Difference is the biblical normal. Community is not about conformity toward sameness. It is according to popular author, Scot McKnight, a “fellowship of differents.” Using the metaphor of a salad bowl, McKnight argues passionately that the Church ought to look like a “salad” of different tastes, different ingredients, and different mixes. In fact, the Church is “God’s world changing social experiment” for bringing all sorts of different people together. Differences are not to be despised but welcomed. Alternatives should be celebrated. This refers to not only gender or ethnicities but also status changes like widows and widowers. In order to facilitate the fellowship of differences, McKnight proposes six ideas to keep different people together.

The first is “grace” via the gospel of yes. For if God says YES to us with such emphasis, why should any of us do any less? In Christ, through the Holy Spirit, we have been promised God’s yes over and over again. Through grace, we have been offered both a “place and a power.” A “place” is in terms of an identity to be able to sit at the same table with God and fellow believers. A “power” is in terms of overcoming all kinds of odds and differences in order to be united as one people. Through grace, we turn from “God-fighters into God-defenders; Jesus-haters into Jesus-lovers; and Spirit-resisters into Spirit-listeners.”

Source: Conrad Rap, booksaint.blogspot.com