I read a very interesting article entitled "Can There Be Unity In Diversity" which appeared on pp. 51-58 in the Summer, 2000 edition of Adventists Affirm and was written by Elder Richard W. O'Ffill who is the Adult Ministries Director and Revivalist for the Florida Conference. I felt that sharing the high points of this article in this post would be a blessing to those who are likeminded and have not read it. Excerpts from it are written below:
"...The purpose of this article is not to say whether we should admit diversity or if we should respect diversity but rather to ask whether we should emphasize diversity at the expense of unity. To put it in plain language, the question is, Shall we dwell on that which makes us different or shall we seek to find what we have in common? Correctly answering this question is... indispensible for the mission--if not the very existence--of our church.
"We used to say that a person who traveled around the world could visit any Seventh-day Adventist church anywhere and find they were all the same. It would be safe to say that in more and more instances this is no longer true. Though we still have many things in common, in many places the hallmarks that once identified us are being painted out, and in certain places there are even attempts to remodel the 'church' as we have known it.
"Our church was established with unique doctrines. It was these doctrines that made us different from the churches from which we originated. To be a Seventh-day Adventist was to be different from the rest. But becoming a member of the church was a personal decision. A person was not forced into it. In fact, those interested were given a series of studies which clearly outlined what it means to be a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. If any of them discovered they couldn't accept the fundamental beliefs of this church, they simply didn't become members and that was that.
"...People have told me that in times past you could almost recognize Adventists by the way they looked and acted. It was as if there was something about their faces that made them stand out from the society at large.
"I am not sure to what extent this may be true today. Generally there seems to be LESS AND LESS DISTINCTION between the average Adventist and the average person in the street (Emphasis mine throughout this article).
"I believe this is the result of what happens when we begin to emphasize the part and no longer the whole, to emphasize WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT rather than what we have in common.
"...I am convinced that the Adventist church is shooting itself in the head if we continue to emphasize our diversity the way we have been doing in recent years.
"Though the body is made up of many parts, the hand is not the body, neither is the leg nor the eye. Yet the hand and the eye are necessary if the body is to be complete. The issue is not that the body should ignore the hand or that the hand demand that the body care for it, no matter what happens to the eye. The issue arises when the hand THINKS OF ITS OWN INTERESTS and forms an alliance with all the other hands. The hands then become what we would call a special interest group. No longer do they think of the best interest of the body but only of the best interest of the hands.
"Friend, the unity of the church is an important part of what the gospel is all about. Listen to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21, 'That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may know that thou hast sent me.'
"The rebellion in heaven was about division. The gospel is about restoring unity....
"I am not saying that the church has no unity. Yet I think that if we are honest with ourselves we will recognize that we are increasingly united in the sense that we are agreeing to disagree. It is now OK to do your own thing. There are now agendized groups in the church whose worldview is 'us, we, ours, me, myself, and I.' It seems as though our church as a whole is being taught that we must not judge anybody or anything, and that if we are to be truly compassionate, the will of the agendized part must be done no matter what effect it will have in the long run on the well-being of the whole body of Christ.
"There must be an answer that is in harmony with the will of God. Consider this: The body of Christ should be concerned with each individual part of the church. On the other hand, each individual part of the church should not think of itself ONLY but rather of the well-being of the body. I believe here is where we have gotten off the track. If I follow the way things are going now, I will think only of myself and my group, and I will expect everyone else to do the same.
"We tend more and more to see things in a political perspective. Politics is opportunistic and self-serving. Even when we choose leaders for the church we are inclined to do it on the basis of representation. I have not yet found any biblical text recommending that we choose committees based on gender, race, postal address, or age. What I have found are texts that establish criteria for leadership within the church, and taken as a whole they tend to be overwhelmingly based on spiritual considerations.
"The members of the committees that govern our churches and organizations should not be chosen because they live in a particular part of the conference or because they represent one group or another. The criterion that Scripture says should be the qualification of leaders is their SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT AND GODLY CHARACTERS. It is possible for a person to have political and organizational skills and not be born again.
"...We are diverse and we will always be. We cannot be united in our diversity but in spite of our diversity; such unity will not be based upon compromise or consensus but in Christ through His Word.
"As we prepare for the society of heaven, we must not only learn to get along with each other, we must actually become one. Though we are not the same, we must be complementary and supportive of the whole. Those within the church who are trying to dominate the church or change the church TO FIT THEIR VIEW are at odds with the principle on which the church as the body of Christ is founded.
"There can be no doubt that Satan is trying to exploit our differences. He is trying TO DIVIDE US so that he can conquer us. Though we have permanent differences, we do have one thing in common--our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Word. We must not celebrate our differences; we must celebrate the unity we have in Him who is our head, yea in Him who is our life and our all, for in Him we live and move and have our being.
"To Him and to Him alone be glory in the church, now and forevermore, amen and amen."
M.A.
