When I lived in Peru for a few months, some days I felt like I didn’t belong. I was a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, one-armed American. I stuck out among my Peruvian neighbors. No matter how many people welcomed me into their homes and their city, I knew I was different.
This experience has given me new empathy as I consider my own neighbors. We don’t all look the same. We don’t all speak the same. We don’t all wear the same kinds of clothes or enjoy the same traditions or eat the same foods. But these differences in appearance and in culture are not something to be ashamed of—they are something to be celebrated. When I was a teenager, I wish I would’ve learned to see diversity as a celebration of God’s creativity.
I love Revelation 7. Even in a book that can be challenging to interpret, the diversity of God’s people could not be clearer. In his vision, John sees people from every nation, every tribe, and every language worshipping Christ and crying out, “Salvation belongs to our God.â€
Our God. Not my God. Not the God of this one country or people group. Not the God of people who only speak a certain language or celebrate certain traditions.
Our God.
The story of the gospel is so much greater than what we can wrap our minds around. God came for all people who will give their lives to love Him. The differences between us are a celebration of His creativity.
So how can we look down on those who are different? The love and respect we give others shouldn’t depend on where they’re from or what language they speak or their political perspective. What matters is how we love people, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. Because in the end, we all stand before the same God—the Resurrected King who gave His life to save and unite us to Himself and each other. • Becca Wierwille
• How can we celebrate diversity as a witness of God’s creativity?
• What are some ways we can love each other well and see God in every person—people who are like us and people who are different? (We’re all made in God’s image, so non-Christians can also reflect aspects of God’s nature! Though not to the same extent as Christians, who are God’s children and have the Holy Spirit.)
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… Revelation 7:9 (NIV)
Read Verses:
Ps.9.1|Phil.4.12-Phil.4.13|Col.3.17
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