Last week I had the opportunity to meet with heads of staff at the two churches I served at before coming to Emmanuel. I am grateful to Emmanuel for the gift of study leave. I gained wisdom and practical ideas from them, which I can use to grow my leadership. In particular, they shared helpful ideas around developing and supporting our Session and elders.

I was also able to attend a special Project Peace Speaker series and hear from New York Times columnist David French. Project Peace is a non-profit founded by Christ Church East Bay (Berkeley & Oakland, CA). Its mission is to, “mobilize volunteers and resources to serve our trusted community partners as we pursue biblical justice in the East Bay.” They mobilize volunteers through diverse partnerships with churches across the East Bay. The group of churches in attendance spanned denominations, theological divides, and political leanings. Among the many were conservative evangelical churches as well as progressive liberal churches. These churches work together through their partnerships with Project Peace to serve their communities throughout the Bay Area.

David French spoke about the markers of a diverse community, which is what the church seeks to be in the world. Jesus in the book of Acts tells the disciples to go and make disciples of every nation, starting in Jerusalem and spreading to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. The church is not monolithic but is like God, who exists as a unity in diversity: as three distinct persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and One God. Being a Christian doesn’t eliminate difference but rather celebrates a diversity that is held together by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in Jesus.

I was not familiar with David French, but he was introduced as someone “who is an equal opportunity offender.” Although the New York Times columnist is viewed with suspicion by many conservatives, he himself is a conservative, constitutional lawyer. He shared with us that he is a man of deep faith who regularly participates in his Church and a long standing small group that meets at his home. He is a man of faith and conviction who writes about politics and has been known to upset all sides of the aisle.

In his talk and discussion that followed, David French identified two important markers of healthy, diverse communities that stood out to me. I share these with you because we exist in a nation, and in a world, that is deeply polarized. I believe that this division harms our communities, drains our energy, and detracts from our life together. These markers can, I think, help to guide our life together and how we interact with others in our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, or any groups we are a part of that are experiencing the tug and pull of our times.

Truly diverse communities can exist in unity when they are marked by the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Truly diverse communities can exist in unity when they live humbly with one another. People that gravitate or lean toward one extreme can tolerate different opinions, theological interpretations, explanations of a scripture when they possess humility. Groups of people who think the same way about something cannot tolerate difference if humility is not present. Difference is made possible within a community by the presence of humility. I love David French’s simple definition of humility, “being able to admit I might be wrong”. Admitting you may be wrong requires a person to hold their position with conviction yet with an open posture and willingness to engage the other person.

Friends, it is my hope and prayer for EPC that we can be a community whose unity in diversity reflects the image of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who exists as unity in diversity. One of the markers of the season of Lent is self-reflection. I invite you to reflect on where your zeal lies, and whether it is marked by humility. May we be a community that does justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with our God and with one another.
To live this way, we need to be in conversation with one another about the things that matter most. Preaching is often a form of one-way communication, so I encourage you to talk with one another about the sermons you hear. And when something I say makes you scratch your head or makes your hair stand up, I invite you to come talk with me about it. I do not assume that I am always right. Instead, I welcome conversation as together we seek to live faithfully in community, following Jesus.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Patrick