Why Christians Should Love Diversity

1/17/16

MLK Memorial in Washington D.C.

If you grew up in the church like I did, you probably have sung it ever since you were in preschool. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.”  But how well do we live this?  It is the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and it is hard not to think about how, even in 2016, we still mess up diversity so much. 

The Webster definition of diversity is, “the quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas, etc.” 

I grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which has been deemed as one of the most segregated cities in the whole country.  This statistic is unfortunately very true.  Living in the suburbs, there was little to no ethnic diversity in my neighborhood.  Everyone was white, all except for one Indian family.  I was lucky enough to attend Milwaukee Lutheran High School, which was very ethnically diverse.  One thing that our basketball team always did was on MLK Day, we would play in a basketball showcase at Concordia University Chicago, located in River Forest, Illinois.  There, we would play a game against another Lutheran school from somewhere around the Chicago area.  It hit me my freshmen year that we were the only team that was mixed race.  We would either play a team of all black students or all white students.  Of all days of the year, we would have to deal with the issue of lack of racial diversity on MLK day.  This is not what Dr. King, and so many other Civil Rights activists, sacrificed for.

2009/2010 Milwaukee Lutheran Red Knights

I remember my fourteen-year-old-self was very frustrated by this.  Why do we as humans, and even as the Church, struggle with diversity so much?  The New Testament is filled with border-breaking verses.  Here are just a few:

Galatians 3:28 

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 12:12-30                                “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.”

Revelation 7:9-10 

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Now as I continue, I do not want to be sounding like I am “holier than though,” because I am just as bad as this as anyone.  But we need a lot more difference in our lives. 

Korean BBQ Night

Here is another story that fills me with some shame.  Last year, before my sophomore year of college began, I was told that I was going to live with a Korean student.  I was pretty upset.  I thought that the cultural difference was going to ruin my year.  I was SO wrong about this.  Living with KJ was one of the biggest blessings of my life and the people I have met through his friendship have been incredible.  The difference in my life was much needed and helped me grow as a human more than I ever thought.  The food I’ve eaten, conversations I’ve had and so many things that I would have never experienced if I stayed in my bubble have changed my life.  This rocked my world a bit, but I am so thankful it did.  The Lord took a stubborn boy and gave him what he needed, even though he didn’t want it at first.

One of my favorite things about my current roommate, Jinho, who is also from Korea, is worshiping with him.  This is just like the Revelations verse.  Hearing a multitude of tongues praise Jesus is one of the most beautiful sounds that can be heard.  This is a thing that does not happen in my life, and I’m sure many others’ lives, enough.  I think that difference, in general, does not happen in enough lives.  Why does the church not do this more?!?

The reason we are so bad at diversity is because we love our comfort zones.

Diversity is so much more than just race, it is difference in general.  We aren't scared of other races because they are a different race, we are scared because it is different than what we are or what we are comfortable with. We are scared of leaving our comfort zone.  Living with KJ was a major move out of my comfort zone for me, but one of the best things that has ever happened to me. 

My father always reminds me to, “get out of my comfort zone and into my growing zone.”  Comfort zones are the most dangerous things that everyone has.  It holds us back from experiencing so much in life because we are scared of the potential “dangers” that come with leaving it.  It can boil down to the most trivial problems, or reach out to some of the most major issues in our world.

We won’t order a different meal than the usual at our favorite restaurant

We won’t go on a mission trip because the work might be too hard

We won't talk to the person who is sitting alone in the dining hall because we are scared our friends will tease us

We won’t embrace a different culture because it is so different than our own

Fighting our comfort zone is so much easier said than done, and I am one of the world’s largest

Korean Squad

offenders at giving into my comfort zone, but so much fulfillment comes out of trying difference and opening our minds that come with leaving our comfort zone. 

So many issues of diversity in our life are from our insistent need to stay in a world of comfort, but Christ calls us to live an uncomfortable life.  We are called to carry our cross daily.  Jesus loves difference, so we should love difference.

Look for areas this week, month and year to break down your comfort zone more and more.  Different is not bad.  Different can help us learn more than we ever thought we could.

“Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle” – George R.R. Martin