Unity in difference
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If I asked you to paint me a picture of God and I did the same, painting a picture of God the way that I see Him, and we put them next to one another, how many similarities would there be? Our pictures of Jesus and the Holy Spirit would be the same. Would they differ so much that there wouldn’t be any similarities?
Still, there is only one God. Only one Jesus. Only one Holy Spirit: 4You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. 5You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. 6Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.
And in addition to one God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, there is only one hope, one faith, one baptism and one church.
But we have to acknowledge that not everybody sees this idea in the same way. Just look around in all the different towns and see the many different halls used by different groups of Christians. People congregate in any available open space to serve and worship “their” God and when you go closer, you see that most of them use the same Bible as you.
But in a way I can understand that not all of us worship in the same way. Even in our own homes we worship God differently. My wife likes a meditative service with not much talking where art forms are used to lead worshippers in worship.
That will definitely not work for me, because after the first minute my thoughts will run away with me and never find their way back. I need music. I need stories. I need interesting examples to keep me interested.
But we believe in the same God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. We walk together in the same faith, even though we differ completely. Wherein lies the difference? Where does the being different come from? I suspect it lies inside us. We paint different pictures of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and they are different because we are different. When people acted strangely, my wife’s grandma always said: One person is not another person!
We easily comment about other people who are not like this or that. We easily think people who do things differently from us are wrong. But it’s normal. We should actually allow one another more space to be different. There’s a lovely English word that describes so well what one should do with another person’s being different: Embrace it. Embrace one another’s difference. Throw your arms around others and say: Even though we do things differently, even though we believe differently, even though we do not understand one another all the time, we do know that we worship the same God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. We can embrace one another, despite being as different as the sun is from the moon.
Xenophobia has recently broken out in our country again. I close my eyes when the images of people hacked to death appear on screen. People leave no space for one another; people leave no space for other people being different. That is not the way God intended it to be.
Another English word. Let’s go further than just allowing space. Let’s go beyond just embracing – let’s celebrate one another’s different pictures. Let’s celebrate being not the same, but still serving the same God, Jesus and Holy Spirit! Together, as different children of God, we form one body of Christ.
Scripture:
Reflection
Are you different from others?
Are others different from you?
Does the difference break down or build up?
Prayer
Father, You are Father to everyone who believes in your Son. You live in everyone who believes in You. We are part of one body. Please help us to include, not exclude, one another. Amen
