The Church - A Diverse Body 2

I think it should be assumed that a denominational body should strive for diversity among its members immediately. Of course, I’m talking about cultural, ethnic, social and economic diversity. If the gospel is for all kinds of people, and if the churches of a denomination are being obedient to their calling to take the gospel to all nations and classes, then they should strive for diversity right away. A denominational body shouldn’t need a “maturing” period before it seeks diversity in fellowship. If they’re not already there then they need to be smacked around into getting there real fast.

I also believe that Christian unity within the church will naturally lead local congregations to find their brothers and sisters in their local communities and seek out ways to demonstrate their oneness in Christ through occasional opportunities for gathered worship (such as in community worship services) and for other work that might be mutually engaged. Most small towns have a local ministerial alliance where churches from various denominations cooperate in certain kinds of community outreach - perhaps to prisoners or to travelers who are passing through. These are also things that can be done right away.

What about the local gathering of believers? It is here that the issues of our differences become more evident because we are meeting together regularly. Our differences tend to “stick out” more in such a setting. Yet it is here that we find not only our greatest challenge, but our greatest opportunity for a deep gospel witness.

Our world not only recognizes, but often perpetuates, the differences among us. Kids learn at an early age to treat others who are “not like them” differently. We naturally gravitate toward people with whom we share common ideas, attitudes and interests. We need something to talk about without getting into fights with each other. You don’t have to teach a person to make distinctions among people. They naturally know how to do that. And this natural ability/propensity of ours is a product of our fallenness, not a product of the Christ who is in us. The Christ in us breaks down walls of hostility and separation (see Eph. 2:11-17). And it is the gospel of Christ that does this.

Inherent in the nature of the gospel is the message that we are not only reconciled with God, but that we are reconciled with others - including many others who are very much not like us. Human diferentness (I may have made that word up) didn’t get much more pronounced than that which existed between first century Jews and Gentiles. Yet the apostle Paul writes that the thing that has broken down the walls of hostility is “the blood of Christ.” The gospel.

So, I have to ask. If we are preaching a gospel that does not include the breaking down of these walls of hostility and segregation, are we preaching the gospel?

I believe the potential gospel impact on cultures is huge. What greater witness to the peace, forgiveness and reconciliation that comes with the good news in Jesus is there than to see real human beings who have real cultural, ethnic, social and economic differences brought together in a worshiping community? Here in America, if I were to see a local church that was made up of white and black, wealthy and poor, native and immigrant, working together, worshiping together, serving together, on mission together, that congregation would have a tremendous gospel witness in its community. In a world in which we pit the rich against the poor, African American interests against Anglo American interests against Hispanic American interests against Asian American interests, and the rights of native citizens against the rights of non-citizen immigrants, the reconciling power of the gospel has a tremendous opportunity to show the world the power of this gospel. Instead it often appears weak and anemic because it so often leaves those differences completely unchanged. I often think that one of the reasons the gospel has so little impact in American culture is because churches so often fight - even among those who are very like one another - and they don’t need to know how to fight. They already know how to do that. What they need to know is how to have peace. How to overcome our differences and love one another, not in spite of, but in light of our differences.

I also believe that the church cannot fully hear the voice of God when they are only willing to listen to an understanding of God that is limited to a certain ethnic, cultural or socio-economic perspective. What has God said/is God saying to the African American church that the Anglo church needs to hear, but cannot because we have segregated ourselves from those voices, and vice versa. It might help us to remember that God’s prophetic voice to his people often came through sheep herders, farmers, fishermen and tax collectors, not simply through professional preachers or people who were a part of established religion. On occasion God was even known to use a Moabite woman, a prostitute and a poor traveling Galilean preacher who did not belong to any of the prevailing religious denominations of his day. Consequently, many people missed the voice of God because they had shut their ears to an unfamiliar perspective.

I have one more issue I want to address, but I’ll save that for next time. In the mean time, let me know what you think. Also, go read this article in the Washington Post (HT: David Rogers).