1 Cor. 12:12-26
A reading from the Inclusion Hub by Lisa Dunn
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) encompasses the symbiotic relationship, philosophy and culture of acknowledging, embracing, supporting, and accepting those of all racial, sexual, gender, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, among other differentiators.
Diversity: Acknowledges all the ways people differ: race, sex, gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, religious beliefs, and more.
Inclusion: Is about diversity in practice. It’s the act of welcoming, supporting, respecting, and valuing all individuals and groups.
Equity: Is often used interchangeably with equality, but there’s a core difference: Where equality is a system in which each individual is offered the same opportunities regardless of circumstance, equity distributes resources based on needs. We live in a disproportionate society, and equity tries to correct its imbalance by creating more opportunities for people who have historically had less access.
Belonging: Infers that an equitable structure is in place and functioning to make all people, no matter their differences, feel welcome. When you reach for equity, you’re striving for a system that benefits everyone, no matter their circumstance. Belonging is when this not only works, but no one feels as if their inclusion is questioned. Equity, diversity, and inclusion all mean different things, but interact with and rely on one another. Equity is the goal of diversity and inclusion.
Justice: Is the mission of equity, in which an equitable system works so well it eventually eliminates the systemic problems driving the need for the latter. In other words, everything is fairly and evenly distributed to people no matter their race, gender, physical ability, or other personal circumstances. Where D&I focuses on making all groups feel welcome, DEI also addresses the systemic ways access to things—such as education, food, the web, and more—are unequally distributed.
Sermon
Our scripture today is a clear case for the importance of today’s word: diversity. Each person is unique and important. It takes all of us for the community to be whole. The apostle Paul refers to the people who followed Jesus as the community, but it is just as true that it can apply to all people – the whole human community.
We’re used to narrowing our understanding of community. Last night’s hockey game identified the Central High fans and the Red River fans. Either way, the wider Grand Forks community wins. Americans are notorious for thinking we’re exceptional, caused in part by our history and by our geography, an ocean or more away from much of the rest of the world. When we became more active with Global Friends, we soon met people who had come from far places and learned that we had so much in common. Plus we learned that those with different life experiences added to the goodness of our community. We’re better together!
Our mission this season is to describe the world at its best, and diversity is one of the descriptors we’ve chosen. In choosing that, we stand up to some of our neighbors who don’t see it that way. Part of our government is targeting diversity as a negative attribute these days. Our scripture lesson gives us a way to counter that idea. So does our second reading, taken from a website that explains the importance of diversity, along with equity and inclusion. DEI has been banned from official communications, but we can still advocate for its importance. I can’t add much to the reading in describing why we all benefit from welcoming diversity, advocating for equity, and including everyone. To say that we live in a system that has benefitted some more than others isn’t meant to make us feel guilt; it’s an opportunity to make corrections and do better going forward. It’s possible to see DEI programs as benefitting everyone, not punishing those who were once advantaged.
I find it interesting that the letters DEI spell the Latin name for God. DEI isn’t a substitute for God, but it’s an attitude that God would approve of – having created diversity and valuing every part of life equally. Sometimes I’m tempted to hang a big banner on every church that reads “Imago Dei” (in the image of God) to remind the world that God recognizes each and every one as being part of God’sself, of the whole.
When we watch current events or listen to the partisan conversation that fills our airways, we see what happens when we forget that every person is made in God’s image. We can’t see God in one another and still approve of warehousing immigrant detainees or bombing folks from other countries. I think we’re struggling to know how to stand up for the rights of our neighbors – those who look and live like us and those who don’t. It’s more complicated than just shouting back, “Thou shalt not…” People who agree with us matter and so do all those folks who don’t agree. If our goal is to create a world that reflects God’s vision more closely we have to advocate for what we think is right, but we have to do it in a spirit of love and openness. We need both backbone and humility, and that’s what one of my granddaughters used to call “pretty tricky.”
My hope for this series is that we’ll find positive energy in describing what we believe life can be, not just longer lists of what’s going wrong. But keeping that positive energy isn’t easy. It seems like we’re all carrying heavy loads just now. Aside from the fact that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, there’s the daily stuff we all deal with. Friends, family, personally there’s the health stuff and the job stuff and the family stuff. We’re a pretty small group and yet the heaviness of what we’re facing is real. I was thinking about that this week when another “word” came to me. I share it with you, hoping it’s as helpful to you as it was to me. That word is cherished. In a time when it’s understandable to feel dumped on and a little unloved, God says to us, “You are cherished.” Not only loved but loved because of who you are and how you live. Loved because you are you.
I bring you that word in the context of diversity, because it seems that’s how God sees us and is asking us to see one another – cherished. In all our diversity of color and culture, we are good – loved beyond imagining. When we see one another through the eyes of God’s love, it becomes much easier to value both our similarities and our differences, and to ask every person to treat others from that perspective. We can disagree about our preferences – language, food, recreation, style – but God has told us we have equal value. God hasn’t just accepted each of us, but actually cherished each and every one. That may be the entry point for our doing the same.
I wonder how you have come to value diversity. What benefits do you see in the rich variety of the world? How have you learned to love your neighbor?