Southwestern Union Record

Nature teaches us that our God loves diversity. The many species of trees, flowers, and animals, embody God’s diverse nature and most importantly, His gospel of love. God’s creation has obvious similarities yet distinct differences and uniqueness. For example, fish live in water and have the ability to swim and get their oxygen and nourishment from water. However, they are strikingly diverse in color, size, swimming patterns, eating habits, temperaments, and even reproductive habits. The diversity in the various species of fish is repeated in everything the hand of God has designed and created, including mankind.

God made the human species with similarities and differences. We all breathe air, are creatures of the land, are communal, and have the same reproductive habits. Yet, we are diverse in size, skin color, shape, temperament, gender, age, ideology, and the list goes on. God placed within the genetic composition of Adam and Eve the ability to produce a diverse population called “mankind.” Every people group, with their unique characteristics, all came from our first parents and reveal God’s fingerprint of diversity. The breadth and scope of man’s diversity are simply incredible! We are designed to reflect God’s diversity as seen in nature.

Christ also left instructions for His church to “go to all nations,” and “preach to . . . every nation and kindred and tongue and people” (Matthew 28:19 and Revelation 14:6). This proclamation shows that God intends to remove all barriers to include all of mankind in order to demonstrate His extraordinary love for all His children and to ensure that His church reflects His love by embracing diversity.

Also, when Christ gave the disciples the injunction to tarry in Jerusalem until the promise of our Father (Acts 1:4), the manifestation of the promise came through disciples speaking in the languages of other cultures—an “exclamation point” of God’s desire and heart for a diverse family. And, God’s first manifestation of His presence, power, and love with the disciples must not be lost, because God is making a significant statement that He strongly values diversity, as it represents the essence of His gospel. Through His diverse creation, God is saying that His grace (love) belongs to everyone, and He wants His church to reflect this value for all individuals, no matter how different they may appear. God wants His Church to be as diverse as His creation. Most importantly, God wants His church to demonstrate how high, deep, and wide is His love for all mankind (Romans 8:39). In God there is neither Jew nor Greek, no bond nor free, no male or female (Colossians 3:11). In other words, within the heart of God, race, status, gender,—neither any human characteristic that makes us different from each other—does not exist. Man’s uniqueness merely speaks to God’s colorful palette, which paints a beautiful portrait of His family. Instead, God sees each of us as an extension of Himself, as His creative imagination, but most of all, as a representation of His unconditional love for all.

God knew that creating one church with various cultures would be challenging. From the inception of His church—which by design is comprised of 12 different personalities, backgrounds, spiritual challenges, etc.,—various issues arose from their differences. Thus, early in its history, the church was put to the test on handling issues arising from diversity. For example, the issue of eating of meats offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8:4-8) was an ideological issue based on culture. But here, the admonition of Paul is to be sensitive to your brother or sister and the place or culture from which they come and to seek to understand them. He does not make the issue a “right” or “wrong” but rather an issue of love and concern for your brother or sister. In other words, homogeneity is not the goal, but rather living peaceably in love with one another is the witness that Christ is looking for in His church, even among our diversity.

“Diversity” is not limited to ethnicity and color but has a larger scope of definition, which exceeds human characteristics. God’s church is all inclusive of diversity in gender, age, disabilities, ideology. Does the “church” (you and I) make room for the diversity God has created within the church? Do we embrace the youth and their culture? Do we embrace women as equal partners? Do we make all ethnic groups feel welcome and whole in the church? Are we sensitive to and do we make accommodations for people with disabilities? Do we embrace those with differing viewpoints? Perhaps diversity is the greatest challenge facing the church! How can we live together as one family and embrace, value, appreciate, celebrate, and most importantly love our differences? Can we preach (live) the gospel by accepting diversity; by accepting God’s heart of unconditional love—the gospel?

My dear family (brothers and sisters in Christ), we must sincerely love each other and recognize that God’s family is multicultural and diverse. We may not reach the same conclusion on our viewpoints, but can we trust and surrender to the Spirit of God to lead us into truth—the gospel of love? Are we patient with one another and the Spirit, to allow God to do His work within His family (individually and collectively)? Is there enough of God’s Spirit of unconditional love within us to tolerate our individual differences and to see each other from God’s eyes and heart? Is there a point where we can meet together on our similarities and unconditionally accept our differences? Yes. I believe the point that bridges all divides is Christ! Christ in you (and I), the hope of His glory (Colossians 1:26-28). God invites and desires all to sup at His table; and He has a seat for each one; for you and me (John 3:16).