By Melissa Probelski
At Seapointe College, this vision of unity in diversity is something we see every day as students from different backgrounds learn, worship, and grow together. The early church gives us a powerful picture of unity in the church—people from different nations, cultures, and backgrounds coming together through Christ.
Action Verse: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” – Acts 2:42-44
We learn something about the first church, when Acts 2:43-44 says, “And the awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common” (English Standard Version). Often, we like to focus on the reward, but we forget what led to it. One scripture prior says, “And they DEVOTED themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).
The early church was focused on teaching, learning, fellowshiping, communing together, and praying. They fought for unity. They were in one mind and one accord. Who was this early church made up of? Remember Pentecost? That’s right, many tribes, nations, tongues, and colors were added to the church because of the miracle of Pentecost. They heard the people of God speaking in their native tongues and were in awe.
The church wasn’t of one ethnicity, culture, color, or language. It was all different people. It was DIVERSE! Don’t you just get excited at this picture? It is truly Heaven on Earth. Many diverse people, with their own perspectives, are all excited to see the truth that Jesus is Lord of ALL! Jew and Gentile! Rich and poor! Black, Brown, Tan, Yellow, Peach, Pink, White, this Jesus is no respector of persons; in fact, He bridges the gap for all humanity. If that isn’t powerful, I don’t know what is.
Diversity is as noticeable a guiding principle for Seapointe College as any other. You could even argue it is one of the most visible. It is certainly one of our most beloved aspects. But if we are being honest, at times it can be challenging. Sometimes it means holding our tongue, which is biblically encouraged (Prov 17:28; 21:23, James 1:26, Psalm 141:3). Sometimes it means we need to be “slow to speak, and quick to listen” (James 1:19).
But what about that first church? Did they face the challenges of diverse thought? Without a doubt. In Acts 15:36-40, we read about Paul and Barnabas splitting ways over John Mark because of an earlier episode where he left them during a mission to go back home. Paul didn’t want to bring him on a later mission, and Barnabas did. They were at an impasse. I can’t help but feel that a council or willingness to involve others in settling this would have been more effective than just splitting up with an unsettled dispute. However, since I wasn’t there, I can’t say what left them feeling that the situation couldn’t be resolved. Yet, it seems that whatever bad feelings Paul had toward John Mark must have been resolved at some point, as later in 2 Timothy 4:11 Paul says, “Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.”
Perhaps one of the greatest examples of working out their differences in the early church was the Council of Jerusalem around AD 48-50. The church was having a major dispute over whether new gentile converts into the Christian faith should become circumcised (Acts 15:1-29). The council resulted in an agreement that God did not want to burden the Gentiles with the law, but instead to encourage them to abstain from the things of their past lives that would draw them away from the right path.
We can learn valuable lessons from this. In the dispute over circumcision, it was started by men who were Pharisees and became believers in Jesus. Their culture was to strive to follow the law of Moses flawlessly. However, that was never part of the gentile culture. The two perspectives couldn’t be much farther apart. But instead of just being so sure that their perspective was the right perspective, the church got together to hear each other out and understand each other. Then they came to a decision and trusted their leaders with the solution.
From these two examples, what should be our takeaway? How do we fight for the unity while still being DIVERSE? Our action passage for today is Ephesians 4:1-6, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Paul wrote this years after the Council of Jerusalem and his disputes with John Mark, and Barnabas, and you can’t help but wonder if this wasn’t a deep time of reflection. Around 60-62 A.D., while he was a prisoner in Rome, he passionately encouraged the brothers and sisters to strive for unity, pointing to the One Lord. Let us read Paul’s words and choose to be content that we will not always see eye to eye. That is part of the beauty of diversity. What a boring world it would be if we all looked alike, thought completely alike, had the exact same experiences, and perceptions. Unity with people who are just like us is easy. But unity in diversity is a glimpse of heaven.
PS., being a creative arts major, you know I have to share a worship song that speaks to this subject. https://youtu.be/wEQnrk6KrPQ?si=tvpRw9DtiLu-55I4
