Diversity

Diversity – by Rev. Ray

One of the many blessings that Carolyn and I have received at MO is the diversity we see in the Body of Christ. There are numerous ways that we are diverse while being faithful to the Scriptures.

The word diversity may scare some people. Diversity suggests mixture, variety, differences. Some seem threatened by diversity and want sameness. They want unity, everyone singing the same note. Diversity might take more work than singing the same note but there is nothing like a beautiful harmony.

Some of our diversity is obvious when you walk into worship. When someone arrives at the 10:30 service for instance they will see babies, children, youth, young adults, couples, singles, families, middle aged people and seniors. They will also see different shades or hues of people. A kaleidoscope might have a hard time coming up with the many shades of color we find in our seats.

Less obvious than skin colors might be ethnicities, cultures, nationalities. Not all lighter hued people are from Ireland for instance or any part of Europe. Not all darker hued people are from Nigeria or any part of Africa. We might be first generation Americans or we might be able to trace our family tree back several generations. Some keep their citizenship in their native land and work or live in the United States while worshiping at Mt. Oak. What richness!

Another less obvious form of diversity would be our economical differences. Not knowing people’s bank accounts, I would imagine, knowing some of the jobs we hold, that we have folks making well over a quarter of a million dollars a year as a family. We also have folks that are making minimum wage and some on fixed retirement incomes. The great thing about Mt. Oak is it is hard to tell this by looking at people because we do not put on airs (for the most part) and when we come through the doors, we are in harmony. Isn’t that the way a good choir sings, so that the notes blend and it is hard to distinguish who is singing what part?

I could go on and on, for our diversity is throughout our church. We have seekers, brand new Christians, young Christians and mature Christians. We have a diverse amount of education. We are diverse in the communities we live in, and more. Yet one place we strive to have commonality is our desire to be more like Jesus. We may be diverse in our sin, but want to be unified in our desire to rid our lives of sin and to follow after Christ. We will not be swayed to call sin acceptable, trying to bring God down to our understandings.

Another piece of diversity I noticed last week, and I see it often, is the diverse ways in which we worship. We have a service at 8:15 that meets in the Sanctuary. They use the organ and piano and mainly sing hymns. It is rich in heritage and structure (you know we can only be so structured for sure). In this service there are some folks that have been at Mt. Oak for generations and some who have been in church all their lives. They are fed by the style of worship we share in this service. The pastors lead the entire service and we call it traditional.

Our diversity at 10:30 is often on display. We see this diversity in the various elements of worship we celebrate. It is common to see folks near the cross taking communion. Every Sunday we offer Holy Communion for those who wish to receive this sacrament more than once a month. Whether the youth or the adult bands are leading the service, it is common to see folks sitting, folks standing, folks moving around the worship area. Folks raise their hands; folks sing with their eyes closed; folks sing loudly, and folks sing quietly. At times we use hymns, at times to different tunes then we might remember. Mainly we sing the songs that are current on the Christians radio stations that play contemporary Christian music. The order is less formal. We might sing for a short time and go right into the message or we may worship for a substantial time before getting to the proclamation of the Word.

Something happened this past week that continued to show our diversity as we share diverse elements of worship. The various elements of our worship are like a symphony to me. The choir sang an anthem, an old hymn. Our youth worship team led us in praise and worship. Our Director of Worship led the service as he usually does, and he felt led by the Spirit to offer a time of prayer for healing. This led to an awesome prayer time where some came forward for prayers and some gave testimony to healings. Pastor Charlie and I were one team and others joined us as we prayed for those who came for healing. We prayed for those who came forward while the rest of the congregation continued to worship through singing. There were families and friends that came and prayed for each other. During the sermon people were talking to me as I preached. It was awesome. It brought tears to my eyes to know that in the same service we experienced elements of traditional worship, contemporary worship, gospel worship, charismatic worship and more. And we were all one body. We experience elements of worship that would be divisive in other churches at Mt. Oak. We see them as a rich harmony, a form of diversity that is a blessing and not a curse.

While we are not yet perfect, we are learning to be excited about our diversity. It is my heart’s desire to serve a church where people are more interested in connecting with God, in their own way, than watching others try to connect in their way and judging them. I pray our church will be a place where someone could sit and be silent in worship even while others are moving about and being demonstrative in their worship. The Holy Spirit can reach us all in different ways. The commonality we seek is a people seeking after God.

Thank you for being the diverse congregation that you are and are striving to become. Some may not appreciate diversity and want to be in a more homogeneous church. A choir of all tenors would be nice at times, but to hear the sopranos, the altos, the tenors, the baritones, and the basses come together in harmony is such a blessing. Thank you. You are fulfilling this pastor’s vision of a diverse church body. Please keep loving people and accepting people, even when they are not just like you! And may God smile on us as we worship Him together!