The same, not different

The same – not different

One of the tenets of Christianity is all human kind is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Repeated throughout the Bible, it is particularly underscored in Jesus life and teaching, and throughout the New Testament.  Jesus constantly reverses the cultural tendency to erect walls of disparity between people groups such as men and women, rich and poor, saint and sinner.  The apostle Paul followed his lead and states clearly that God’s intention for the world is a place where “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female for you are all one.” (Galatians 3:28)

Living in a country where the color of your skin is different than the majority of the population is a reminder that being one or ‘all the same’ does not equate to looking alike. The beauty of humanity is our diversity.  Our skin color, abilities, talents, language, preferences, and personalities are delightfully contrasting. The world might be pretty boring without it. Morris often tells the story of visiting a supermarket in Kakamega last year. He was browsing around the store, when a little hand gently touched his arm. It was a young boy about three or four years old. Morris greeted him with “hello little one” and the boy shyly scurried off. Within a few minutes, the boy returned and without any exchange of words, reached out again to feel Morris’s arm. Another smile and off he ran. Morris thought ‘my, the children are very friendly here’.   Then, after a third return ‘touch’, Morris thought 'perhaps this is the first time this boy has seen a mzungu (white man).' There was a good chance the boy wanted to know if this different colored person felt the same as he did! Since then we’ve had several occasions where little children want to feel the touch of our skin or our hair and it always brings laughter and a chance to say “see, we’re just like you”!

Imagine the peace and prosperity our world would have if everyone valued that “What unites us is much greater than what divides us” (Pope John XXIII). I believe the desire of God is to eliminate, as much as we are able, the human tendency to think that our variances detach or dissect us. To focus on the differences between people, rather than the similarities has potential to accelerate superiority and inferiority. Superiority is the inclination to see oneself as better than another and inferiority to see yourself as someone less than. This is where the seeds of power struggles are birthed and likely why we live in a world of enemies and conflict, war and inequality, oppression and poverty.

As much as I love many things about The Salvation Army, I must confess that I also think of this challenge with our denominational quasi-military hierarchical structure. There has been (and perhaps still can be), the danger of considering someone of a higher rank to be superior not only in a supervisory role but in value or accomplishment. In a conversation with an officer some time ago, Morris was asked “What do I need to do to get promoted?” The officer wasn’t referring to the required responsibilities of completing certain courses to move from the rank of Lieutenant to Captain or Captain to Major. It was about what he should do to one day become a Divisional Commander or a Chief Secretary because by attaining those positions you would be ‘arriving’. Morris diverted the dialogue to a focus on the essence of our service having nothing to do with status, position, or rank. We are called to be servant leaders who follow Jesus example. “Whoever wants to be great must be a servant of all” (Matthew 20:28)

There have been occasions through the years when Morris and I have been part of gatherings where separation was evident.  One example is being seated at a head table and served in a contrasting way from the rest of the group.  Or the time we arrived at a youth workers event and were ushered to a room to have lunch with the facilitators instead of lining up with the delegates. We asked if we could queue up to connect with the participants and find out what they had learned at the seminar. It made so much more sense in that situation and we were so glad we did.  

Any opportunity we have to help reduce barriers between us can increase mutual respect and equality. It will never be perfect and I fully acknowledge the occasions when we have supervisory responsibilities.  However,  the goal of inclusiveness can get better if we look for intentional situations where we can reverse the impulse to be separate and nurture what it means to be ‘the same’.  We are all fallen people in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. We stand on level ground in the eyes of our Creator. If we are truly meant to reflect Him, then surely this vision of egalitarianism must also be ours.  Neither our abilities or our inabilities or our disabilities define us so neither should that divide us.

The belief in Jesus Christ as both a personal Saviour and the world’s Saviour is to understand Christ’s role in bringing us together (reconciliation). The Cross was (and is) the way of restoring the brokenness between God and humanity and by extension, the brokenness existing between humanity. No wonder Jesus simplified what it means to be a Christian – to love God and love each other. Jesus death and sacrifice is the causeway that connects us. Christian faith breaks down the barriers between us (Ephesians 2:14) and gives us the responsibility to be reconcilers too (2 Corinthians 5:18).

How do we find ways to intentionally connect and converse with people who are not exactly the same as we are? How do we do better at opening the doors of our home, our churches, our social groups, and our ‘on the street’ encounters and welcome into our lives the person who looks, talks, smells, or thinks differently than we do?

Recently someone told me about a gentleman who biked across Canada from June to September. In his travels, there were 11 different occasions when complete strangers he met along the way (some just in casual conversation in a coffee shop) invited him to spend the night at their house.  Risky? Maybe, but it was a risk that resulted in mutual comradery. In the last city he visited, Halifax, a Christian couple whom he did not know hosted him for three days where he received the warmest hospitality. “I ate some of the best fish in my life” he said with a big smile. He even joined them in a worship service, and this man was not of the same faith. A great example of looking beyond what divides us and embracing what unites us.

As I write this blog, I am conscious of so many heart wrenching examples where the opposite experience from the biker is occurring.  Discrimination, racism, and segregation sabotage the splendor of diversity.  The cruel attack on a Jewish synagogue in Pennsylvania last week, with 11 lives lost, and in Egypt where seven Coptic Christians were killed in an attack on two buses near a monastery are just two of those instances. Immigration and refugee situations also come to mind. We cannot solve every global social issue. Only God will reverse all evil but while we wait for that day, let's consider our best opportunities to respect, include, and embrace one another in every way we can. 

Morris and I have lived in Kenya for almost two years now. It is not always easy, but it has enlarged our understanding and appreciation of what it means to look beyond the divides and embrace the bridges.