Dealing with Diversity

Recently I was at a workshop on evangelism. The leader, a lay Episcopalian, asked the mostly Presbyterian group what was unique about the Presbyterian Church. A wide variety of answers flowed. Then someone said, We are inclusive. A silence came over the room.

What does it mean to be inclusive? the leader asked.

After a few minutes of discussion, the leader said: Every church is exclusive. My Episcopal congregation welcomes anyone regardless of orientation or origin. That is, as long as they dress well.

Presbyterians acknowledge that part of the human predicament is that we live in a fractured world where it is only by God’s grace that salvation is possible. Our responses to this reality are affected by where we come from and what we do. In short, part of our human predicament is that we are diverse. But how do we deal with it?

Several years ago I had occasion to work closely with a rabbi in response to a local disaster. The tornado hit Jew and Gentile alike in our community; it happened to come on Maundy Thursday and during Passover as well. From this interaction came an ongoing dialogue that eventually expanded into a set of congregational conversations between the church I served and the temple he served. We called the series: What’s the Difference? And explored our common heritage as well as the very real differences.

Working on this project forced me to confront what really is different between Judaism and Christianity. The history of our relations is full of difficult and painful moments. Christian history is full of atrocities against the Jews done in the name of Jesus Christ. At the same time, Christianity would not exist if it were not for Jews. Jesus was a Jew, not a Christian.

Dealing with these differences created anxiety within my rabbi friend and me as well as within our congregations. The rabbi taught me a lesson when he told me that we are not the same. We can’t make believe that persecutions didn’t happen nor that human progress will take care of everything. We must nurture our common needs in good times in order that when the bad times come relationships will be able to sustain the onslaught of challenge.

I affirmed that “Jesus is Lord” to people who do not believe it. Moreover, I had to get used to the fact that they would not accept it. I was not there to “save souls.” I was there simply to share what I knew and to hear what my friend and his congregants knew as well.

Paul charged the Philippians to: Have no anxiety about anything. (4: 6, RSV); certainly an imposing commandment. But he continued: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests known to God.

In short, I had to let go of the responsibility for the outcome of the diverse opinions held in those meetings. Letting go of the responsibility for the hearing of the gospel by others was a real gift that God gave me. Though we did not share the same expression of faith, we could share hospitality in each other’s home.

I wonder if letting go of the responsibility for imposing our opinions on each other might be a way to live out the faith of Jesus Christ within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There are real differences. They matter. They are the source of conflict and controversy. We cannot ignore them.

What would happen if instead of trying to force our understanding of God’s will onto each other we sat at table with each other? As it is now, there are people who will not sit at table together. So what could bring them together? No doubt any combination of events might, but my experience tells me to look for the disasters. God will create the opportunities.

Joel L. Alvis Jr., a Presbyterian minister living in the Atlanta area, is the author of Religion and Race: Southern Presbyterians, 1946-1983 (Univ. of Alabama, 1994).