Written by Paul Lane
The Word
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
Genesis 11:5-6
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
1st Peter 2:9-10
Reflection
Honesty time. I very much did not want to write this devotional. Ever since “diversity” became a politically charged word, I’ve hated dealing with it. It seems that there is always someone looking to reshuffle the deck to get some perfect distribution of the races in all the right places without having a basis for knowing what the perfect distribution should be. I’m not sure how you would even know that. This thinking scares me deeply for several reasons, but here’s a peak into one of them:
Administrator: “Hello Paul, so nice to meet you.”
Paul: “Hello, nice to meet you too.”
Admin: “So, I see on your job application, you check black, white, and American Indian.”
Paul: “Yes. Yes, I did.”
Admin: “That’s awesome. Very nice. I’m just curious, which of your parents is black and which is white.”
Paul: “They are both mixed.”
Admin: “Oh…? OK. Anyway. Our rules say that you can only check one box. So, which one should we pick? And for us to pick American Indian, we’ll need some additional documentation.”
[End scene.]
I don’t fit into a racial distribution model very well.
Diversity is not a bad word. It’s a great word and something very much worth pursuing. We use this concept in the designing of spacecraft to ensure that the vehicle is safe and can handle problems foreseen and unforeseen. But to achieve it with people, cookie-cutter formulas will not work. It will take work to learn the culture, the case, the person before you.
Think of it this way. God sent man on an errand to explore Him through His creation, and once He got that thing sorted out at the tower, man pressed on to do that. The confused language pressed man to explore all the corners of the world, and in the process people groups began to store the learned knowledge and wisdom in culture and tradition. So, people started to get comfortable being in their own groups again, and the tower problem started all over.
Briana Franklin talked about being in a “monolith of thought.” Such a great expression. It gives you a picture of the person that lives out their life in only one culture. They may connect with the learned wisdom of a culture, but the exploration of God will be severely limited. It is for us to pursue the fullest wisdom of God that we can find, and some much of it can be found in person we haven’t experienced yet. There is a discomfort waiting to change you into a more comfortable and complete being.
Application
As Pastor Chris said, “fight hard to listen to your neighbors.” Seek opportunities to learn about how someone else lives. Take each person at face value and minister to whoever God brings before you. Then, trust Him to build His church.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Today I stand before You as sinners seeking Your grace. I acknowledge that I have counted ourselves as the better of my brothers and sisters without cause. Lord, I repent of this notion and turn our hearts to You in word, thought, and deed. Purify our heart in relationships and grow within me a true compassion for the lost, regardless of creed, color, or station. May my hearts stay at the foot of the cross always. Amen.
City Life Starter 
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