My dear friend, Glenn Pakiam, reading to two of his children.
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Lions and tigers and bears, …., and giraffes, mice, turtles—so much diversity from the artist who created all.
Red hair, blue eyes, tan skin, tall, short, loud, quiet, diversity is a part of the expression of the heart of God who sparkles through every part of His intentional creativity.
Diversity is a hot topic in our culture today and brings up all sorts of fire. Yet, as Nathan and I began to write this book, we realized that a part of our heart was to inspire and encourage parents to lay a foundation of unconditional love and acceptance for all people, all cultures, all color of skin, all backgrounds as a part of the beginning of shaping children’s value system.
In Sunday school years, many of us sang heartily, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
Yet, in the historical arena of wars, religions, and politics create voices of prejudice and hostility in our minds. Many evangelical believers even justify cultivating prejudice in their values. Yet, Jesus is the one who said, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” All the world, no exceptions.
Clay and I had the privilege of being one of the staff couples in Vienna, Austria in an International Chapel there. It was no unusual for us to have people from 40 different countries on a Sunday morning. We had friends from Asia, India, Africa, Europe, Iraq, Iran, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and so many more. We all stretched to understand and imagine one another’s back ground, to grow stronger because of the influence our many friends from many cultures had on us.
Once I was returning from a mission trip where I had spoken in hidden places in the desert where Christianity was outlawed just out of Dubai in the desert. I was surrounded by sheiks who would not acknowledge me as a woman. On to Macedonia, a poor muslim country where women and children had little to eat. On to speak in Catholic Poland where many were hungry for Bible teaching in a country that had previously outlawed Bibles and where people longed for Bible teachers. As I was training through Germany when it was all over, I realized that God heard the prayers of all of these in each of their languages and that He was not partial to English or Americans. When I looked at the context of each person that Christ had died for, I better understood HIs heart.
One of the things I loved about living in Oxford was being surrounded by so many different languages, cultures, backgrounds and peoples. Joy and I talked about being charitable to all, taking time to listen to their stories to understand and sympathize with their faith and values by knowing more about their context.
We will never penetrate secular culture with the love of Christ is we do not first extend the love and sympathy of Christ through our own lives, so that others may understand His invitation.
His creation is full of diversity—tall and short, loud and quiet, creative and logical, each fingerprint and DNA unique. God loves and died for all people, every single person. If we are going to obey his mandate for the world to know we are HIs disciples by our love, then it means we need to teach, model and extend that love to all people, everywhere. Prejudice is not from God. Supernatural love crosses barriers, and is a part of His heart. It is why he extolled the brave faith of a Roman guard, not accepted by the Jewish culture. He lifted up a Samaritan, one of a different culture and skin color than that of the Jewish Pharisees he was relating the story of the Good Samaritan.
If we want our children to push through differences of people, for the sake of the love of Christ, we must teach them the value of loving those who are different than us and then model it in our words and behavior.
I do not want to offend anyone in opening this subject,.but do hope you will enjoy our podcast today and the importance of having a heart, and seeing inside of all of those God brings into your life. And I pray you and your children will have the privilege of reaching out to share the love of Christ with them.
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