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 DIVERSITYin ourfellowshipsis
ESSENTIAL |
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 Many references in Scripture support ethnic diversity in InterVarsity. To check out a few, read Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 14:6-7; Mark+11:17 (with Isaiah 56:6-7); Acts 2:4-12; Romans 14:11 (with Isaiah 45:20-23 and Philippians 2:10-11). These and other scriptures teach that God embraces believers from different cultural backgrounds, different languages and traditions. Just imagine God, every Sunday morning, looking down at all the believers of the world and enjoying the amazing variety of our worship -- all at the same time.
But is it biblical to aim for diversity in any one chapter or
event? Can we mix different languages and traditions in one service?
Can we have heterogeneous chapters on campus? These are complicated
questions.
We can say with certainty that diversity in our chapters
is essential because we know that ethnicity is related to redemption.
God sent his Son to redeem humankind. God's redemptive power does
not merely change a person's spirit while leaving the mind and
body untouched. No! God's redemptive work touches all of
a person's life and relationships. Reconciliation among people
of diverse ethnicity is a crucial part of God's redeeming work
(Ephesians 2:11-22).
Ethnic diversity is a creation of God
(Genesis 11:1-9). There
are bits and pieces of God's image in all ethnic groups, and God
is at work to redeem them. Christ has come to redeem every part
of you, including your ethnicity. And when he sets up the new
heaven and earth, all of our diversity will be redeemed. We will
worship God in our redeemed state with all of our ethnicity, whether
Puerto Rican, Korean-American or African-American. "After
this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could
count," says John in Revelation 7:9, "from every nation,
from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches
in their hands."
Diversity in our ministry is our vision. How that gets worked
out is where a creative tension arises. But it is possible if
our chapters joyfully pursue ethnic diversity with sensitivity,
humility, love and orderly discernment.
Adapted from Bible & Life training materials. |
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