The Biblical Basis for Urbana's Multiethnic Commitment
Urbana 2000 Director:by Barney Ford
Many of us have at times experienced frustration with our diversions from God's calling. We know that Jesus came to earth, died, rose again, and has saved us from the penalty our sin merits. We have felt his call to obedience, as he commands us to join in his mission of bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor. We know that we have fallen short in obedience, hidden the gospel from the dying, revolted against our king's commands, abused the weak, and built too much on foundations of division, rather than love.
Despite the clear and present sin of these choices, we make scarce use of the abundant resources for change, that those who have gone before have bequeathed to us at great cost.
Indeed, there are many of us who feel that the call for racial reconciliation is merely the latest trend in a church determined to stray from "preaching the gospel." Some feel that multi-ethnicity is nothing but pop psychology or political correctness, without bothering to check their Bibles to confirm their suspicions.
As a ministry of InterVarsity, Urbana is deeply committed to a fully biblical vision of Christ's kingdom. We find our calling in the Bible, and we are learning with joy and amazement just how broad Jesus' dreams for his church are. In this letter, I would like to share with you some of the things I have learned, about how multi-ethnicity is a central component of God's mission to the planet earth.
Image
The teaching that humans are created in the image of God is of central importance to all of Christianity. This doctrine starts in the first chapter of the Bible (Gen. 1:26ff), and continues through to the end (Rev. 22:4). Humans have worth in their own right! We are valuable, irreplaceably valuable because of whose image we bear, who we are. Our uniquenesses, at the same time, are expressions of the diversity of God, the breadth of his glory, and the delight he takes in creation.
Mother Theresa was able to see the image of the creator in every person. She saw them as treasures, rather than numbers, or even as hungry people. The day she let herself see the world like this, she opened her heart to so much more pain, because she could be much more hurt by the violence to God's creation she saw in the bodies and lives of Calcutta's least. She also opened her heart to much greater worship, because acting on a fuller understanding of people gave her a fuller understanding of the Bible, and of the magnitude of Jesus' work. Indeed, any time we think of or treat another person as anything less than the image of God, we fall short of Biblical reality.
Ownership
Psalm 24:1 reads: The earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it; the world, and those who live in it. This is God's world. As parts of creation, we and all people belong to the creator. People not only bear God's image, they belong to God as the creator and sustainer of all life. Again, any time we view others, treat others, or think about others in a comparative or disparaging way, we are misusing that which belongs to another, to the lord God.
But what does that mean? Many people feel they are innocent of racial or ethnic violence because they don't run around in hooded robes. In the presence of pervasive structural and institutional discrimination, silence alone is actually participation in oppressive violence.
Diversity
Revelation 4:11 tells us that God created all things because it pleased him. God created a diverse world, because it is an expression of his creativity, and his character. Our diversity of cultures, personalities, spiritual gifts, physical characteristics and tastes in artistic beauty are real demonstrations of God's creativity.
The God of Creation is the three in one. God is, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is real unity in diversity: diversity beyond our comprehension of the world, and unity beyond even our understanding of ourselves as individuals. God's creation is an expression of who he is. God enjoys diversity.
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus unveils his grand vision, command and purpose for his church. "Make disciples of all nations," he said. Nations is the translators' rendering of the Greek ethnoi. In this sense, nations does not refer to a political unit, but a distinct cultural-lingual group. Jesus was calling his disciples not to conquer the world, but to carry his message of reconciliation with the Father to the whole world. Jesus understood this message of hope, peace and salvation as simultaneously recognizing and transcending ethnicity, embracing diversity, while breaking down "the dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:14).
Unity in Diversity
The prayer of the Israelite nation, since the period of the Exodus, has been "Hear o Israel, the Lord your God is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Lord our God is one, and through the incarnation of Jesus, his diversity was shown much more broadly, and much more intimately. The word that created the cosmos became a human, and lived a life with us. Today he is at the right hand of God, as a slaughtered Lamb. In one place one can see the almighty glory of the Creator, the complete humiliation of a servant, and the enthroned merit of the savior.
Ephesians 2:14-18 is the Apostle Paul's message to Jews and Gentiles for reconciliation. Significantly, he starts it all out with Jesus in verse 13: "In Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." The impulse for our unity with each other comes from our unity with our savior.
Not as a dent in the heavenly kingdom, but as one of its holy ornaments, our human diversity is included as a part of heavenly worship. Revelation 21:26 tells us of the new Jerusalem, that "people will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations." The trees in the city bring healing for the nations (22:2). In our perfection, we worship God in our diversity, through our unity.
God is leading history to a conclusion, a completion that bears three great qualities: · God is glorified and worshipped at the center. · There is incredible diversity. · The unity is so profound, we call it heaven, and we describe it with the word Shalom.
Community
This unity in diversity is more than a dream for a distant future: it is the mark of the redeemed. John 13:35 says: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." They will know we are Christians by our love, and the quality of our theology, worship and good deeds will be measured against our love. On the night of his arrest, Jesus prayed that his disciples, and future followers, "may all be one." This love is miraculous, a fruit of our union with God, and it stands in relief to our natural divisiveness.
The greatest defense of our faith in this age is the same that it always has been, and always will be: love, superhuman love. The greatest fuel for the completion of the great commission is unity in diversity through mutual love.
Implications
Truths like these form the laws of the universe. In the Ten Commandments we find them in the imperative voice. In the Sermon on the Mount, we find them in Jesus' illustrations. When Jesus summarized the Law in two sentences (Matthew 22:35-40), he used love as the fulcrum.
Unity in diversity is our basis for defining personal maturity and spiritual health. We often call immature people "self-centered." If being self-centered is immature, what then is maturity? It is being God-centered and other aware. The path to maturity leads to the point where we understand ourselves as Christ sees us, and as others see us.
Of course, just as faith without works is dead, so is worship that bears no fruit. True multi-ethnic unity in diversity is more than holding hands in a stadium. It is day-in, day-out pursuit of justice and Shalom. It is always taking the right but hard route. It is never fun, but fun that destroys our brothers and sisters is not true.
We will be learning how to give God worship that is more pleasing to him. We will be trying to move beyond the milk of token integration and superficial reconciliation, to the real meat. We want to clasp hands and hearts, and offer up whole worship and proclaim the truth that moves to action. Lord help us!
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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