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 Despite lofty rhetoric about the beauty of diversity, the multicultural agenda on many campuses is antagonistic and has resurrected latent racism. Students are more likely to retreat to their own subculture, where they feel more secure, than to risk the challenge of learning about other cultures and ethnicities. They are fearful rather than hopeful. 
But hope is an intrinsic part of Christian faith. Ultimately our
hope is in God and not in human institutions or social structures.
Demonstrating the ethnic diversity of God's redemptive work is
part of acting on that hope. So here's H.O.P.E.:HONOR all peoples as made in the image of God. Honor means rejecting racist attitudes and actions, not laughing at ethnic jokes nor ignoring someone because of their gender or ethnicity. Respect each person's cultural heritage. Honoring people is a command of God. OFFER yourselves to one another in a spirit of humility. We should offer to each other confession for our own sins and the sins of our people, forgiveness for the sins of others, and truth in both our inward being and in our speech. As we offer ourselves to each other, we build each other up (Ephesians 4:15-16). PRACTICE reconciliation. We must share in each other's sufferings and together pursue justice and righteousness in the church and in the world. This takes great patience and effort, but it's a natural fruit of true confession and forgiveness. EXALT the name of Jesus. He stands supreme above all cultures and ethnicities and power groups. It is Jesus alone who enables us to break down partitioning walls so that we can even begin to pursue ethnic diversity. Bob Fryling is director of InterVarsity® Press |
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