Unity | Surprising Flavor Combinations: Unity in and through Our Diversity

One of the best salads I’ve ever eaten was a salad that originated at a restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona called the ORIGINAL CHOPPED SALAD (the salad has a Facebook fan page if you want to look it up!). It consists of an unlikely and surprising combination of ingredients:

• Smoked salmon

• Israeli couscous

• Arugula

• A mix of dried black currants, pepitas and grated asiago cheese

• Freeze-dried corn

• Diced tomatoes

• A buttermilk-pesto dressing

I would never ever think of eating this combination of ingredients! By themselves I don’t think any of them would taste very good, and my initial thought of eating all these together in one bowl was, “Gross!!!” But, let me tell you, one taste and I was hooked. To my amazement, all those flavors tossed together tasted wonderful! There was an unexpected unity in them that I could never have imagined.

In his book, A Fellowship of Differents, Scot McKnight uses the metaphor of a tossed salad to talk about how the church, as God intends it, is a collective of people with a lot of differences (backgrounds, social locations, ethnicities, genders, languages, etc.) coming together with a common transcendent purpose. In our coming together, just like all the flavors in the original chopped salad, the whole is much greater (more beautiful, more tasty, more exciting) than the individual parts.

I love this imagery. God is a culinary artist who has the knowledge and perspective needed to concoct unexpectedly wonderful flavor combinations. The Holy Spirit is God’s appointed chef who puts all the ingredients together however she sees fit. And us humans, in all our variation, are the ingredients God uses to create these amazing flavors.

I think this is also a helpful metaphor for thinking about unity in the church. Unity does not achieve its best flavors in a local church community when one or more of the parts are overpowered by the others. That would be like taking a beautiful mixed salad and dumping ranch all over it! Unity, in a church as God intends it, is achieved through all the parts fully expressing themselves.

This is the kind of unity that we see present in the earliest days of the church. In Acts 2, on the Day of Pentecost, people gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem “from every nation under heaven.” As the Holy Spirit moved in the room, they began to hear sounds and words that they did not expect. They heard the wonders of God declared in their own native languages. Beyond anyone’s wildest predictions, the Holy Spirit determined that God’s wonders would be expressed, not through one person or language, but through many. Although the scene was chaotic (some thought they were all drunk!), it was a scene of profound and deep unity as all of the diversity present was channeled toward a single purpose through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I recently read a book that captured this point well:

“The Spirit of Pentecost works through many tongues and many voices, some of those we would expect and a goodly number of people we might not otherwise include. One Lord, one baptism, one body made up of many different parts. The unity is in the diversity, and it is not for one part to silence either the voice or priorities of the others. The work of God is not ours to control. Where the Spirit works, we must listen.”

Patrick Oden and Peter Goodwin Heltzel, The Dialogic Evangelical Theology of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen: Exploring the Work of God in a Diverse Church and a Pluralistic World (Lanham, MD: Fortress Academic, 2022), 3.

There is a kind of unity that we might be able to achieve by simply avoiding situations, conversations and decisions where we disagree with one another. But this is not the kind of unity that the Spirit of God wants to create. The unity that the Holy Spirit moves us toward is a unity in and through the various expressions of our diversity. It is not a unity we can achieve by playing it safe or keeping things under tight control. It is a unity that only comes to those who willingly enter the risky and uncharted spaces of listening and being together, with new and different people, for the sake of a new kind of community that God wants to create.

I wonder what new and wonderful flavor combinations might the Holy Spirit be preparing for us to enjoy together if we will: 1) make intentionally safe spaces for different people to gather, 2) humbly and confidently testify to the wonders of God through our unique stories, 3) carefully listen to and receive the testimonies of others, and 4) trust that the Holy Spirit is creating something new and wonderful through the whole process beyond what we can imagine?

