by Rich DuBose
It is unfortunate that certain words or phrases have become associated with negativity. This happens when people (conservative or liberal) turn words into weapons for the sake of inflicting damage upon concepts or ideas they don’t like. To do so requires a twisting of word meanings. I am not a word linguist by any stretch, but I recognize “word abuse” when I see it. There should be Amber-alerts issued when people carry words away for nefarious reasons. *
I love words, and I love that there are words that are beautifully descriptive of God’s character.
Diversity - Defined by Merriam-Webster as “The condition of having or being composed of differing elements : Variety, especially : the inclusion of people of different races, cultures, etc. in a group or organization.”
Because we are made in God’s image, when we look at a wide spectrum of people types, colors and ethnicities in the world, we are looking at the face of God. No one race can represent God because he is all of them combined.
Equality - The definition for equality is succinct: “The quality or state of being equal.” There is no room in God’s creation for certain people to be loved or valued more than others. Even when God chose Israel to carry a message about himself to the world, he didn’t love the Jews more than the Gentiles. Their chosenness was a matter of function, not of value.
At the end of creation week God said that everything he created was good. There were no mistakes; no creatures he wished he hadn’t made.
A Strange Vision
In the book of Acts there’s an interesting story about Peter having a vision while he was napping on a rooftop waiting for his hosts to prepare a meal. In the vision he saw a sheet being lowered from heaven that was filled with animals, snakes and birds, and it was accompanied by a voice that commanded him to arise and eat what he saw. Peter said,
“No, Lord…I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean…But the voice spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’ The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven” (Acts 10:14-16, NLT).
At first glance it seems like this vision is about food, but it isn’t. God cleverly used food as a symbol to illustrate his truth about people. At that time the Jews had strong prejudices against anyone who was not Jewish. They called them Gentiles and believed they were inferior to God’s chosen people—the Jews. God chose the Jewish people as his messengers to tell the world about his plan to save everyone who wanted to be saved, regardless of their nationality. But the Jews got sidetracked into thinking they were more important than everyone else.
As Peter woke up, he puzzled over the visions and what they could mean. Then came a knock on the door, which Peter learned was precipitated by three Gentile men asking for him. Under normal circumstances Peter wouldn’t have spoken, or gone anywhere with them. But Peter’s understanding of God was changing.
“As Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, ‘Three men have come looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them’” (Acts 10:19-20, NLT).
The three men represented the emerging reality that God loved the Gentiles as much as he loved the Jews. A Gentile Roman officer named Cornelius and his friends wanted to learn about Jesus, and God wanted Peter to go meet them.
Notice what Peter said when he finally realized what was happening.
“They [Peter and the men] arrived in Caesarea the following day. Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered his home, Cornelius fell at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter pulled him up and said, ‘Stand up! I’m a human being just like you!’ So they talked together and went inside, where many others were assembled.”
“Peter told them, ‘You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean [which he did with sheet full of animals]. So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me.’” (acts 10:30-35, NLT).
Then Cornelius told Peter of his own vision of “a man in dazzling clothes” who appeared to him and said that God had heard his prayers and had prepared a man named Simon Peter to come to his house to teach him about Jesus.
When Peter heard this, he said, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35, NLT).
The vision of the sheet filled with clean and unclean animals was not about food but about people and racism, and about how God viewed everyone with equal care.
Later, when a group of conservative Jews went to Galatia—a region inhabited by a mix of Celtic tribes and other ethnic groups, and told the Christian believers they had to adopt Jewish customs and be circumcised, Paul wrote a strong letter to the Galatians urging them to ignore what the Jews were saying, “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28, NLT).
Paul’s message to the Galatians was one of equality and that God doesn’t value one ethnicity, class, or gender over another.
Inclusion - The definition for inclusion is comprehensive: “The act or practice of including and accommodating people who have historically been excluded (as because of their race, gender, sexuality, or ability).”
The word Inclusion describes a conscious effort to treat everyone equally. It evokes a sense of empathy and care that no one should be left behind or shunned.
Diversity, equality, and inclusion are defining qualities that differentiate a person’s beliefs from those who are hostile to heaven’s values. Scripture predicts the arrival of “Antichrists” in the end who will espouse hate but call it love. In a letter to Timothy, a fellow believer and follower of Jesus, Paul described what will happen to many Christians right before Jesus returns.
“You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NLT).
The sad thing is, Paul was describing “Christians” who will run out of Christ-likeness. In some circles I don't identify myself as a “Christian" because the label carries too much negative baggage. I just say, “I’m a follower of Jesus.”
The Gold Standard
The “gold standard” for those who embrace God’s kingdom has never changed, and Jesus enunciated it clearly when he said, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12, NLT).
In the final judgement the principle of relational wellness is the criteria that determines who will and will not be trusted with eternal life (Matthew 25:31-46). When reading this passage, one statement dominates all others…“Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.” How we treat others—particularly strangers, the least of these—the powerless, the marginalized, and foreigners, says volumes about us, our values and interests.
Heaven’s ultimate question is who is safe to save? Who will contribute to the joy and happiness of the earth made new without re-infecting it with selfishness? Only those who have allowed Jesus to forgive their sins and heal their deficiencies will have standing with heaven’s court; only those who embrace the principles of diversity, equality and inclusion will be at peace with heaven’s way of life.
Every Nation and Tribe
The book of Revelation describes a coming multi-ethnic gathering that will be unlike any other.
“I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar,
‘Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. They sang, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen’” (Revelation 7:9-12, NLT).
Amen, and amen!
* kidnapping alerts triggered by the highway department in California.
Rich DuBose writes from Northern California |
On the web at: richdubose.com. All Rights Reserved © 2025. Join me on Blue Sky @spiritrenew.bsky.social.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.