Celebrating Diversity

Daily Byte

Several weeks ago, our church held a holiday club entitled, “Crossing Borders: Passport to the Promised Land!” With the World Cup in town, we wanted to teach the children about the fantastic diversity across the world and how we can all come together as one. Throughout the week we played games, sang songs, and crafted musical instruments from all over the world.

On Friday, our theme was “God celebrates our diversity!” and we shared the story of Pentecost with the children. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended and tongues of fire rested on the disciples’ heads. The disciples were given new ability to proclaim the gospel in all different languages. Ever since the Tower of Babel, language had divided people, but at Pentecost the gift of language was given in order to unite people. Pentecost is a celebration of the diversity of languages and peoples, a reminder that God’s love may be understood by all.

At the end of Friday, we closed the holiday club with a talent show, the likes of which I had never seen before. About thirty children signed up as individuals or teams, creating twenty rather unusual acts. Two boys brought in their remote control cars, and sent them zooming up and down the aisles of the church! Some of the leaders choreographed a dance with two little girls to the World Cup song. Several seven-year-old boys showed off their “soccer skills,” and the soccer balls went flying around the sanctuary! The littlest boy of them all — six years old — did a single cartwheel as his talent, while all the children cheered! There was piano, interpretive dancing, juggling, drama, and singing. One boy even stood on his head for thirty-seconds, and walked all the way to the back of the sanctuary on his head! Unusual and incredible talents were simply coming out of the woodwork! At the end, all the children came to the front, raised their voices and stomped their feet to the song “Jabulani, Africa.”

Many people might not have appreciated the last-minute, makeshift talent show, but for those who had eyes to see, the show was spectacular! The talent show was a perfect illustration of the daily theme: “God celebrates our diversity.” I never suspected that the children would each have such marvelous gifts to share with the church. Even though some of them seemed a bit odd, they all came together to form fantastic celebration of diversity.

What are your unique gifts, skills, passions and interests? There is room in God’s talent show for all of them—no matter how quirky they might be. God has uniquely created us all, and God celebrates our diversity.

Prayer

Creator God, You have fearfully and wonderfully made me with specific gifts, passions, and quirks. Thank you for the diversity on this earth—for brothers and sisters who are both similar and different from myself. I pray that you teach me to appreciate the diversity around me, and especially to love and embrace other people. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ who binds us all together as one. Amen.

Scripture

Acts 2:1-11

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’