Kingdom Diversity

In the book of Revelation, we are given the picture of heaven that God imagined from the beginning of time, the heaven that would exist once all things according to the Scriptures were fulfilled. Revelation 7:9-10 says:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’

Classic depiction of the Christian afterlife, right? What hopefully stands out is the multitude from every nation, tribe, and language. With one word, we can sum up what the author describes: Diversity.

Today, the word “diversity” is often synonymous with political agendas, and can make some people cringe or shudder. I don’t believe John’s description of diversity within Revelation carries that sort of modern baggage. Instead, it is what I believe God desires is to represent His cosmic, complex diversity. It suggests that, to the God of heaven, our skin color, nation of origin, native language and culture are beautiful and intentional gifts from Him, details of our personhood that we should not throw away. At the same time, I believe the diversity God desires goes far deeper than the color of our skin or the country in which we were raised.

Graduates from the Eastbrook Academy Class of 2021 pose together.

Midwest Culture Shock

I am a graduate of Eastbrook Academy. I attended EBA from K-5 through 12th grade, graduating in 2012 as a member of the school’s third graduating class.

My time at EBA reminds me of the famous short fiction by David Foster Wallace about two young fish meeting an older fish. The elder asks,“Hey youngsters, how’s the water?”The two young fish exchange a look, and one asks the other, “What’s water?”

At Eastbrook Academy, diversity and difference are not only celebrated, they’re accepted as standard. I would call it the school’s greatest strength. It is normal to have friends with a different skin color from yours, living in another zip code, or holding varying opinions on religion or politics or music. My classmates and I didn’t see our differences as a wedge, but rather as a glue. What distinguished us shone brightest in our small community.

After graduating from EBA, I attended college at UW-Madison, transitioning from a class of 12 students to a university of 40,000. Naturally, in a crowd that large, there are people who are different from you. However, at that stage of life, in that big of an environment, it doesn’t come as naturally to be in community with those people. Rather, we tend to seek comfort by gravitat- ing toward people who “look” like us: students with the same major, similar social activities, or the same faith background.

This is tough. Our hearts crave relationships with people like us, yet the God of the universe craves an eternal community made of people from all over the entire globe. What do we do with that?

Redemption of Differences

In a community where everyone is the same, there is no chance for new and enlightening perspectives on ourselves, the world, or God. When everyone is the same, there is no conflict, therefore no chance for humility, repentance, and reconciliation. When everyone is the same, even the connection to and understand- ing of our fallen nature is the same.

In a church of all white congregants, it is much more difficult for us to weep with those who weep in the Black community over police brutality.