Focus on God’s Creation of Diversity
I know that with what I am saying in this post may challenge
beliefs of traditional approaches to discussing diversity. I know that this may not be a popular perspective. But I have often struggled with the
traditional approach. My hope is that this
perspective may open a different perspective.
Historically many have used God’s word against His very creation.
I recently came across this statement on my Twitter feed.
"The more you grow as a person, the less shocked you
become about people who are different from yourself." ~Dale Brown
What bothers me about this statement is that it is devoid of
God’s presence. It comes from a fleshly
and worldly perspective. So I’d rephrase
it and say that when we grow in our identity in Christ we are less shocked by
people who are different from ourselves. It seems that the further the discussion about
celebrating and appreciating diversity goes the more distant it becomes from
God. In fact, many people often at the
center of the debate will say that because faith and religion can be such a
divisive and intolerant factor that is precisely why the discussion should
proceed without God. In fact that could be no more a myth and a wrong
perspective if we tried. We must
remember that Christ spent a significant amount of time with those who the
society of the time said were “less than” the society standard for people. We will not achieve the promise of an
inclusive society if we continue to move God out of the center of the dialog
(and many tomes out of the dialog entirely).
In a previous post I said that we have allowed secular and
Godless ideas and feelings to shape the debate rather than turning to Scripture
for insight. After all it is ALL His
creation, shouldn't He be part of the dialog.
Wow! Interesting insight here. When we try to have the diversity discussion
without Him what we are saying that we know better about how creation should be
and unfold than He does. So we need to
engage God in the discussion about human diversity. A humbling thought there.
“We are all given different gifts from God to perform His
work and live in His will. God’s plan is
that we have, embrace, respect, and celebrate the diversity of humanity.” Romans
12: 6-8 (NIV). It takes everyone
offering his/her gifts to do God’s will here on earth. Each of us has a role to play and we need to
engage that piece so that the glory of God can be realized.
The call from God is to bring all people together. All people were made in His image. Therefore it is not for us to ever determine
that any person is less than another person.
Jesus explains that each and every person is of equal importance to God,
regardless of sex, race, or social status. The apostles were instructed to make
disciples of every person and in all nations.
Isaiah 1:17 (AMP) “Learn to do right! Seek justice, relieve
the oppressed, and correct the oppressor.”
The call is to build unity and community between all people. When we proceed without God the enemy can step
in and continue to build divisions between people. When we correct the oppressor with God’s word
we create community among all people.
The discussion void of God will continue to allow oppression
to exist. Oppression is one of the tools
of the enemy. Satan does not want unity
among God’s people. Disunity and
dissension allows the enemy points of entry into our lives. Living in an offended state, being offended
by others, opens doors to the enemy to drain you of your joy and energy.
People are lost without Christ. In Christ, we will be as one people regardless of the land where we live or the tongue we speak. We will have victory and freedom when we make sure to include Jesus Christ in the diversity dialog.
Freedom by Nicole C. Mullen
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