After thinking about my friendships I started to realize some things about diversity.  Having different ideologies and viewpoints about things can be very enlightening and can even be unifying if approached the right way.  People hold a variety of views about any given topic but when the proper dialogue is established a lot of good can be achieved by this very diversity.

Diversity, more often than not, is used by our enemy to divide us.  It doesn’t have to and shouldn’t.  God created mankind to be different and unique from each other.  Ultimately I believe we can come to a lot of the same conclusions and that there is only one Truth, but there are almost as many ways to arrive at that Truth as there are people.  Jesus is that Truth in case anyone thought I might be headed down a Universalist path.

Jesus said that “It is impossible but that offences will come…” [Luke 17:1]  The word used for offenses in some versions of the Bible is translated as temptations for sin, causes for trouble, trials and temptations, stumbling blocks and others, but they all are trying to tell us the same thing.  The Greek word used here is skandalon and means all of the above plus it could be translated as a snare or a trap.  The enemy just loves to trap us, snare us, and cause us to fall from being offended.  Arguing about and from our differences is a key way he divides us.  And Jesus said in was inevitable.

I believe if we could learn to give the other side a chance, or a hearing, we would not be so easily ensnared by offense.  As I travel further and further down the narrow path I am finding it easier and easier to slough off the inevitable offenses that come. 

Why does a differing viewpoint scare us so much?  Could it be that we are not that sure of our own beliefs?  Do our arguments stem from our fear of being wrong?

As I said in my last post, I am thankful for the friendships God has given me.  But it is fascinating to me that the most rewarding come from those I have the most disagreements with.  But when we can talk and discuss things, and keep on loving each other while disagreeing, we can grow.  Our growth might be in a direction that takes us out of some wrong belief on our part or it might be more fully into a conviction that the discussion actually confirms. 

Whatever direction we end up taking we can become even closer to each other when we are not just trying to make everyone look like ourselves.  I don’t know about you but I don’t know if I could get along with another me.  

The body of Christ is made up of many distinct parts and people.  No two of us are alike and yet we can work, love and fight the enemy together because we are different.  Each of us has a role and a mission.  It is unique and God wants to use you where you are and in a way that can only be accomplished by you, with the gifts that you have been given.  If I attempt to make you into me I am actually trying to defeat Gods plan. 

Our uniqueness brings into existence the diversity needed to accomplish the mission God has for us.  That diversity allows for the unity necessary to create the body of Christ.  He is the head of that body and if we allow, is the one who directs all the diverse parts.

Celebrate your uniqueness and let God use it to unify and direct us instead of allowing the enemy to continue the deception that we should all be the same.  My left arm and hand cannot be used by me for the same things as my right.  But I would not want to lose them or walk around with two right arms. 

Let’s just learn to be who God wants us to be and find a way to be unified in love instead of separated by our differences.

Love you all

Tags: Belief, Body of Christ, Discussion, diversity, Enemy, Friendship, God, Love, skandalon, snare, temptations, Truth, Universalist