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About the Author

Aaron is a passionate seeker of God and truth, and he enjoys encouraging others in their own pursuits of the same. He especially likes to think about how God is at work in the most ordinary and mundane aspects of our existence. He loves going on adventures to new places with his wife, Heather, and four kids and his perfect day would involve an excellent cup of coffee (or two!), a hike to somewhere beautiful and serene, and some good conversation over a pint at a warm pub. He currently serves as an adjunct instructor at Portland Seminary and a licensed minister in The Foursquare Church.

Seeing the Other | Not as the Other

Ephesians 4:1-3
Unity in the Body of Christ
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

My youngest child is in a really amazing preschool program. The kids play a lot, they do crafts, and they dance. They are supervised and guided, but given freedom to express their unique, developing character. There are many reasons why I am so grateful for the experience he is having.

I have been lucky to have some really good conversations with his head teacher. She is passionate about education, studies education, observes, contemplates and believes in the natural process of learning. She is a wise, studious, strong and patient person and I have developed a lot of respect for her through our conversations. As a woman of color and a mother, she has been faced with too many unnecessary, ignorant and hurtful situations. I wonder, how can we get her running a diversity program in all schools? How can I play a supportive role? We need to hear from her, our kids need to see her leading.

In preparing myself to write something about “seeing the other”, I came across this study about how being exposed to people of all body shapes and sizes makes us more comfortable around all different body types. Of course. We know we are being mentally trained to prefer “skinny and tall” when we flip through magazines, watch shows, commercials and clothing ads. What then must be happening when we flip though our history books in elementary school and memorize the presidents, the leaders of our country? How do we present this to our youth, to our students? Diversity, or lack of diversity, needs to be addressed. In this era, kids of all ages should be taught about changing this and given history lessons on women of color who have been scientists and astronauts, politicians and great doctors, engineers and writers, film directors and teachers. How do we expect anything to change if we don’t address it head on?

My son’s teacher was asked how she would approach racism in a classroom:
“I talk with individual children, and I later follow up with a group discussion facilitating open ended questions about respect, diversity, tolerance, and a small glimpse of US history.

I have also read picture books that talk about different skin complexions where they are celebrated but have a message of us all being connected as human beings. I teach art projects on skin colors where children can make self portraits using colors that they choose that represents how they see themselves. Or just a small circle time, everybody laying on their tummies, sticking their hands in the middle, and looking at all the shades we are, allowing dialogue to take place of what differences they notice, and why those differences exist.

My favorite preschool book to use with any age is The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. If children as young as two can recognize physical differences, then they are old enough to learn about positive perspectives on skin color (in a developmentally appropriate fashion, of course).”

While it is so important to open hearts and minds as Jesus’ exemplified, we must also be dedicated enough to take the time to listen to "the other" and be humble enough to lift them up into leadership roles so that all our children can grow up with these examples and be naturally comfortable around people of color who really shouldn’t even be seen as “the other”. Truly, those we deem as "other" are our neighbors, our friends and our family. They should more often be our coworkers, our bosses, our teachers, and our role models.

Similar to “seeing the other”, Jesus says “love your neighbor”. Consider this review of what Jesus said about loving our neighbor http://www.christianbiblereference.org/jneighbr.htm :
“In His sermons and parables, Jesus seeks to shock us out of our selfishness and worldliness and create in us a true passion for the welfare of our fellow men, women and children around the world. Universal love is at the very heart of Jesus' teachings; it is God's earthly work for us.

What matters to God is our love for Him and our love for each other. Wealth, power and status count for nothing in the kingdom of God. When we truly love our neighbors, we do our part to make the world a better place, and we find our own fulfillment in life.”

If diversity hasn’t found its way into your daily life, seek it out with love, respect and intention. I assure you, there is no lack of amazing people of color, it is a history that lingers on and presents division in our present day life. Without intention, we will not break the divide. We must ask ourselves, are “wealth, power and status” guiding our actions or inactions? And if “universal love… is God’s earthly work for us” what are we doing to assure that it is spread amongst us all? Furthermore, are we lifting up those who have been held back? Are we supporting those that have been unfairly treated? Are we assuring that our children see “the other” with the heart and love of God? In this present day, I believe it takes more than teaching kindness. If “the other” is not visible, how will we ever see them?

