We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
We’re in This Together: Unity and Disunity
Christena Cleveland has been doing a series called Beyond Multiethnic on her blog for the last several weeks. It’s superb. In her introductory post, she states:
I’m excited about the booming interest in multiethnic/multiracial church, I really am. But racial/ethnic divisions are really just the tip of the iceberg; they’re often the most glaring divisions and the most difficult to justify. But below the surface there are plenty of other divisions, that left uncrossed, tend to marginalize people, label them as outcasts and exclude them from a seat at the table of the family of God. We often strenuously cite theological support for these divisions. But regardless of what we believe the Bible says about certain behaviors, roles, identities or belief systems, we never have permission to dishonor the image of God in people. Never.
It’s easy to miss the small and big ways that various groups are marginalized in our churches, but the truth is that the call for unity and reconciliation goes way beyond the categories we generally think about. How do we welcome the marginalized in our midst? It’s a question that every church should be asking.
If you’d like to catch up on the series, you can find the posts below. So far she has covered the ways in which we can welcome the poor, undocumented immigrants and single adults. Check them all out and stay tuned for future posts!
Christena is the author of Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart. If this series strikes a chord with you, you really should check out this book.
Category: General
Tags: Christena Cleveland, Current Events, Division, Kingdom, Kingdom Living, Poverty, Reconciliation, Unity
Related Reading
Voluntary Suffering and the Kingdom
In a post from two days ago, I wrote about the call to voluntary suffering for others as it is laid out in the New Testament. For the first three centuries of the church, Christians understood this call as they sought to follow Jesus’ example of forgoing the use of violence and expressing God’s self-sacrificial…
Our Insatiable Hunger
The only kind of life animals care about is biological. If their basic physical needs for food and shelter are met, they’re satisfied. Humans also want their basic physical needs met, of course, but that isn’t enough. We hunger for more. Not only do we want to be alive, we want to feel fully alive.…
Let’s Remember
In light of the events in the last few days involving attacks on American diplomats in foreign countries (and the ensuing political conflict), let’s remember one thing: Our fight is not with flesh and blood. As Christians, our real enemy is not Libyans or Egyptians or Muslims or President Obama or Governor Romney. Our enemy…
Responding to Critics of a Pacifist View of the Syrian Crisis-Part 2
United Nations Photo via Compfight Yesterday I posted a response to Tyler Tully’s criticism of some of my thoughts on the Syrian crisis. The second blog I’d like to review is Two Friars and a Fool by Aric Clark. Like Tully, Aric approved of much of what I said, but also like Tully, he raised several…
On Driving and Unsurpassable Worth
Our friends the Livesay’s live and work in Haiti, and their blog is amazing. They posted a reflection today entitled On Driving and Unsurpassable Worth. It’s so worth reading. From the article: Annoyed with someone? Repeat after me: Unsurpassable worth, unsurpassable worth… Unsurpassable worth. Fine, be annoyed … but if keeping the annoyance from turning to rage…
The Coming Kingdom & Racial Conflict
In the book of Revelation, we see a glimpse into the future. John says he saw, …a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And…