Isn't Christianity Against Diversity?

Songs about Diversity

Announcements

Great time at Reliance Round-Up!

I love singing songs with you guys. If you want to help lead some songs for Youth Group would you come talk to me afterwards?

Review

Last week talked about 7 “evidences” about how being a Christian is actually good for you. Which one stood out to you during the week?

Introduction

For this week I want to tell you a story.:

I moved here a year ago from a fairly large suburban city called Greeley, CO. Greeley is mostly a blue-collar town. Lots of workers in oil and gas, cattle production, farming etc. We also have the highest gang per capita ration in the United States. The story is, the Latin Kings and the Crips in L.A. migrated to Greeley because of the rising drug scene and eventually developed into two main gangs: The Nortenos and the Sorenos. The Northies and the Southies. Northies wore red, Southies wore blue. They lived on the Northern and Southern Impoverished parts of Greeley.

Our family lived on the Southern side. We lived close to a park near us.

At least twice, I’ve been approached by a group of Latino guys at that park. Once, I was with Isaac, my oldest, and one of his friends.

The guy goes, “Yo! I want to talk to you for a minute.” “Yeah, what’s up man?” “Yo, me and the homies want to know if you love Jesus dawg and if we could talk to you about him for a minute. We see you with these young dudes and we think it would be good for them to hear too.”

Guys, the church is not just a bunch of clean-cut do-gooders who have the same skin color and dress the same. It’s made up of all kinds of people who at their root recognize their sin and repent and turn to Jesus.

What is Diversity? Is Diversity good or bad? Is Christianity against diversity?

Today, we often think of diversity as a kind of accepting and welcoming of “differentness” of others. We have ideas of ethnic diversity, cultural diversity, gender diversity, and religious diversity among a ton of other kinds of diversity.

What are some reasons that people think Christianity is against Diversity?

Christianity is White, Western Religion (This is the focus of this evening)

Jesus is the only way to God (not many ways to God).

People think we are hateful and intolerant to gay and trans people. (We will talk about this in another lesson).

Christianity is for all kinds of people from all kinds of places. Christianity is for everyone.

Jesus Created Diversity

One of my favorite books in the bible is the gospel of John. In particular I love how it starts.

Would someone please read John 1:1-5?

John 1:1–5 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

We know that “the Word” in this passage is Jesus. Jesus himself was a brown-skinned middle eastern Jewish man. All things were made through Jesus. Diversity was created, therefore Jesus created diversity. Man was made in his image and after his likeness Genesis 1:26-27. Since God’s creation was originally “good” we can infer that diversity among people is good too.

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

The diversity that came from Adam and Eve came first from their creator, God.

This is something that everyone thinks about at some point in their life. For good or bad, you look like your parents. Even if you don’t think you do, your DNA says otherwise.

What was the bible passage we were memorizing for the mission trip?

Colossians 1:15–16 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Jesus bears the image of His father too, the invisible God.

Jesus Commands Love Across Differences

Mark 12:29–31 ESV

29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Turn with me in your bibles to John 4:4-26

John 4:4–26 ESV

4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

In this passage, a Jew is speaking with an enemy of the Jews about finding salvation from Him, a Jew. Jesus desires her to be saved, an enemy of his people and seeks her out when He could have just sought out more Jews for salvation. He cares about all people.

Listen to these verses as well:

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:19 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Paul speaking to the Christians in Turkey.

Colossians 3:11 ESV

11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

The believers in glory/

Revelation 7:9 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

The Roman empire didn’t believe in diversity. They wanted all religions to syncretize, and end up worshiping the Emperor and their other deities. They didn’t like how the Jews, and eventually the Christians would not worship their gods or participate in the sinful acts of their culture (that they saw as good!). Cities and temples were destroyed because they would not align with Roman practices. Christians would extend help to babies that were cast out, foreigners, and those who were impoverished, even amidst that kind of persecution.

“Them and Us”

Something we do as humans is we divide into groups. Have you ever noticed that at your schools, often what will happen is your peers will group together based on an obvious point of identity.

How do you see people in your schools or lives group up?

Skin Color/Ethnicity

Music

Disability

Clothing

Rich

Smart

Funny

Good looking

You may not realize this yet, but Adults do the same things. Most of the time, it’s these same categories too. We like to make these sound more sophisticated by using the words “status” or “socioeconomics,” or whatever, but it’s really just the same divisions. Some of these divisions are less serious than others, but the amount of harm done in the name of race is unbearable.

Slavery in America was horrendous. Yes I just brought that up. White men, many claiming to be Christians, cruelly enslaving black people to do their bidding. Did you know though that despite the evil done by these white “Christians,” the faith of the slaves grew in Christ? Here is what Frederick Douglas the famous black anti-slavery campaigner said:

I loved all mankind, slaveholders not excepted, though I abhorred slavery more than ever. I saw the world in a new light, and my great concern was to have everybody converted.\

God worked in spite of sin, not because of sin, to bring slaves to salvation.

Today, black Americans that identify as Christians are 10% than white Christians and nearly half go to church every week while only.

1/3 of white Christians go every week. Black women are statistically more likely to be Christians, white white men are more likely than others to be atheists.

The Bible is our basis for reconciliation and reunion across divisions, and especially racial divisions. Jesus calls on every tribe, race and tongue to trust in Him for their salvation. Our strive for unity shouldn’t be on the basis of how we look, but on the basis of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Diversity Out of the West

Christianity is the most diverse belief system in the world with roughly equal numbers of Christians living in Europe, Latin America, Africa and a rapidly growing church in Asia. It’s not just for people from one country, culture, race or language. It’s for everyone!

Revelation 7:9 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

Tell Story of Nigerian Missionary at Bittersweet Park. The church is the 3rd largest recipient of missionaries in the world because they see the need to evangelize to America. Missions doesn’t only happen from the West, it’s happening from everywhere!

Application

It can be scary to talk about, but identify where you have prejudices against others and acknowledge how you hold them wrong to the Lord in prayer.

See that the church is made up of all kinds of people.

Breakout Questions

Do you think it’s hard to talk about Diversity today as a Christian?

Are there kinds of Diversity that are not good?

How does thinking about Jesus creating these kinds of diversities shape how you view your peers? The church?