When I was in elementary school, we began the day by standing and facing the flag, which stood in a corner of the room. We placed our hands over our hearts and repeated together the Pledge of Allegiance. You remember how it goes: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Through the years the strength of our country has been just that. Not that we were simply one nation, but that we were one nation, indivisible. At one time in our history there were circumstances that, if not dealt with, would have fractured our country into at least two parts. I say at least two parts because, had the Confederate states been allowed to proceed to maintain their own nation, who knows how many nations might have finally been brought into being on this continent in the area that is now occupied by the United States of America. And so it has been a great blessing and strength that to this day we have been one nation, under God, indivisible.

Even though we are one nation, under God, indivisible, it must be recognized that this country is made up of diverse--that is to say different--peoples. This country is probably one of the more diverse in the world when it comes to completely different ethnic groups. It has become home to representatives from nearly if not every nation on earth. As a country we have an advantage that culturally is a disadvantage, but nevertheless, is part of the cement that holds us together, and that is we have a common language, which of course is English. Though we are different cultures and ethnic groups, the cement that has held our common culture together is our language.

I have lived in a part of the world where there were at least 250 different languages and dialects. In those days there were, from time to time, language riots. I never knew first hand how important it was to speak the same language until I lived outside my own language area. By the way, someone has said that the greatest compliment that you pay someone is to learn their language. It was interesting to note that, where so many languages are spoken, English is often considered a neutral language. So living and working there was not as difficult as one might expect.

We later moved to South America. I had studied Spanish in high school and had even been sent to an intensive language class before we went to Chile. Still, I was not prepared for the cultural shock of landing in a country and being barely able to communicate with the people. In some parts of the world things are not so difficult, because the English language is widely spoken. But in other countries, one can find getting around much more difficult.

One day I was in downtown Santiago, which is the capital city of Chile. I don't remember how long we had been there. Like in most large cities there were people everywhere on the streets. I remember looking at them and thinking, Surely these people are putting me on. Surely somewhere deep down inside they speak English, too. But it was not so. Since it was impossible for me to teach them all English, I had to break down and decide that, if I were going to live there, I had to learn the language.

When an adult learns a foreign language, they tend to memorize it word by word. That means, that if you want to say something, you mentally glue the words together one by one until you have a sentence. I remember being on committees. Often I wanted to participate and contribute to the discussion. So as the meeting went along and the others were talking a mile a minute, there I was mentally gluing my sentence together. Finally, when I knew what I wanted to say and was ready to raise my hand, they were off that subject and already talking about something else!

Another thing about learning a new language when you are an adult--you really have to humiliate yourself. The first words a person learns to say are very basic and in some ways child-like: "See the dog." "May I please go?" "The book is on the table." But the only way to do it is to jump in and say it no matter how it comes out. Slowly, but surely, with practice, it begins to come. As they say, practice makes perfect. I used to pray, "O God, You are the One who confused the languages. Couldn't You just say the word and reverse that for me just this one time?"

On one occasion I was talking with a pioneer missionary who went to South America in the early days. He told me that one day, soon after his arrival, he was in the mayor's office of a certain small town. The man was furious at him for trying to change the religion of the people. The mayor had my friend backed up against the wall of the office and was shouting at him, of course, in Spanish. The missionary didn't understand a word he was saying, and so he prayed, "Lord, help me to understand what this man is saying." He told me that in that instant the Lord performed a miracle, and he was able to understand all that the man was saying, and he was fluent from that moment on. The Lord gave Dr. Howell the gift of the Spanish language in a moment. God gave me the gift of Spanish, too, but it took me a year to be able to unwrap it!

And so we are a nation comprised of many peoples with many languages, cultures, and races; yet up until now we have been one nation. There is a word, however, that is being used in recent years to describe us. It is not a new word. We used it before, but not as often. These days it has taken on a new significance. That significance is impacting our nation, and as you will see a little later, it is impacting our church. The word I am referring to is "diversity."

In this country we have always been a diverse people. As I said, we were of many nations, languages, and races. But when people would come here they would soon begin to say with pride that they were simply Americans. In the early days of the last century, when people arrived from Europe, they were often processed through Ellis Island. They say that sometimes if the immigration officer couldn't read a name or pronounce it, he would simply give the person a new name. Even the people themselves would often find that the name they brought from their homeland was easier spelled and pronounced in the native language, and so they would shorten it so that it would be easy to pronounce in English. After all, immigrants were beginning a new life in a new country.

In recent years what was a means to an end is becoming more and more often an end in itself. The means was that we were a diverse people; the end was that we became one nation, under God, indivisible. Of course, we were still who we had been, but over time we took on a new culture and with it a new identity.

