The Beauty of Heaven

This essay was featured in a Children's Ministry book entitled "Stronger" (edited by Tina Houser; found on Amazon HERE). The goal was to encourage Children's Ministry leaders to help all kids feel welcome by facilitating a diverse setting.

---

How Diversity Honors God

During Spring Break of my junior year of high school, I went on a school-sponsored trip to France and Germany. One day, our tour guide gave us some free time to wander around a quaint, little town in Germany. My friends and I meandered from shop to shop repeating the few German phrases we knew and enjoying the afternoon. At some point, I realized that my friends were nowhere to be seen. (I don't totally remember how this happened, but I'm pretty sure my "friends" ditched me.) Trying not to panic, I stepped out of the shop and looked for them on the street. I checked all of the nearby stores--my friends were gone. Increasingly frantic, I decided to return to the bus, where we were supposed to meet at the specified time. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that I had no idea where the bus was located. I have a distinct memory of jogging down the street, smiling to avoid looking worried (as if a crazy, grinning foreigner jogging in blue jeans is the epitome of composure). As I prayed, I brainstormed ways to act out the phrase, “Help, my friends deserted me and I’m looking for a big bus!” I had no cell phone on me and had no way to get in touch with our tour guide or my teachers. Aside from excellent miming skills, I had no way to communicate with any store owners or even law enforcement. I was completely on my own.

In a time when I was most vulnerable, I didn't know where to turn. In a time when I was most desperate, I had to keep my desperation to myself. In a time where I was most confused, there was nobody who understood me.

This is why diversity is so important in children’s ministry. We have the opportunity to serve kids in some of their most impressionable times--when they’re beginning to discover their own identity. All metaphors or illustrations break down, and mine does quickly because I cannot claim to understand the difficulties faced by people in true minority situations. My moment of panic is incomparable to the lifetime of struggles they face. But maybe you can relate. Maybe there was a time you knew you didn’t belong. And in that moment, you got an ever-so-small glimpse at what some kids might feel in our ministries.

Your church likely has kids who come from all different kinds of backgrounds. How can you minister to all of them and show them that they belong? In this chapter we will explore what diversity is, why it is important in children’s ministry, and things we can do to improve diversity in our own churches.

What is Diversity?

Diversity is, simply, a variety. In terms of social diversity, it describes a group comprised of people from different cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, and experiences. Diversity is not something that passively occurs--it takes concerted effort. It does not “just happen.”

Perhaps when you read the word diversity your first thought was racial or ethnic diversity. Nowadays in American culture, this is an important topic of discussion. In fact, ethnic diversity is an area in which the American Church (including my church) has a lot of work to do. The goal of racial or ethnic diversity is not to homogenize all people groups to behave the same way. It is to incorporate all the experiences, perspectives, and ideas of different ethnicities to benefit the whole Body of Christ.

In children’s ministry, gender diversity is also critical, but the issues we face are the opposite of what most other organizations face. If you have too many males serving in your children’s ministry, please raise your hand. Oh, nobody? No children’s ministry I’ve been a part of has too much testosterone. At first glance, this might seem like a minor issue. However, this is something we must take seriously. Yes, kids need to learn from women, but they also need to learn from men. Kids benefit from seeing the qualities of God displayed by both genders. Picture your fourth and fifth-grade boys. Do they see men volunteering, worshipping, and teaching? Are they being shown what it means to be a Christian man? Picture your young girls. Do they have an example of what a godly man should look and act like? There are a lot of worldly messages being given to young kids about what a man should be, and many of those messages are alarming. We need to show our kids what Christian adults look like, both men and women.

Diversity can also refer to age. Those who are older than us have wisdom and experience that are infinitely valuable. I’m a young pastor, so sometimes I think I know the coolest, most innovative ways to do things. Admittedly, I can have tunnel vision. I ask a lot of questions about how to improve, like, “How can we do this better?” “What would make this cooler?” “What’s the freshest way to accomplish this task?” However, I have benefited greatly from veteran volunteers who have spent years and years in our ministry. They have seen an abundance of change, both good and bad, and have the ability to slow me down with their wisdom. On the other hand, younger perspectives help our ministries to grow. They show us where we’ve become stagnant and give us new ideas. When our ministries have a broad range of ages, we are able to see situations from every angle.

Have you ever heard of an echo chamber? It describes the phenomenon where an entire group of people only encounter beliefs or ideas that agree with their own. We’re all sharing our opinions, but we all agree with each other, so they just echo louder and louder and never change us. Our own ideas--even if they’re incorrect or misplaced--are reinforced and strengthened. This is what we are trying to avoid: we want to hear and consider differing opinions and perspectives.

Why is Diversity Important?

It’s a picture of Heaven

Revelation 7:9-10 (NIV) says, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”

We know that Heaven is going to be the most beautifully diverse gathering of people ever. Every time we worship with those who belong to a different people group, we experience the beauty and wonder of Heaven. Jesus prayed in Matthew 6 for God’s Kingdom to come on Earth as it is in Heaven. When we practice diversity, we are bringing more of God’s heavenly Kingdom to Earth. Paul set an example for us in this. In Galatians 3:28, he encourages the church in Galatia to put aside their spiritual racism. There was a sect of Jewish Christians who believed that it was necessary to follow the Old Testament Law in order to be a believer. This was causing strife between the Jewish believers and the Gentile converts to Christianity. It is through this situation that we see a poetic turn of phrase by Paul: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, NIV). Paul doesn’t encourage the Gentile believers to form their own church, and he doesn’t encourage the Jewish believers to excommunicate the Gentile believers. Instead, he points to their unity under the banner of Christ Jesus. Each time we put our unity in Jesus above our differences in ethnicities and backgrounds, we get to see an awesome picture of Heaven.

