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Sometimes a story can make us better people. At age twelve, I saw “Roots” on television for the first time. I watched in desperation as Kunta Kinte—a man called “slave”—was beaten; for all of my rage and sorrow, I was helpless to save him. Horrified by the historical reality behind his story, I had a very grown-up realization; slavery’s unthinkable brutality had grown from a mere idea—the lie that some kinds of people are better than others. My vow was solemn for a child: I would oppose that idea as long as I lived.

This June, as a full-grown reporter, I attended Wycliffe’s 2007 Delegate’s Conference, which explored the ideas of unity and diversity. Remembering my vow, I became convicted that fulfilling it meant opposing not only racism, but all of the prejudices—based on class, gender, nationality, denomination—we humans use to separate ourselves from others. Board Chair Brady Anderson prayed boldly, asking God’s forgiveness for the times we only want to be with or work with people who are just like us. Silently, I voiced my own “amen” of repentance. God’s call became even more compelling as passionate speakers, such as Joel Hunter, Loren Cunningham and others, spoke on His design for one Word, one body, one God, one Spirit and one hope.

Dr. Jeanne Porter spoke on Ephesians 2, showing how unity and diversity are only achieved by the power of one Spirit. It is the Spirit who binds all believers together because of our common connection to one Lord. Rather than yielding to the spirit of “dissent, disruption and dissonance,” Christians should live in harmony. We must resist the enemy by “refusing to allow the world’s standards of separateness, ethnic class and national origin separate us!” Dr. Porter warned that our individual “selfishness and bent towards having our own way” can harm unity. Like the Ephesians, today’s Christ-followers must resist false views of hierarchy, elitism, classism and ethnocentric bias.

The need for biblical unity also applies on a global level, especially as the worldwide face of Christianity is changing. Dr. Phillip Jenkins spoke about the re-discovery of a worldwide Christianity, with the population centers of the Church shifting towards the global South. These projections are not new. In 1640 St. Vincent DePaul predicted: “The Church of the future will be the Church of China, of Japan, of Africa, of South America.” Jenkins points out the coming fulfillment of this prediction: “By 2050 there should be 3 billion Christians in the world, the proportion of those who will be non-Latino whites…will be around one-fifth or one-sixth of the whole.”
 
Christians of the global North can attempt to look at the Bible through what Jenkins calls, “global-South eyes.” The experiences of many in the global South may be closer to those of the Bible’s writers and original recipients. Jenkins explains, “There are a number of areas where someone in the global South can read the Bible as an authoritative text, because it speaks to their kind of issues.” As we seek unity, Christians in the global North can avoid pushing their theological methods and presuppositions on everyone else, and welcome the insights of believers in the global South.

Becoming “one” in true diversity means not just the presence of different kinds of people, but also real equality and unity across these differences. Dr. Sam Barkat spoke about the related concept of shalom. David Zac Niringiye, regional director of the Church Mission Society in Africa, offers an excellent explanation of shalom as it applies to missions:

The immediate fruit [of mission] is shalom. It is well-being; it is harmony, because those who go and those who receive each sit at the same table, and eat the same food: that is the shalom that Jesus speaks about. It has always been the case. Kingdom mission always progresses through shalom, through partnership, through fellowship.

Dr. Barkat asked delegates to examine how we may “vandalize” shalom and harm others. He advised that humility is required for the journey of diversity. On our “shalom pilgrimage,” we should be willing to say, “I am not ahead of you, I am just your fellow traveler.” Barkat also urged, “Let’s look into our own lives first…and then go as agents of shalom.” He advised Wycliffe to form teams “made up of people from many different parts of the world, so that we can show…the world that Christ does not belong only to one region…but He belongs to us all.”

As an international peacemaker, Dr. Sam Barkat was once asked to give a presentation at a celebration in Thailand. Rather than speaking much, he simply had people come onto the stage in pairs—each pair carrying a basin, a towel and a jug of water. The audience watched in amazement as men and women, blacks and whites, Palestinians and Israelis, Hutus and Tutsis, began to wash each other’s feet! In a world wearied by millennia of division, hatred and warfare, Jesus calls us—His servants—to reconciliation. What could be a more stunning picture of the gospel?

Once a young biracial man, James McBride, asked his mother what color God was; she wisely answered that He is “the color of water.” Perhaps that is why God’s love and character are so clearly visible in the unity symbolized by the water of baptism, and by the stirring of the waters when selfless hands reach down to wash tired feet. Such water washes away, not just the ache of a weary body, but also the soul’s ache of separation. May we all experience God’s unity by being, as Dr. Barkat urges, “people of the basin and the towel.”

(Story written by Borghy Holm, a Wycliffe USA writer.)

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