I know my son is growing and developing in such a beautiful way through this preschool program. Additionally, it provides a framework for my son to see the world and acknowledge the beauty in its fullness.

Ephesians 4:15-16
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

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About the Author

Leona is a wife, mother and traveler who is intrigued by how different people live. Her latest project is exploring ways that different walks of life can simplify, in order to live a fulfilling journey.

Seeing the Other | When We Were Young

“Tattoos and no-tattoos can be friends,” my 5-year-old daughter interjects into our small group’s conversation about tattoos on a Tuesday evening.

Yes, I assure her, we can be friends with people who look different from us.

We live in divided and divisive times. We can categorize our neighbors into endless groups. Red states and blue states. Christians and “non-believers.” Protestant and Catholic. Evangelical and mainline Protestant. Blue collar and white collar. Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter.

I met my childhood best friend when she invited me to her sixth birthday party, as we stood together on the steps outside our elementary school. She was friendly and open in that way that only young children can be. I eagerly accepted the invitation and began a friendship that would last through high school and into the early years of college.

She was brown-skinned and I was white. Race wasn’t something we ever talked about, unless she brought it up in a joking way. “I don’t like white people,” she sometimes said, “except you and my mom.” She called herself a Nigerian princess.

I remember lots of sleepovers, Michael Jackson dance contests, endless rounds of Monopoly. I remember playing soccer in the Oregon rain. I remember going to see the Dave Matthews Band play in the Gorge, and the time the WOW Hall advertised our theater troupe on the same poster as a Slick Rick show. I remember writing rap songs for the band we started in third grade, and in college when our drunk friend got locked in a dorm room stairwell overnight. I remember never laughing so much as I did with her.

I don’t remember ever asking my best friend about race, about what it was like to be one of the only brown-skinned kids in our school. Was it hard for her? If it was, she never let me know. Our high school group was a microcosm of diversity for Eugene, with three of my closest friends being ethnic minorities with immigrant parents from Nigeria, Korea, and Mexico.  

Our friendship ended as suddenly and inexplicably as it began, with her one day choosing to stop returning my calls without any falling out or slow drifting away.

In college and beyond, my friendships seem to have become more and more homogenous. We are a 99 percent white, upwardly mobile, advanced degree holding, NPR-listening group of folks. We like to talk about social justice. We have backyard chickens and drink kombucha. We go to church, or used to before becoming disillusioned with organized religion. If we do have tattoos, they are discrete.

I tell myself that my friends are similar to me because I don’t have many opportunities to get to know people who are different. But is that entirely true?

Matthew 5:14-15 (NLT)
“You are the light of the world — like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.” 

It’s certainly easier to be friends with people who share similar backgrounds and interests as ourselves. But Jesus calls us to be a light to the world, something I can’t do if I remain cloistered in my kombucha-drinking, NPR-listening corner of the church. For my part, I want to be more intentional about widening my circle of acquaintances to include more diversity of race, religion, socioeconomic status and sexual orientation. Within the Church as a whole, we also need to do a better job of promoting dialogue between Christians with different political views and scriptural interpretations.

I wish I could go back to the openness of childhood, when it was so easy to make friends with anyone regardless of what they looked like or who their parents were. Fourteen years after my friendship with my Nigerian princess best friend ended, it still hurts to write about her. I wish we could go back to being friends like we used to be, but time has changed us, and we can’t ever go back to that place we stood, two first graders on the steps outside our elementary school, fulfilling Martin Luther King’s dream without even knowing.

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About the Author

Ursula and her husband Spencer have two young children, and their family enjoys playing hide-and-seek and dancing in the living room. She works as a communications and events coordinator with the University of Oregon. You can read more from Ursula at motherbearblog.com.