It’s a gift from God

1 Corinthians 12:12 (NIV) says, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” And then later, in 12:18, “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” Our differences are something that should be celebrated and utilized. We all have a role to play. We all have things we bring to the table. A Person of Color has a set of experiences and perspectives that others don’t. When we ignore this, we ignore one of the clearest ways that God has gifted his Church.

In fact, this is demonstrated in the Triune nature of God. Each member of the Trinity plays a role, but they are unified. The Father is the creator, the Son is the savior, and the Spirit is the counselor. Or, in other words, the Father created us and the plan, the Son fulfilled the plan, and the Spirit continues to administer the plan. Our diversity and ability to play different roles is a direct reflection of the nature of God.

It shows a variety of people that they belong

It’s a well-known phenomenon that congregations will generally reflect their leadership. Do this experiment: next Sunday, look around your main worship service. How many of the congregants are the same race and general age as your preaching pastor? If yours is like many churches, they are very similar. Or, maybe you’ve heard a sentiment like this: “Worship wasn’t very good today. I wish we did more of [fill in the blank with the preferred style of musical worship].” Though perhaps a selfish and inappropriate view of musical worship, we know that the average church-goer will rarely stay at a church in which they don’t feel they belong. And can we blame them? We naturally want to put ourselves in situations where we belong.

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking a visiting family with a third-grade boy, John, to his room. Though he didn’t appear nervous, John definitely didn’t look thrilled to be at church. I was explaining our check-in system and how our programming works, when I was interrupted by John’s excited yells. “Mom!” he said, “That kid is in my class at school!” Immediately, John shot into the room.

John’s behavior is normal. He saw someone he knew and quickly recognized that this is a place where he wanted to be. Humans innately understand when they belong somewhere. Have you ever watched an 18-month-old enter the nursery? Nobody needs to explain that the toys are for them. It’s our job to create situations and environments where every child, volunteer, and parent--no matter where they come from or what they look like--knows that they belong.

So, where do we go from here?

Again, diversity does not occur without a concerted effort. We have to work at it. So, the first step that I would recommend is to surround yourself with people from different backgrounds. Do you have a parent committee? (This is slightly off-topic, but if you don’t have a parent committee/panel/roundtable that meets regularly and provides input, I would highly recommend creating one!) If so, make sure there are people from a variety of walks of life. Invite people who are younger than you, older than you, of a different ethnicity, from a different faith background, or of a different gender. Invite people who are going to disagree with you. Invite people who will push back on your ideas. Perhaps, if I may sound crazy for a second, invite people you don’t like! (Are we allowed to admit that we don’t get along real well with some people?) Invite people who have a different perspective than you.

Here’s the problem: when we only look from our perspective, we miss things. I know it’s difficult to hear things you disagree with. Life would be much easier if we all agreed, if there were no arguments in meetings, and if we all saw things the same way. But alas, life is not ideal.

One Sunday, I was leading our weekly pre-service meeting for volunteers. We went through prayer requests, talked through the curriculum for the day, and answered questions. Right after we dismissed, Jessica, the Early Childhood Coordinator at our church, came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. “Jace,” she whispered, “you have a hole in your pants.” I looked down at my favorite pair of khakis, and sure enough, there was a hole in a place you definitely don’t want a hole.

Was I embarrassed in the moment? Of course. Did I immediately call my wife and ask her to bring me another pair? You bet. Did I wish that Jessica had told me that tidbit before I led the meeting? Would have been nice. But above all, I was grateful that Jessica felt comfortable enough to tell me this information.

Maybe you’ve been in this situation. Maybe you’ve been told you have broccoli in your teeth, or that your fly is unzipped, or that you’ve been calling someone by the wrong name. It hurts a little. For a second you’re embarrassed, and (if you’re like me) even mad at the person who pointed it out to you. But when you have a chance to think about it, you’re probably grateful. Because we can’t see what we can’t see.

This is how we should approach conversations about diversity. We might hear some things we don’t want to. We might hear that we have not fostered an environment where those in an ethnic minority feel comfortable. We might hear that we have acted offensively. And we have to be okay with that and do better next time.

This is how we build trust. These individuals need to know that we welcome their input, even if it’s critical in nature. If we ignore their perspectives, we appear two-faced and fake. It looks like we’re checking a box.

Then, we need to put a variety of people in positions of exposure in our ministry. Again, because we know congregations often reflect whoever is in front of them, we should take advantage of this. Is there a volunteer who has shown potential in teaching? Could you add some diversity to your new families team? Is there someone with musical abilities who might want to help with worship? It’s incredibly valuable for kids to see people of all races and backgrounds in front of them.

As you probably guessed, I eventually found the bus in the small town in Germany (Did you think I was writing this from Europe?). I eventually found what I needed. Similarly, there is hope for kids in our ministry. There are ways for us to help everyone feel welcome. I don’t know of a single kidmin leader who doesn’t want all kids to feel welcome in his or her ministry. I know that we all want to foster an environment of inclusion. So let’s be proactive in allowing the beauty of heaven to be reflected in our ministries.