Diversity and Unity

In 2004, David Goodhart wrote a controversial article entitled ‘The Discomfort of Strangers’ in Prospect magazine. The gist of the argument was that the United Kingdom was becoming so diverse that it was losing any united centre. He stated that the unity that prevailed in 1939, at the outbreak of war, was disappearing fast. Now that the Prime Minister has put Britain on a ‘war footing’ we might find out if this is correct. Twenty years on his observations are more noticeable and there are frequent reports of incidents revealing we have few aspects of contemporary life that unite us.

It was this insight, that inspired me, as a leader of a mission in Europe, to emphasise preaching the gospel as the main hope for a continent that pines for an invisible unity. In the absence of values about which we can be united, we find that the gospel is the definitive answer to the problem because believers, from every tribe and nation, are united together in the work and person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Diversity is something that we prize if there is a centre to unite around, it is dangerous and sectarian if there is no centre.

We all benefit from the insights and the teaching of those from a different culture as we experience the richness of the depth of scripture. We all enjoy immediate access to the fellowship of believers whenever we visit a church in another culture. We are united in Christ. All this illustrates the importance of intercultural studies for the church in the UK.

It was disappointing to see only a few people sign up for our recent course Intercultural Approach to Mission training, because this is an issue that affects us all in each church in the country as we welcome believers from afar. We hope to be able to share the insights we learned during this course in another format so that others will be able to gain value from it.

We need a greater understanding of the richness of diversity in the Christian community, but it is only rich if we remain centred on the gospel and exalting our Saviour.