Unity in Diversity

“Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…. The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John 14:11, 26).

God has called us to unity, to share a deep, sacrificial love with all who “abide” in God (John 17: 21-23; 13:34-35). This unity in love is a high calling, a true witness to the world of the creative power and love of God. In my lifetime, though, I have noticed, as you likely have, that we seem to struggle to understand the difference between unity and uniformity. Christians are especially prone to separate ourselves from others based on our differences and preferences, rather than be drawn together with one another. Yet, the church is designed to be the reflection and image of God on earth. And what is God? As we see in the passages from John above, God is inherently three-in-one, a unified diversity. The church must find a way to reflect the God it worships, to live together as a 'mosaic' of humanity that is unified in the midst of its diversity (racially, ethnically, politically, theologically, etc.).

One of the most challenging books I’ve read on this subject is Mark Cunningham’s These Three Are One: The Practice of Trinitarian Theology. In it he suggests that the church must reflect the unity we see in the Trinity. He uses three wonderful terms to describe this little dance between Father, Son, and Spirit that help us reflect on unity in the Body of Christ: participation, particularity, and polyphony. Participation refers to the mutual, intimate interaction between people that allows us both to know and to be known by those in the church. That kind of knowing brings us together as one body, united in our differences. Particularity highlights the fact that we are all different, but we only really know and appreciate our own identity, as well as that of others, when we stand next to and with other people. True unity highlights our differences, our particularity, just as the characteristics and beauty of an individual piece of colored glass is made clearer when it is placed next to other pieces of varying colors in a mosaic. Finally, polyphonic is a musical term that refers to the bringing together of diverse sounds into one symphonic piece. (Some of you may know the term from the indie musical troop The Polyphonic Spree, which brings together a wide range of unique vocal and instrumental sounds to create some amazing music.) The church unites in our uniqueness and differences so that God, the Master Conductor, can weave us into a beautiful symphony of his love in the world.

My mind was captured by this beautiful picture of our unity in diversity this morning as I was shifting the chairs slightly, so that we can see one another a little more clearly as we worship and break bread together. Today, as we are called together by the Father, as we gather around Table to receive the hospitality of Christ, as we center ourselves in the Word, and as we are drawn together by the power of the Spirit who abides with us, may we strive for true unity in the midst of diversity. And may that unity in love be a living witness of God to the world (John 17:21).