Different But Not Definitive (Friday Devotional)

“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

- Galatians 3:27-28

If you were to see them right next to one another, a California redwood and a crepe myrtle would seem to have about as much in common as an elephant and an airplane. The top of the redwood is hundreds of feet beyond your reach; the crepe myrtle’s top can be reached by standing on your tiptoes. The rough, thick bark of a redwood is spongy to the touch; the crepe myrtle’s bark is so thin and papery that it routinely peels off, leaving branches so smooth they seem sanded down. And while the redwood bears simple evergreen needles, crepe myrtles are distinguished by their bright, beautiful flowers that bloom every summer.

The redwood and the crepe myrtle are a study in contrast, with few characteristics you could point to as similar, much less identical. But despite all their differences in size and shape, ultimately both are still trees. Both start as seeds, both grow through photosynthesis, both have roots and trunks and branches. You may be able to count one thousand distinguishing features when you see a redwood and a crepe myrtle side by side, but at the most basic level, you are still looking at two trees. Their differences highlight the beautiful diversity of trees; they do not make one any less a tree than the other.

Just like with the redwood and the crepe myrtle, we tend to quickly identify the differences between two people. He’s black, she white. He’s a Republican, she’s a Democrat. He’s got a PhD, she’s got a GED. He’s rich, she’s poor. These differences are important; they remind us of the uniqueness of each individual. But in an age of polarization, those differences not only distinguish us from one another, they divide us. To be different is to be alien, to be an outsider is to be an enemy.

This is a trap the church cannot and must not fall into, because despite all the diversity present in God’s people, all believers are ultimately one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 says, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female”—in other words, those differences which divide us are rendered ultimately irrelevant in Christ. They do not vanish the moment you become a Christian, they are simply overruled by what matters most, faith in Christ.

We can look at a redwood and a crepe myrtle and, despite all their differences, still see two trees, inextricably grouped together—as Christians, we must be able to do the same with one another, recognizing our differences while also acknowledging that they are never as definitive as what unites us. In a time when it is fashionable to hunker down with the group where you feel most comfortable and ignore or mock all the other groups, may the church reject niche Christianity and instead embrace that what binds us together is far more powerful, far more beautiful, and far more definitive than what pushes us apart.