"E Pluribus Unum"

Last night I wrote a piece I called “E Pluribus Unum”, and planned to post it this morning. Prior to posting it, though, I saw a blog article by Chuck Colson on Townhall with the same title. In his "E Pluribus Unum", Colson makes the same point I’ve made, and points to another author (Robert Putnam) with the same concept in an article entitled “Bowling Alone”. Here is my treatise on the glorification of “Diversity” to add to what they have said.

In our church we often hear, “We celebrate diversity”. We come from many denominations in addition to Baptist—and we even come from a variety of Baptist backgrounds. Our recent survey showed that only about 60% of the respondents grew up in Baptist churches.

In the Sunday School class my wife and I teach the results were even more dramatic. One Sunday I took an informal poll. Out of 21 present that day, two grew up in American Baptist churches, four in Southern Baptist, and one Independent Baptist. The other two-thirds of the class were from Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic , and various other backgrounds.

We are diverse in age as well, although in recent years skewing more toward an older demographic. With almost half of the respondents in that survey claiming membership for twenty years or more, it is inevitable that the membership would be ageing.

Theologically we see a lot of diversity. That is understandable given the wide range of religious backgrounds of our members. Although the majority is moderate to conservative in its beliefs about Jesus, the Bible, and salvation, a sizeable minority is fairly liberal. For example only 74% said they believe the resurrection was an actual event.

I could cite other areas of diversity, but the point is clear—we are a diverse congregation. That seems to be the major factor in establishing our corporate identity for some. In a presentation by our Pulpit committee, a tentative theme mentioned unity in Christ, but emphasized and elaborated on our diversity and the latitude we extend to others to pursue their own spiritual journey.

The tentative theme has some appropriate elements, but a shift of emphasis would make it more biblical. Going back to the “We celebrate diversity” statement, a more biblical approach would be, “We welcome diversity. We celebrate unity in Christ.”

We have diversity. That’s a given. The more we emphasize our differences, though, the more difficult it will be to come together to both call a new pastor and move forward towards a unified mission goal.

After all, in John 17 Jesus did not say, “I pray that they may all be diverse”. He said, “I pray that they may all be one…even as you and I are one.” (from John 17: 21,22).

If we are truly disciples, or followers, of Jesus Christ, let’s work toward the answer to His prayer. We do that, not by emphasizing diversity, but by focusing on what unifies us. From many different and very diverse backgrounds comes one unity in Christ.