Why is diversity important and how does it apply to the Christian walk?
 

Diversity is a buzzword that we hear a lot.  When I think of diversity, I sometimes remember an unusual assignment I was given in college.  I was taking a required intro-level religion course and the assignment was to attend three religious services that were outside our own personal denominations.  In addition, one service had to be non-Christian.  

Being Baptist, I went to services that were Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish.  It was a fascinating experience, if a little uncomfortable for someone like me who loathes being in a group of strangers.  But one thing I learned is that churches tend to welcome anyone.  It was nice to see that being true across the board.

Recently I came across an article in The Washington Post about our tendency to surround ourselves with people who are like us.  Birds of a feather flock together – it's true, perhaps even obvious.  What is often overlooked is the detrimental effect it has on us.

First, it gives us a skewed sense of how we stand in relation to the world at large.   My favorite part of the article is when the writer talks about the phenomenon of people assuming their candidate will win because they don't know anyone who supports the other guy.  How funny that people tend to miss the key part of that sentence: "they don't know anyone who…"  It's not that no one supports the other guy; it's that they don't know anyone who does because they have surrounded themselves with people who believe as they do.

Second, if we only interact with people like us, we won't get much opportunity to learn and grow.  If everyone in the room has the same set of experiences, what can we teach each other?  If we surround ourselves only with people who think and act like we do, we're essentially surrounding ourselves with yes-men, people who will always agree with us.  Perhaps more importantly, they will never challenge us.

I have always believed diversity is important because having a wide range of people on a project or in your life increases your knowledge base.  It gives you access not only to your own knowledge and experience but to that of others who grew up another way and thus have different wisdom to offer.  A wise man knows that he does not know everything.  I think a wise man surrounds himself with good people from all backgrounds.

As Christians, we naturally gravitate to other Christians.  That's not wrong.  It's helpful.  But I think that we aren't fulfilling our mission if all we do is hang out with other believers.  You can't convert the converted.  And while the happy people in church may be affirming and nice to be around, it's the lost soul shuffling around the edges of the church grounds who most needs our help.  Chances are that outsider also has something to teach us, something we will never learn if we only reach out to the birds of our feather.



First appeared in The Sword Review, 2007-03-19