This was the way it was, but it is not necessarily the way it is now. Rather than to emphasize our unity, we are putting more and more emphasis on the importance of our diversity. Said another way, we are not emphasizing what makes us the same, but rather we are now emphasizing what makes us different. I recognize that in some ways this is important, yet at the same time I feel that something is happening to us, and if it is not controlled, it could balkanize our country. And because the church is often a mirror of what is happening in the country, it could even dismember the church.

There was the time when we simply referred to ourselves as Americans, but in recent years we now may well refer to ourselves as Asian Americans, African Americans, or Native Americans. This may be the result of a number of things. I happen to know what it is like to be a minority. I have already mentioned that we lived for a number of years in a society where the majority was of another race and still more years in a society where the majority was of another language.

As a result, I recognize that it is important, even indispensable, that the majority of members in a society make provisions and laws that respect and protect the rights and needs of the minorities within their populations. In this country we do have laws that protect and respect our diversity, but in recent years we are carrying diversity several steps further. We are not just recognizing the diversity of culture, race, or language and religion, but we are pointing out the diversity of gender, of sexual preference, of marital status, and even generational differences. Again, I would like to repeat that diversity is reality. We are different one from another. To deny diversity or to try to suppress it is not an option.

The purpose of this sermon is not whether or not we should admit diversity or if we should respect diversity, but rather whether or not we should emphasize diversity at the expense of unity. To put it in plain language, the question is: Shall we dwell on that which makes us different or shall we seek to find that which we have in common? To correctly answer this question is important in building and maintaining the strength of a nation, but it is indispensable for the mission, if not the very existence, of the church.

We used to say with pride and even gratefulness that a person who traveled around the world could visit any Seventh-day Adventist church and find they were all the same. It would be safe to say that in more and more instances this is no longer true. Though we still have many things in common, in many places the hallmarks that once identified us are being painted out, and in certain places there are even attempts to remodel the church as we have known it.

While the country talks about diversity, so in the church we talk about diversity. But the implications of diversity in the church have brought with it another word that is to some extent disturbing, and that is the word "pluralism." If diversity means that the church is made up of gender, race, language, and cultural and generational differences, then pluralism implies that not only are we different in those kinds of ways, but that the time has come in which we may be different in our beliefs and values.

I am sure you are aware that beliefs and value systems are to a church what the Constitution is to this country. A country cannot endure without a system of laws, which are based on its Constitution, and a church cannot endure whose membership is inclined to believe whatever seems to fit each particular perspective.

Our church was established with unique doctrines. It was these doctrines that made us different from the churches from which we originated. To be a Seventh-day Adventist was to be different from the rest. But becoming a member of the church was a personal decision; a person was not forced into it. In fact, those interested were given a series of studies which clearly outlined what it means to be a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. If a person discovered they couldn't buy into the fundamental beliefs of this church, they simply didn't become a member, and that was that.

That is what made it great to be a member of the church. Though we were diverse in the religious backgrounds from which we had come, though we represented different cultures, languages, and races, becoming an Adventist was more than just joining another church; it was actually learning a new language and beginning to live a new culture. People have told me that in times past you could almost recognize an Adventist by the way they looked and acted. There was almost something about their countenance that made them stand out from the society at large.

I am not sure to what extent this may be true today. It would probably be safe to say that generally there is less and less distinction between the average Adventist and the average person on the street.

I believe this is the result of what happens when we begin to emphasize the part and no longer the whole. To put it more clearly, I believe this is what happens when we begin to emphasize what makes us different rather than emphasizing what we have in common.

I have been married to my wife for forty years. I will have to confess to you that even after forty years my wife and I still have irreconcilable differences. One of them is that she prefers rice and I prefer potatoes. I am sure there is nothing I can do to change that. To try to get her to like potatoes as I do would mean to fight every day, and the issue of rice and potatoes could ignite a fire that could even put our marriage at risk.

The point I want to make is that, although my wife and I are diverse in many ways, the union we have developed during these forty years is not unity in diversity, but rather unity in spite of diversity. Did you capture that? I am convinced that we are shooting ourselves in the head if we continue to emphasize our diversity the way we have been doing in recent years.

Though the body is made up of many parts, the hand is not the body, neither is the leg nor the eye. Yet the hand and the eye are necessary if the body is to be complete. The issue is not that the body should ignore the hand or that the hand demand that the body care for it; the issue arises when the hand thinks only of its own interests and forms an alliance with all the other hands. The hands then become what we would call a special interest group. No longer do they think of the best interest of the body, but only of the best interest of the hands.

This, of course, is ultimately ridiculous, because separate from the body the hand cannot exist. The implications are obvious. The body of Christ is the church. Of course, we are all different. The Scripture tells us in Romans 12:3-5, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."

What these texts say is not the perspective of society and, unfortunately, in some places is not the perspective of some of the members of the church either. It is almost as if the church is dividing itself into special interest groups that then begin vying for position and available resources.

