Though the World Cup took place in the “rainbow nation”, Germany’s footballers were remarkable as an ethnically diverse “rainbow team”. Diverse, but all sharing German identity. One of the team’s stars, Mesut Özil, could’ve played for the Turkish national team, but he “did not doubt his decision to play for Germany.” The same could probably be said for other German players like Sami Khedira (Tunisia) and Jérôme Boateng (Ghana).

Another fascinating aspect of this was the reaction of immigrants in Germany who proudly flew the German flag during the World Cup. Something viewed by the German government as a sign of “positive integration”. This probably had something to do with the team being so diverse, but it also shows pride in an adopted identity as German as well as a response to the inclusion that the German football team has come to represent.
I blogged a couple weeks back about Umbro’s “Tailored by England” campaign, which used excitement about the World Cup in a similar way.

Integration has become a buzz word, with governments seemingly viewing it as a panacea to most problems connected to asylum and immigration (if we are to use current government funding trends as a guide). In the USA, the GCIR defines integration as: “a dynamic, two-way process in which newcomers and the receiving society work together to build secure, vibrant, and cohesive communities… integration should be an intentional process that engages and transforms all community stakeholders, enriching our social, economic, and civic life over time.”

Integration is much more complex than it is often portrayed. In the media, the onus is often placed on immigrants. In reality, the ability to integrate requires the participation of the host community to make integration possible. For people to sit back and complain that “they just don’t integrate” is missing the point. Integration in contingent upon opportunity, and more fundamentally, welcome. Generally, it requires an exisiting confidence in a community's identity to offer this.

To go back to the German example – immigrants in Germany were proud to fly the flag and wear black, red, and gold. Certain factions of German society were not happy with this: the far right who see German identity as being ethnically German, and the far left who view the flag as linked to a dangerous type of nationalism. Clearly the majority of Germans were united in supporting their team, but I think the point stands that once integration occurs, it implies further challenges to the dynamics of national identity.

The issue becomes even more interesting when we consider that as Christians, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God. Quite often, the values of His kingdom do not match those of earthly nations. In many areas of life, Christians are (or should be) distinctive in that they don’t integrate. Theologian Jürgen Moltmann puts it this way:

In the God who called them to life should expect of them something other than what modern industrial society expects and requires of them, then Christians must venture an exodus and regard their social roles as a new Babylonian exile. Only where they appear in society as a group which is not wholly adaptable as in the case of which the modern integration of everything with everything else fails to succeed, do they enter into a conflict-laden, but fruitful partnership with this society. Only when their resistance show them to be a group that is incapable of being assimilated or ‘making the grade’, can they communicate their own hope to this society. (Theology of Hope, 1967)

I am not saying that as Christian workers we work against integration in our local communities. Far from it. The church should stand out as an example of integration and unity that transcends ethnic barriers (Rev 7:9-10), where we are “no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19). As with secular integration, the church cannot sit back idly while telling new members to integrate. It must offer welcome and hospitality, offering opportunities for discipleship that make integration possible. Can the church be an example to wider society?

In the Kindom of God, there is an awareness that my allegiance is not ultimately to my country. I am happy to work for cohesion and peace in the community, inasmuch as it points toward God’s transcendent kingdom. However, Jesus tells us that conflict with early kingdoms is inevitable. His words on this matter are sobering and are a fitting conclusion:

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Mat 5:10-16)