Jun 11, 2010
How Diversity Changed My Beliefs: Can Diversity Lead Us Astray?
As I look back on the positive impact diverse Christian perspectives have had on my faith, I should not neglect the downside of diversity.
Some question the merits of being overly inclusive, and caricature diversity as a wishy, washy and uncritical validation of every perspective. That, of course, is not what I’m talking about in this series on diversity. So while I’ve shared what we stand to gain, perhaps it would help to paint a realistic picture of where it could go off track.
A Time of Corrections and Over-Corrections
Many Christians in the west, particularly in America, are in a time of adjustment and correction. We could say this about nearly every period of Christianity, as we’re always making adjustments to the mistakes of those who preceded us, while clinging to all the good things they also left us.
During this time of correction for the mistakes of the past, it’s quite possible to become divisive in our embrace of diversity. In other words, we can set a bar for inclusivity and then alienate others if they aren’t as liberal or progressive as we think they should be.
While we want to correct the mistakes of the past, we should be careful to avoid a wholesale rejection of what has been passed to us or of those who still hold to what we view as a flawed version of the faith.
A Variety of Points without a Center
By including a variety of perspectives in our Christian faith, whether by denominations, locations, income, or ethnic make up, there is a danger of never quite settling on some central beliefs. Without a center for Christianity, we run the risk of letting the faith become reshaped dramatically into something that it may not be.
In this sense, both extreme exclusivity and extreme diversity run the same risk of remaking Christianity so that it reflects one or many perspectives. Either way, we can make the same mistakes without a center.
The hard part is that we arrive at our center through a diversity of perspectives: the revelation of the Triune God, the scriptures, Christian tradition, and the local/global body of Christians. Therefore, we have an imperfect but still Spirit-directed process where we hold to the central creeds and beliefs of the Christian faith while we interact with other perspectives.
Our beliefs and practices may change dramatically over time, but our interactions with diversity should not tinker with the core. If one particular culture can’t believe that God would enter the world incarnate in human form, then we can’t rewrite the Nicene Creed by way of accommodation.
We may be wrong about a lot of things, but there are certain beliefs and practices that stand at the center of Christianity. Someone has every right to disagree with us, but then that person is not talking about the historic Christian faith that has been passed down to us by Christian communities and the scriptures.
We gain much by interacting with a diverse group of perspectives, but the core elements of Christianity are not for us to modify.
What a refreshing change it is to read a post about the dangers of diversity. I appreciate you willingness to at least signal some of the pitfalls to “openness.” Of course, defining the center is a sticky wicket, isn’t it?
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Ed
Interesting thoughts.The big question is what are the core beliefs and can they be understood through the specs of a different mindset. My interest is Christian Mysticism which seems to have much in common with some of the Eastern mystical traditions. For example in what way do we Yeshua followers believe He is the Son of God, in terms of the Jewish mystical tradition where the High Priest Kings of the Old Testament were given the title ‘Son of God.’
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Ray, that’s the million dollar question and the one that folks probably don’t want to answer because it’s probably a touch more uncertain than we’d like. Good thoughts.
Prodigal Prophet, I’m not laying out the final word on this, but I think it helps to look at the Christian beliefs and practices that endure the test of time and spread around the world. In that sense, the Nicene Creed appears to be most helpful. However, I don’t have time right this second to fully flesh that out. Thanks for your question.
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You stated:
“While we want to correct the mistakes of the past, we should be careful to avoid a wholesale rejection of what has been passed to us or of those who still hold to what we view as a flawed version of the faith.”
This is one of my biggest stuggles right now.
Wow, I could go on about this one for a long-time. But, I’ll leave it at that. Big struggle. Hard to do.
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