The trend is to do more and more for fewer and fewer. It is understandable that society would work this way. This is because society is about politics, but the Scriptures tell us that the church is not to use the society as its model. The Apostle Paul in writing to the church in Corinth said, "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?"

We could paraphrase the text so that it would read, "For you are using worldly political models. You are competing with each other. This is not the way that spiritual people are to be. For when one group represents itself as being first and foremost of a particular race, or culture, or gender, or even of a particular generation, this is like the politics of the world and is not to be the spirit of the body of Christ."

Friends, the unity of the church is an important part of what the gospel is all about. Listen to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21, "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

The rebellion in heaven was about division; the gospel is about restoring unity. Listen to these other texts:

Psalms 133:1: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"

Ephesians 4:3: "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Ephesians 4:13: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"

Acts 1:14: "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren."

Acts 2:1: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."

I am not saying that the church has no unity. Yet I think that if we are honest with ourselves, we are increasingly united in the sense that we are agreeing to disagree. It is now OK to do your own thing. There are now agendized groups in the church whose worldview is "us, we, ours, me, myself and I." It seems as though the church as a whole is being taught that we must not judge anybody or anything, and that if we are to be truly compassionate, then the will of the agendized part must be done no matter what effect it will have in the long run on the well-being of the whole body of Christ.

Some of us seem to have forgotten what has been written in Galatians 3:27-28: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

There must be an answer that is in harmony with the will of God. Consider this: The body of Christ should be concerned with each individual part of the church. On the other hand, each individual part of the church should not think only of itself, but rather of the well-being of the body. I believe here is where we have gotten off the track. If I follow the way things are going now, I would think only of myself and my group, and I expect everyone else to do the same.

We tend more and more to see things from a political perspective. Politics is opportunistic and self-serving. Even when we choose leaders for the church we are inclined to do it on the basis of representation. I have not yet found any Biblical text that recommends we choose committees based on gender, race, postal address, or age. What I have found are texts that establish the criteria for leadership within the church, and taken as a whole they tend to be overwhelmingly based on spiritual considerations.

The members of the committees that govern our churches and organizations should not be chosen because they live in a particular part of the conference or because they represent one group or another. The criteria that Scripture says should be the qualifications of leaders is their spiritual development and godly characters. It is possible for a person to have political and organizational skills and not be born again.

The other day I passed a church marquee that announced the sermon title for the next Sabbath. The sermon was titled, "Harmony in Divergence." I didn't get to hear the sermon, but it reminded me of a video I saw once in which the members of the church were being compared to an orchestra. Each instrument in the orchestra was different, but they were playing harmonically. It could be said that they were playing the same song.

Using the comparison of the church to an orchestra, it could be said that currently we seem to be in a time in which one instrument is trying to see if it can play louder than the others or is insisting that it be better represented in the music that is being played. I am not a musician, but I don't think I am wrong when I say that each instrument, though it brings its own sound to the orchestra, must be tuned to the other instruments. The middle C must be the same for the oboe, the flute, the trumpet, and the violin.

As we use the orchestra as an illustration of the church, it is important we realize that each instrument is not only tuned to all the rest and playing the same song, but it is doing so under the direction of the conductor. Though the orchestra is diverse, (indeed, to be able to perform beautiful music, it must be), each instrument is significant only as it plays together with the other instruments the same music under the direction of the conductor.

The Scripture is clear that, for members of the church, Christ is the head of us all. Colossians 1:13-18 says, "Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through Him, and unto Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence."

This text is foundational to the church in our pursuit of unity. It is teaching that unity in the church will only be possible as we are united in Christ. We are diverse and we will always be. We cannot be united in our diversity, but in spite of our diversity; and that unity will not be based on compromise or consensus, but is in Christ though His Word.

I believe that it is very untimely and even inappropriate for us at this stage in the earth's history to be emphasizing our differences. Our differences separate us. We cannot be united in our differences. The only hope we have as a church and as individuals is that we be united in Christ. And when we say united in Christ, we are not talking about Christ as we understand Him.

This is another problem we face, and that is it is not impossible that, though we speak of being followers of Christ, it is possible we may not be talking about the same Christ. This is why I am not comfortable when I hear people say, "My God is this way" or "My God is that way," or "My God wants me to do this or to do that." Friends, though our God is indeed a personal God, He is not a private God. He is not only the God for me and mine, but for all the universe. There is only one true God. Because of this it would be better for us to refer to Him not as "my God," but as "our God." Jesus Himself taught us to pray, "Our Father, which art in heaven." We must expand our thinking outside ourselves. The church of the living God is not about me, but about us.

