Diversity vs. Community

Today's subject may be a bit sensitive, but what the heck. My thoughts are not necessarily coherent so much as yearning to get out on paper, but the general gist of the matter is questioning the whole premise behind striving for diversity. I just finished reading a Synodical report from 2005 and heard a lecture by Faith Alive Resources which both tooted a very familiar horn: diversity.

My problem is not with diversity. I think cultures, ethnicities, languages, and cultures should be celebrated and discovered by each person as they attempt to be more and more struck with awe at the beauty of God's creation. Of course, lets not kid ourselves here. Unless you're a higher critic of Scripture, then you'll remember that the confusion of language (and implicitly culture) was the result of sin! And not just any sin, the sin of self-idolatry. So lets remember that God is tinkering with a broken mechanism. Even so, the beauty of culture, the variety of foods, languages, and cultures are a fantastic discovery of the age of information.

So what's my beef? I take issue with those in the Church that would say that diversity in and of itself is a goal to strive for. Really? I'll buy a nuance in the New Testament that argues for the equality of women and I'll buy implicit themes which argue for the abolition of slavery (niether of which are explicitly stated), and I might even baptize my infant even if I can't find it in the New Testament, but where do we find diversity in and of itself to be something that the church should strive for?

After all, its not like people of other skin types and languages haven't been elect over the years. Its just that not many of them have made their way into the CRC for whatever reason. There are certainly issues there, but we need not enforce affirmitive action in every church to attain some sort of quota which satisfies our diversity ideal!

The issues which hinder diversity are real: bias, unfriendliness, elitism, traditionalism, patriotism, selfishness, fear, etc. But here's a thought: don't those all sound like fault lines for a more historic, more fully-orbed Christian idea? How about the community or koinonia? The fact of the matter is, Christ didn't summarize the 10 Commandments by saying "Love the Lord your God....and your neighbor as yourself and work hard for diversity." Why not? Because diversity is a natural outcome of community and an intersection with diverse culture. Passing over a white beggar for a black one simply because you want diversity is racism.

I don't want to look like a bigot here, but I hope you see my point. Diversity is a subpoint of community, or the horizontal nature of our Christian walk, it is not an all-encompassing point. There is also a unique risk with talking about issues such as this. Anyone who questions diversity is somehow a racist or a bigot. I hope I'm neither, but my love for my cross-cultural neighbor doesn't come from a diversity command from Christ, it comes from His command to love one another.