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I ran into an old co-worker at Kroger last night and we ended up talking for about 20 minutes just catching up with each other.  We were good friends and spent hour after hour talking when we worked together. Even though we hadn’t seen each other in over a year, it felt like we picked up our friendship right where we left off.

One thing he shared with me is that he is now working at a U of M office that promotes diversity and interaction between different cultures.  He’s African-American and he’s married to a Caucasian woman (+2 really cute twins!), and I know his interest in cultural issues makes him really well suited for a job like this.  However, as we were talking he started sharing about the difficulties of trying to get different groups to interact with each other.  Evidently many of the groups that he is trying to reach out to just aren’t interested in getting to know other cultures; some are even hostile when he contacts them.

This conversation reminded me of one of the major issues of our times.  Even though many sectors of society are growing in diversity statistically, the reality is that many people simply aren’t interested in interacting with people who are different from themselves.  U of M, for instance, prides itself on its diversity, but when you walk into a dorm cafeteria it’s still easy to see that there is a “black table”, “Asian table”, etc.  When the rubber meets the road, many people just don’t think it’s worth the effort to go outside their comfort zone.

And how should the church respond?  The reality is that most of the time we are no different than the world around us.  Our churches reflect our culture rather than representing the people of all tongues, tribes, and nations gathered together in heaven.  I believe this situation empties the gospel of its power and reveals the truth that many times God’s people are indistinguishable from those who belong to this world.  Jesus calls us to be distinctive from the world around us, and specifically to love people who are different from ourselves:

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” – Matthew 5:46-47

I know that we will never see perfectly diverse churches that exactly match the make-up of the communities around us, but that’s not an excuse not to reach out, meet new and different people, and love others as Jesus loves us.  This has the potential to be one of our greatest witnesses to the world around us, and I hope we can work together as brothers and sisters in Christ to meet this challenge.