Apr 1, 2010
How Christians Can Be Diverse, Respectful, and Redemptive: #4 Respectful Diversity
Earlier today I shared a bit of April Fools silliness about my latest ebook release: The Lost Tweets of Jesus. In addition, I’m making a first draft of my Meditations on the Gospel of Mark available for a free download. Now that the April fools joke is out of my system, I’d like to return to my series on Christian unity…
Jesus calls us to unity, God has empowered us to love one another, and yet it’s tough to be united with such a diverse swath of Christians. Is all lost?
A Picture of Our Diversity
Christians will disagree. Whatever Jesus prayed for, I don’t think he imagined us all becoming Baptists or Presbyterians one day—just a hunch. And so the matter isn’t seeking uniformity, but figuring out how we can coexist with one another.
If we think of Christianity as a circle with Christ in the middle and various denominations scattered in boxes throughout that circle, perhaps we’ll find that some are closer to the center than others. The boxes themselves aren’t necessarily bad. Our problems come when we fight with groups in other boxes and even lay siege to them.
Regardless of the rhetoric we hear these days, no one wakes up in the morning saying, “Golly, I think I’m going to wreck the Christian faith today!” We have Christians in a variety of boxes trying to sort through what has been passed on to them, what they have experienced of God, and what they think is true.
I think this basic charity is where we need to start. Whether or not we think a particular box is outside of the bounds of Christianity or not quite as close to the center as our own, hopefully most of us are aiming for Christ in the center. I think we owe most Christians the benefit of a doubt unless they state otherwise. Some boxes have lost this focus, but that still isn’t an invitation to launch an assault.
Respectful Diversity
If we can believe that other Christians or folks who claim to be Christian are generally not out to spark Armageddon or to steal Jesus away from us, we can take another step toward respectful diversity. Keep in mind that we shouldn’t leave ourselves exposed to those unwilling to engage with respect and charity. Sometimes we’ll need to disengage from certain Christians.
Having said that, we can move toward respectful diversity by understanding and representing the views of others on their own terms and doing our best to place ourselves in their shoes. From theology, to politics, to even abortion, we are not prepared to dialogue with different perspectives until we’ve grappled with the best representations of other views.
When we leave the comfort of our own boxes and have a look around at a few other boxes, we will find common points of understanding and possibly a better perception of why these folks prefer their own boxes over our own.
Love the Person, Disagree with the Beliefs
Jesus made it clear that our path forward is that of unity with him and love for others. That means we can disagree quite strongly from the standpoint of our boxes, but when we leave our boxes our defining mode of interaction should be love.
Some fear false teachings from the left. Others fear the literalism of the right. Both are frustrated by those in the middle, who have frustrations of their own.
I think the fear of becoming like our opponents drives us to fight them. We don’t want to take the time to understand them because they may be right. Fear does not enable us to love others. Fear has nothing to do with the prayer for unity that Jesus shared with his Father. In fact, in John 16:33, Jesus assured his followers that they would have trouble in this world, but that they would find peace in him.
With confidence in the peace we find in our Lord, we can move outside of our boxes and reach out to others in understanding and love. Unity does not mean we answer all of our questions in the same way, but it does mean we confess our fear and pride, choosing to put love for one another ahead of our fears even if we disagree with the beliefs of those we aim to love.
We have a redemptive mission that God has called us to embrace. We cannot let our diversity keep us from that goal.
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Ed, absolutely loved this post bro! I’ve been trying to write something along these lines for a long time now, but you’ve eloquently described what’s been on my heart and mind and what God’s been teaching me in my personal walk with him over the last 4-5 years. Thank you for taking the time to post this!
Fear and pride. It’s so true that these are the enemies of peace…and of our souls. Great perspective, sir. Thank you for reminding me to confess.
Nathan,
Thanks for your kind words. I’ve been thinking about this stuff for a while and even writing this post took about 3 drafts! Some of this stuff is really hard to do, but the pay off is well worth it.
Josh,
I’m glad this was a life-giving post for you to read. I believe that at the root of many of our fights and controversies there’s a fear that we may lose something or something may be damaged if someone continues to teach something or to practice something. Glenn Beck does this in an over-the-top way, but I have done something similar on a smaller scale as well. I have needed to repent often.
When I perceive that someone is teaching something wrong and fear what may result, fear causes me to lose perspective on this person and those who share his/her beliefs. There is room for debate, discussion, and correction, but fear will always cloud our ability to love.
I struggle with this a lot; definitely, in the middle and find myself often irritated by both the left and right and yet…
…they must also find me highly irritating at times. So how do we resolve this? How do we explain our faith to each other without coming off as arrogant or condescending? How do we disagree and still overcome our inherent dissonance: the natural human tendency to disassociate from those who are not like us?
Great article that strikes at the heart of a very turbulent conversation within our community.
Stephen, you’re asking all of the right questions. I’d be a fool if I said I had the answers, though I think I can answer some of them in part. By starting with the hard work of understanding other perspectives, we can move things in the right direction. I think we need to learn to live with disagreements and diversity. We can coexist without agreeing on everything.
Even if I think someone has slipped outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy, that doesn’t mean we can’t have charitable conversation. In fact, with such folk it’s all the more important to stay on good terms and to dialogue. Can I help someone find the truth of Christ by excommunicating him?
So this is certainly a demanding thing to be approached on a case by case basis with a lot of love and grace to help us through it. Thanks for your thoughtful comment.