There is only one God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. These are God, not because you and I have declared it so, but rather because it is so, and because this truth has been revealed to us in the Holy Bible. Therefore, we need to understand that though I may have a concept of God that I consider to be uniquely mine, I run the risk of worshipping a God that doesn't exist unless He is the God that has been revealed in the Bible.

The Devil's strategy is to divide and conquer. What seems to be caring and compassionate in today's society, and even in the church, can end up breaking us up as a body. This is no time to emphasize our differences, but it is time we go to God's Word and root and ground ourselves in a "Thus saith the Lord." Our unity must be in Christ as revealed in His Word. Unity that is based on consensus and compromise among agonized special-interest groups is not the unity that Christ prayed for when He prayed that we might be one as He and His Father are one.

The Scripture asks, "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" That doesn't mean unless they agree to disagree or agree that they will be different. A football team that does not agree cannot play together. Even a marriage where the spouses disagree will not long endure. How much more can we as a church endure if we have now decided that anything goes, and whatever a person believes is true to them, or that the youth can do one thing, the women another, and those who speak a certain language or have a different culture can do something else.

I cannot imagine that the call to diversity is meant to be a call to weaken the church, but I am convinced that the emphasis we are giving to diversity is ill advised at this time. The issue that confronts the church at this time is not whether or not my group or your group is in charge, but rather whether or not we recognize that Jesus is in charge and will we submit ourselves to His Lordship, which is not something I dream up in my head, but as revealed in His Word.

I believe that in the past the unity of the church had a lot more to do with loyalty to the church than loyalty to Christ. Times have changed. We now live in a selfish society in which no one is loyal to anyone or anything that is not in their own selfish interest. Therefore, we must transfer our loyalty from things having to do with each other, even, if you please, the church. We must transfer our loyalty to God alone and His Word. This is not risky. This will not weaken the church.

If we will do this, we will find that as we get closer to Christ as revealed in His Word, we will be closer to each other than we ever have been before, and it will not be for the selfish, agendized reasons that may have prevailed in the past.

As we move as individuals toward the center, which is Christ and His Word, it will not mean that doctrine will become unimportant, nor will it mean that everyone will be free to believe whatever we want. The Bible is about doctrine, and as we get closer to Christ and to His Word, we will not get further away doctrinally speaking, but even closer together in the fundamental and foundational doctrines that are indispensable to the Christian faith.

I suspect that the call for diversity and pluralism could well be a hole in the basket that is meant to carry the last warning message to the world. Unless this hole is stopped, the message that God meant for us to share with the world could leak out, and we could well fail in doing what God has called on us to do.

Though God will make sure this does not happen, the Devil will try and is trying with all his might to make it happen. It is a sobering thought that the great controversy issues are being played out within the context of not just the church and the world, but within the church itself. The last thing the Devil wants is for the message that God gave to this church to prepare His people in all the churches for His soon coming to have the effect it was meant to have. His purpose is to destroy it, and if not destroy it, then to dilute it with error so that it fails to do what it is supposed to do.

Of course, truth is eternal. Truth will stand and it will triumph. The issue is whether or not we stand and triumph in Christ. Jesus is coming again to take His church to heaven. The word "church" connotes that He is going to take more than one. We must understand that, although Jesus died for me, He also died for everyone else; although He is coming to save me, He is coming to save lots of others, too. The point is, we are not going to heaven alone.

Heaven is a society. In this life societies war against each other. Even within the society there is struggle and strife between the members. These are all characteristics that do not exist in heaven. When Satan tried to form a special interest group in heaven, there was war and he was thrown out.

As we prepare for the society of heaven, we must not only learn to get along with each other, we must actually become one. Though we are not the same, we must be complimentary and supportive of the whole. Those within the church who are trying to dominate the church or change the church to fit their own world-view are at odds with the principle on which the church as the body of Christ is founded.

The church is not perfect, but before Jesus comes He has committed Himself to finish the work within the church that He began at Pentecost. By the Holy Spirit the church will be perfected. His prayer was not answered that the cup of death be taken from Him, but His prayer will definitely be answered which He prayed that we might be one as He and His father are one. His church that is alive when He comes will be diverse in its parts, but the world will not marvel at its diversity, but rather it will marvel at its unity.

I am glad there is nothing in God's creation that is exactly the same as anything else. Our diversity and differences were created to make us one, for there is no single component of God's creation that is sufficient in itself, but what must depend upon all the rest of creation.

There can be no doubt that Satan is trying to exploit our differences. He is trying to divide us so that he can conquer us. Though we have permanent differences, we do have one thing in common, and that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Word. We must not celebrate our differences, but rather we must celebrate the unity we have in Him who is our head, yea, in Him who is our life and our all, for in Him we live and move and have our being.

To Him and to Him alone be glory in the church, now and forever more, Amen and Amen.