Diversity

I listen to a variety of different programs via iTunes podcasts. One of these is Pensees, a program that looks at cultural issues and Christianity. You can find the website of the program here. The latest one I listened to had to do with how cultural diversity is destroying America. This has been a hot topic for years, especially since the US has looked upon diversity as a positive. Of course, Canada has officially had a policy of cultural diversity since 1980. We encourage those that come to Canada from other countries and cultures to maintain their culture within our own. The Pensees program considered this to be equivalent to the Roman pantheon which collapsed under its own weight and inability to maintain control over such a wide variety of different belief systems. If America (or other nations that adhere to the same beliefs) continue to embrace this ideology, then American culture will collapse under its own weight as well.

It got me to thinking about the church local, and how important it is for the stability of the flock to be under one teaching. While setting up the Constitution and By-Laws of Hill Country Reformed Baptist Church, I had to come up with a means by which Elders would be qualified to be preachers and teachers of God's Word, and how that may look different than the more general understanding of the Christian beliefs for the membership. While there are the closed-handed issues that all Christians adhere to, there are the open-handed issues that can vary from church to church while still maintaining the orthodox Christian teachings. With that being said, it doesn't mean that the secondary teachings can be diverse within one body as being taught from the pulpit. There needs to be a consistency of teaching from the leadership which helps maintain unity within the local body. Without this, the body gets confused and unsure of itself, and eventually fractures.

The body of Christ has many parts, and each plays a different role, both individually and corporately. Can the body of Christ be united in one sense yet diverse in others? I would argue it can. Can a country or empire be united in one sense yet diverse in others? I would argue it cannot. The reason for this is that a country with such diversity cannot agree on the primary issues that maintain its essence. Eventually the diversity becomes an entity in itself where nothing has any distinct meaning and therefore collapses.