I’ve always been a little “different.” Before your mind wanders too far down that trail, here’s what I mean: I have never really fit into just one group. Call it a gift or whatever you want to call it, but I have always been able to see life through someone else’s lens. No matter what differences are on the surface, tell me your story as we spend time together, and I’ll begin to see just a glimpse of life through your lens. Now, while I have come to see this as a God-given gift in my life that I am truly trying to embrace, it is simultaneously frustrating. It is frustrating because not ALL people see or approach differences in this way.
Most often, we tend to gravitate towards people who have the same interests as us and maybe even look a little bit like us. You can see this in almost any public setting, but the high school cafeteria is my favorite analogy here. Walk into almost any given high school’s cafeteria at lunch time and you will see the “band nerds,” “the jocks,” “the cheerleaders,” “the punks,” “the skaters,” etc., etc. I, of course, was the weird kid who sat with a different group almost daily. Don’t get me wrong. I had my preferred group that I liked to spend my time with, but if you know me well, you know that I have an eclectic mix of interests and that I get bored very easily if I’m locked into too much of a routine.
But back to this image of the stereotypical high school cafeteria. What’s wrong with this picture? Simply put: it shows disunity and it shows how we are often inclined to gravitate towards those like us. That creates a problem. If we are only spending our time with those with similarities to us, than what happens when our lives intersect with one who is different? We see them as “different.” We may see them as an “enemy.” More often than not, we may become agitated at the individual, we may shut down, we may belittle the “other,” the list goes on.
Unfortunately, this mindset often spills into our churches. Many of our American churches today are not very diverse. I can count on one hand how many local churches I feel are actually diverse (and I’m not talking just racially/ethnically here). However, this is a sad number when it is compared to the number of church communities I have been to in my life. In the American Church (at large) today, we often disregard differences, rather than embrace them. Oftentimes, churches that are only separated by a square block see each other as competition. Denominations boast, “our denomination is better than yours.” “We write each other off because “THEY believe this, but WE do this” or “THEY do this, but WE do that.” And this “us versus them” mentality is a problem. This is disunity.”
Jesus spoke to this matter in the Gospel of Luke. One of his disciples, John, came to him and said, “Master, we found this fellow casting out demons. He said he was doing it in Your name, but he’s not one of OUR group. So we told him to stop.” Jesus replied, “No! Don’t think like that! Whoever is not working against you is working with you” (Luke 9:49-50, The Voice, emphasis mine). This brief scenario reminds me of how we often approach our differences within our American society at large, but specifically within the body of Christ. We, the Church, often have John’s outlook: “they’re not one of US, so we told them to stop; we told them to get lost; we told them we couldn’t work together.” Rather, we should have the heart of Jesus in this matter: “whoever is not against you is with you; embrace the differences because each part of my bride, the Church, has unique gifts that work better together, not separated from each other.”
What if we approached ALL within the body of Christ this way, no matter what the difference(s) may be? What if, instead of focusing on philosophical or minor theological differences, we began to see that we, the Church, are all united in Christ and, for that reason alone, we should work together? What if we tore down the walls of classification – the jocks; the band nerds; the punks; the Methodists; the Baptists; the Lutherans; the Catholics; those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or straight; black; white; etc., etc. – and simply followed the words of Jesus here in Luke 9:50? What would it look like if we truly embraced our differences and truly strived for unity?
joshcogan 