the joy of diversity

In politically correct thinking, diversity has been an important word to describe the need to include all types of people in the political process and in ensuring equal human rights for all, regardless of race, gender, creed, or (and here is where many of faith or conservative values take issue) sexual orientation.  As a result, to many, "diversity" has become a kind of dirty word, a word with a negative connotation.  I would like to retrieve it and give it the positive connotation it deserves, but for a better reason than to be politically correct.

What is the very first picture we are given of God in Scripture?  Creator.  In John 1 we are told that our Savior, Jesus, is in fact the Creator, the one who spoke all things into existence.  Creativity is central, foundational, to who God is and our understanding of Him.  And anyone who has a creative bone in their body will tell you that diversity and creativity go hand-in-hand.  It doesn't take the mind of a brain surgeon to see and appreciate the incredible diversity that is evident in God's creation.  It simply boggles the mind to think that of all the countless billions upon billions of snowflakes that have ever fallen, no two have ever been alike.  In every realm and sphere of nature, of this universe (or "multiverse" as some are now calling it), one is met with mind-boggling creativity and diversity!
Just having the privilege of being the father of 9 children is enough to help me appreciate both the creativity and diversity of our Creator.  Aren't you glad that God isn't into cloning?  I couldn't imagine anything more boring than to live in a world filled with people just like me!

And yet, though we appreciate and celebrate creativity/diversity, there is a fear that can grip us when we encounter people or situations that are too different than what we are familiar with.  At such times we need to remind ourselves of the Creator-God whom we worship, who loves diversity.  He loves to do things differently than how He did it in the past.  Have you noticed the many different ways in which Jesus healed people?  No cookie-cutter approach there!  Why did he appear to the two on the road to Emmaus "in a different form" than what they were familiar with (Mark 16:12)?  Why did he choose Paul to be an apostle way after his choosing of the twelve (I'm sure Paul would have liked to have been in on the inner circle of the disciples while Jesus was still alive!)?

The reason this is such an important reality to me is because I've had to come to terms with the fact that God is working in me in a very different and unique way than He is in others.  I used to want to be mentored by another more mature believer who could have helped me in my own spiritual maturation.  But God never supplied such a mentor for me.  I've searched for a church where I could grow and develop spiritually, but that has also eluded me.  Where I do find comfort is in the examples of Moses and Paul, two men whom God was able to develop spiritually quite apart from the "normal" means.  I can identify with the years that they both spent in the wilderness trying to figure what in the world God was up to in their lives.  And I especially appreciate looking over the list of the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 and noticing that the only thing they all had in common was that God did a unique work in each of them - there were no two experiences alike.  That's why they ended up in the faith hall of fame!

So I want to encourage any of you out there who may be struggling, as I have been, in understanding what God is up to in our lives.  His ways are certainly not our ways, that is a certainty!  Instead of trying to look like others or fit in with the crowd (yes, even if it's a spiritual crowd), let's remind ourselves that we serve and worship a creative God who takes real delight in diversity.  Let that stimulate our faith and drive away the fear that would rob us of His joy, which indeed, will be our strength.

   "O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
       I will build you with stones of turquoise,
       your foundations with sapphires.
     I will make your battlements of rubies,
       your gates of sparkling jewels,
       and all your walls of precious stones . . .
   "See, it is I who created the blacksmith
       who fans the coals into flame
       and forges a weapon fit for its work.
   And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc;
      no weapon forged against you will prevail,
      and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
   This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD [YHWH],
       and this is their vindication from me,"  
           declares the LORD [YHWH].
                                                          (Isaiah 54:16-17)