Last Saturday, like millions of others, my wife and I sat
back and watched the Kentucky Derby, an American tradition. Simone Biles, the
Olympic gymnast gave the call, “Riders Up!”
The top thoroughbreds in the world pranced onto the track. Everyone sang, “My Old Kentucky Home,” including
my wife. They introduced the jockeys
that would vie for the coveted prize. And there it was, right in the middle of
the Kentucky Derby, “diversity!” Three of
the jockeys were from the U.S., 2 from Brazil, 2 from Venezuela, 3 from Puerto
Rico, 1 from Mexico, 3 from France, 1 from Italy, 1 from the Dominican Republic
and 1 from Panama.
It is true in every sport: baseball, tennis, golf,
basketball. Diverse people from any and
every nationality and ethnicity excel in every area of life. The major cities
of the world are cosmopolitan. More than 90 languages are spoken in
Houston. In Dallas, every ethnicity is a
minority, including Anglo.
When I was pastor of an English-speaking church in Nuremberg,
Germany, the church was composed of people from Germany, Ireland, England,
Romania, Ukraine, China, Cameroon, India, Sweden, Austria and others. Most were
in their twenties and thirties. After we returned to the U.S., we hosted a
Bible study for grad students in our home.
They came from South Africa, Indonesia, China, the Czech Republic,
Japan, Hong Kong and Zambia. They became like family to us.
God must like diversity.
There is so much of it. If we all
looked alike, spoke alike and thought alike, it would be a boring and shallow
world. God has splashed His creation with rich and wondrous diversity, from the
fish of the sea and the stars in the heavens to the people of the earth.
Why is it, then, that we are so prone to make other people
conform to our own way of life? Why do
we feel it necessary to argue until others adopt our point of view? Why do we
want them to dress like us, look like us and talk like us? What should a Christian look like?
It seems to me that most Christians think others should look
like they look. But they don’t. I am
reminded of a visit I made several years ago to the Harley Davidson Factory in
Kansas City. A young man stood up to
address the group and introduced himself as a disciple of Jesus Christ
disguised as an executive at Harley Davidson. Disciples of Jesus Christ come
disguised in the clothing and customs of every culture on the globe.
When we flip through the pages of the Bible to the final
book, we find a description of the ultimate consummation of creation. “After this I looked, and there before me was
a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and
language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,”
(Revelation 7:9).
Tinsley's eBook We Beheld His Glory is free on Amazon May 6-7..