Understanding in Unity
Simon Green, played by Ashton Kutcher, is sitting at the dinner table with his girlfriend, Theresa Jones, played by Zoe Saldana, and her family in the 2005 version of the movie, Guess Who. Simon, a white guy, begins telling jokes about black people. The first joke he tells results in everyone at the table laughing, so he is encouraged to tell a second joke. The second joke gets the same response, the third joke gets the same response and the fourth joke gets the same response. Simon then offers a fifth joke that immediately turns the table from a joyful setting to an offensive, angry combative situation!
If you have ever found yourself in a situation where someone crossed a line they didn’t know existed and immediately turned the table from a joyful one to a combative one, this blog is for you!
When it comes to unity within diversity, we must start with prayer and we must remain humble, but we also need to gain some understanding! The old adage that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason rings true when it comes to seeking understanding. The more time that we invest listening to those not like us, the better we will understand their heart, their position and their thinking. If conversations were competitions the scoring would be more along the lines of the scoring system used in golf than what is used in basketball. If conversations were competitions the one who talked the least would win. Unfortunately, too many people see conversations as opportunities to verbally dump all their thoughts, experiences and emotions. While this can obviously be helpful in the right setting with the right timing, the one vomiting their thoughts often loses. The reason that they lose is because at the end of the conversation, they know nothing more than when they began the conversation. However, the person who was listening gained a wealth of understanding (even if it wasn't all valuable🙂 ).
Proverbs chapter 4, verse 7 tells us, "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight." In all of our attempts to gain knowledge, we must make sure that we gain insight (or understanding). It is one thing to have knowledge that comes from a book, a class or some other medium. It is a better thing to understand why and how to apply that knowledge to your life. When it comes to unity in diversity, knowledge without understanding will not be helpful.
It is important to get understanding because we fear what we don't understand. When we don't understand why someone does what they do, fear flings the door wide open to create all sorts of possibilities in our minds for why someone does what they do. If you have ever noticed, those possibilities do not often include positive outcomes. When we live in a circle that only reflects our culture, beliefs and status we become fearful of what is outside our circle. We become afraid of simple things, harmless things and even ridiculous things...such as a man wearing a hoodie.
The disciples that followed Jesus needed some understanding about those outside of their circle too. The disciples were Jewish men, and it is well documented how much the Jewish people and the Samaritan people were at odds. In John chapter 4, Jesus takes His disciples on a journey from Judea to Galilee. John chapter 4, verse 4, gives an interesting detail about this journey. It says, "And he had to pass through Samaria." Judea and Galilee were places populated with Jewish people, and obviously Samaria was populated with Samaritans. Jewish people would not travel through Samaria due to their disdain for Samaritans. If a Jewish person were going to travel from Judea to Galilee, they would travel first to Jericho then come down the Jordan River to avoid Samaria (which is located between Judea and Galilee). This round about route would take Jewish travelers twice as long as the direct route through Samaria, however they refused to travel through Samaria.
Jesus doesn't just bring the disciples through Samaria, but He stops in Sychar and sends the disciples to go into the city to get food. He puts the disciples into a situation where they had to interact with and do business with their enemies. They had to humble themselves and become subject to Samaritans in order to do what Jesus asked them to do.
The disciples finally return to Jesus, only to see Him talking with a Samaritan woman! In John chapter 4, verse 27, we are told that the disciples marveled at Jesus talking with a woman. In verse 28, we read, "So the woman left her water jar and went away into town..." The Samaritan woman had no problem talking with Jesus (a Jewish man) however as soon as the disciples returned she immediately left. She left in such a hurry that she left her water jar! She didn't rush off away from Jesus, she rushed away when she saw the disciples (Jewish men) returning.
There are many lessons in this story, however we need to be aware that Jesus intentionally put His Jewish disciples into situations where they had opportunities to get to know and understand Samaritans. He consistently challenged them to think and act with Heavenly Unity, and stop thinking and acting with Worldly Division.
It is easy to cry, "Can't we all just get along?". There are ways to push our differences to the side and have moments of shallow unity. We may even be able to do this for seasons of shallow unity, or entire relationships may be based on shallow unity. If we want to fulfill Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17, verse 21, we cannot settle for shallow unity. We must go into Samaria, interact with the Samaritans and recognize that Jesus doesn't just sit with you, but He also sits with the Samaritans!
Authentic relationships will help give us the understanding we need to sit at any table without being offensive nor being offended. Authentic relationships will allow us to sit at the table and genuinely enjoy each other's company. Most importantly, authentic relationships will show the world that Jesus is the Son of God!