Chinese while their children are bi-lingual. As much as Long Shoo tries, he cannot keep the American culture from creeping into the lives of his children.
The Shoo children grow up and have children of their own who are raised completely in America. Their children’s first language is English. They know a few greetings in Chinese, but for the most part, they are English-speaking. The only way they can communicate to their grandparents is through their parents, the bi-linguals.
The Shoo grandparents do not like the culture their grandchildren have taken up. They have forsaken the family heritage. They do not eat the same way, dress the same way, or even speak the same language. They feel almost betrayed by their own grandchildren.
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The story is a representation of the difference between the generational mindset among societies. You can somewhat accurately generalize these representations by age. However, I find it more accurate to define the mindset behind each group and then fit people accordingly. Here is a description of each generation as applied to Free Will Baptists.
- Chinese: Emphasize history, tradition, doctrine, dignity, nomenclature. Aren’t up to date on pop culture, technology, trends. In short and generalized, “Give me that old-time religion” with an organ and a piano. They like to learn from a lecture. They probably use the telephone or even snail mail as their number one way to communicate. They are enduring this life in order to get to the next.
- Bi-lingual: Generally modernistic. They like flashy. Everything works best through a system. Very logical. Want to be a mega church or like a mega church. Want to be cool but aren’t very good at it. They aren’t entirely concerned about the poor. They’re too busy paying off their SUV. They don’t mind learning from lecture, but you’d better include a snazzy video too. They probably use email as their number one way to communicate. They want to work hard to get things to be happy.
- English: Generally post-modern. Very knowledgeable on pop culture. Very concerned about social justice, poverty, the poor, service, sacrifice, the environment. Don’t understand the Chinese. They learn through discussion and dialogue. They probably use FB or texting as their number one way to communicate (if you don’t know what FB stands for, read the bi-lingual section again and see if you fit better there). They want to live a life of sacrifice and passion.
Keeping those generalizations in mind (of course there are other ways to describe them), would you say Free Will Baptists are mostly made up of those who speak Chinese, who are bi-lingual, or who speak English?
There are no official stats for this, but I have estimated it to be this way:
Chinese: 60%
Bi-Lingual: 38%
English: 2%
You may have a little bit different numbers, but I think we all agree that this is generally true. We can also agree that those who speak English are probably going to be a younger demographic (maybe 18-30?).
I have one more section of stats for you. The following is the top ten most populous cities and the median resident age of the people who live in those cities (taken from here):
City………… Median Resident Age
- New York 34.2
- Los Angeles 31.6
- Chicago 31.5
- Houston 30.9
- Phoenix 30.7
- Philadelphia 34.2
- San Antonia 31.7
- San Diego 32.5
- Dallas 30.5
- San Jose 32.6
Cities are made up of younger people. Generally speaking, they are English speakers. Free Will Baptists are mostly Chinese with some being bi-lingual.
Free Will Baptists don’t have churches in major US cities because our denomination doesn’t understand the language the people in the cities speak. FWB’s think differently, learn differently, worship differently, and appreciate different things. Why in the world would we go to a place where people don’t think the way we do, don’t learn the way we do, don’t worship the way we do, and don’t appreciate the way we do things?
FWBs will not go to cities because we don’t understand the people in the cities.
If something doesn’t change, FWBs will continue to miss a huge potential for the kingdom of God–metropolitan cities.
Jake | 
09 4th, 2008| 
Are there things some Christians should not associate themselves with? And to what extent should we carry this concept?
Another way this is shown is through support of companies or organizations. Ever heard someone say you should boycott Disney/Abercrombie/Etc. because they support homosexuals? I sure have. There’s nothing wrong with watching movies or wearing clothes (or is there?), but is boycotting the best way to take a stand for biblical truth? Are Christians guilty by associating ourselves with organizations that do things contrary to Scripture? Where do you let this issue rest? You might buy clothes from a Christian company, but that company might get their materials from a company that isn’t Christian, etc. What’s the balance?
The closing benediction for one evening of the DNC was supposed to be held by Cameron Strang, publisher of 
Really. The real 
Dear Rick Warren,
Dear Chad Johnson,
Dear Michael Phelps,
Dear Russia,
