But, I’m Open to Diversity

Once Upon a Time

My mother used to tell me about the time she was dating my father, long before I was even a thought. They would arrange their phone calls on Sunday afternoons, specifically during halftime of whatever football game was playing. My mom didn’t really know football but because she wanted to make sure to know when my dad would call, she began to watch games, so she would be ready for his phone call. This arrangement was put in place over fifty years ago.  In that time my mom moved from being loosely aware of football to not being opposed to the game to learning the ins and outs to the point of becoming a fan of the game. 

This is a fun story from my parent’s origins of becoming my parents, but I’d like to use it as an analogy of what it could look like to move from being open to diversity to becoming intentional about diversity.  Mom was open. She probably had friends and family who liked football or even played football at some level. Ultimately, it was her relationship with a man who loved the game that began to change her perspective about football. 

She could have chosen to be indifferent to the game and its inner workings. It would probably be a safe assumption that she was indifferent in the beginning, but then something began to change. Was it the proximity to the game?  Was it seeing engagement in the game from her brothers and father? Was it wanting to be able to talk about the happenings in the game when the phone call came from my father? Lest I leave you in suspense, the main reason she got into football WAS because of her relationship with my father. 

Moving Beyond Openness

Relationship is a key to so many things we experience in our lives. Relationship is vehicle into understanding the experience of others. Not only do we learn more about others, we can also be influenced and changed by their experiences.  It is what moves us from simply being open to being intentional.

When I meet people, or groups of people, who do not have very much exposure to diversity in the beginning, I see this same process take place: open, then curious, then intentional. Remember diversity is more than just one’s ethnicity. Diversity is multifaceted and can be seen in experiences, upbringing, age, and gender just to name a few. Open and authentic relationships that introduce us to the multifaceted nature of those around us changes us.  

In the earlier example of my parents, my mother moved from being open to watching a football game to intentionally watching the game so that her relationship with my father could grow. The intentionality she displayed had ripple effects into my life. The most important being she married the man who would become my father. A fun ripple effect is that I too enjoy football and oddly enough my openness to the game also became more intentional when dating my now husband. 

Think about the relationships in your life – are there facets of diversity that you have become more intentional about because of a particular relationship?  Think about food allergies – if a friend is coming to your home for a meal and they make you aware of their food allergies, you will most certainly be intentional to not have that food item as one of the ingredients of the food you serve and or order for them. 

Inspired Intentionality

Diversity is being highlighted in our society more than ever and there is so much beauty and richness that is being discovered as people are moving from simply being open to becoming intentional. Within the context of church and faith led organizations, we are seeing in the desire to look like heaven. Revelation 7:9 is the Apostle John’s account of what he saw in his vision of heaven.  He saw every tribe, nation, and tongue worshiping Jesus all together. I’ve always found it interesting that John didn’t just recount what he saw by saying he saw a whole lot of people. There was intentionality in his Holy Spirit inspired words to describe the different peoples he saw around the throne of God. 

Becoming Intentional

Becoming intentional regarding diversity of course takes intentionality.  If you want leaders in your church or ministry to be diverse, it will require you to take intentional steps to make that happen. One of those steps is to pray and ask the Lord to bring diversity to your church or ministry.  Another step is to look at the community you are serving. Does your leadership team reflect the people you are serving? If it does not, there is an opportunity to begin to cultivate leaders that can bring diversity (ex. experiences, upbringing, age, gender, ethnicity) to the team you are leading. 

A quick word of caution…in becoming more intentional, beware of inviting people to become part of your leadership team simply for the facet of diversity they would bring. Relationships, genuine and authentic, is a key to learning about other’s experiences.  Through those relationships, you will see the value a person brings to your church or ministry in addition to the perspective they provide. 

Who knows? Your move from openness to intentionality may be the catalyst to some of the  truest “iron sharpening iron” relationships you’ve ever experienced.