1 Corinthians 12:12-14…“For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” vs. 13
Strange as it may seem, in recent years the word inclusive has fallen out of favor, along with related words like diversity and equity. All this would come as a surprise to the Apostle Paul who regularly used these concepts to describe what he called the Body of Christ. He told the Corinthians that all believers, whether they were Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, had been baptised into one body. The Church was a diverse group and included believers from a variety of backgrounds and stations in life.
But even though diversity and inclusion have been celebrated in the Church from the beginning it has been so hard to practice. In this good and broken world people have a natural tendency to prefer the company of those who are more like themselves than different. In fact most Christian congregations seem to unconsciously embrace homogeneity and resist diversity. We really do have clannish tendencies.
Still the Spirit labors on and, almost against our wills, we are sometimes drawn into communities of faith where we rub shoulders and pray with people of many different backgrounds and even different political persuasions. It’s not easy to be one with such folks. Unity is never easy. But, thank God, the Spirit persists, and the benefits of inclusion and diversity are undeniable.
Thought for the Day: How do I experience diversity in my congregation?
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