Pluribus or Unum?

This past weekend, our town celebrated its ethnic diversity by holding its annual Multicultural Festival. It’s a gathering of the community showcasing many different cultures through art, dance, traditional costumes, and (my favorite) a variety of foods. We didn’t make this year’s event, but attended previously, and found it to be fun and educational. Also, uplifting, to see so many different cultures represented here in our town, brought by people from around the world who found Elk Grove to be a desirable place to live. As people who have now lived here for 25 years ourselves, we can understand some of the attractions.

In relation to such rich diversity in our country, I have heard some people, mostly politicians, speak glowingly of such variety, saying, “Diversity is our strength.” But is it?

I believe diversity can be a great strength, if it is paired with another, vital social attribute: unity. This important connection is best expressed in our country’s motto, first adopted in 1782: E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one). This motto, which proclaimed the unity of the thirteen states and their common federal government, is even more relevant today when applied to the makeup of our citizenry. More than two centuries have seen waves of immigrants (some legal, some illegal, and some forced against their will) from all over the world come to this country.

So why is a 240 year-old motto still relevant? Because, if you have only pluribus or unum, you’ve got big problems.

First: If pluribus is all you have, you can end up with factions, rivalries, disputes, and eventually, chaos. Historically, the term, “Balkanization,” was invented to describe such a situation in the Balkan countries (such as what was Yugoslavia), where a number of small countries with different ethnic divisions fought each other. The term is now applied to any country or region that breaks apart into small, contending factions, leaving the whole vulnerable and beset by constant war.

I enjoy studying languages. Besides the intellectual challenge, I like being able to understand other people and communicate in their languages. I wish I could read and understand all 6,500 languages! (Good thing I’ve got eternity ahead to work on it.) I love that there are so many languages, but when everyone speaks a different language only, it’s hard to connect or accomplish anything together. Think of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11); how did God stop that project? By confusing their one common language so no one could understand each other. The project stopped and the people spread out, going different ways. Diversity was not their strength.

I believe everyone ought to be able to speak two or three languages fluently, if for no other reason than to better understand other people and their cultures. But at the same time, I believe we should all share one common language, too, so that we can all better communicate with each other. That way no one is an “outsider” who has to sit out while the rest of us communicate with each other.

When people interact and communicate openly with each other, and desire unity, walls can break down and people whose ancestors were enemies can end up becoming good friends. Think of former enemies of the US: France, England, Germany, Japan, Italy, etc. which are now allies. Think of Lutheran immigrants from Northern Europe who settled in the Midwest, setting up different Lutheran churches on each corner according to language: Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Germans. Over time, those differences diminished and their new, American identity (and English language) took over. Unity brought together diversity. Pluribus needs unum to be compete.

Second, if all you have is unity, the result is a bland sameness and tyranny. Did I say “tyranny”? Yes I did, because the only way you can have complete unity is by forcing it on people who want to think, act, dress, dance, sing, speak, and write in different ways. Whoever is in power sees any divergence from the approved order of things as a threat to society that must be stamped out. Dictators around the world have always suppressed speech, press, religion, and even minority languages to force common allegiance to the state. In the name of unity, they have oppressed anyone who dares step out of line, even committing genocide to force purity of race or religion.

Even if everyone were willing to adopt one common culture and language, how bland and repetitious would society be? Variety is the spice of life, according to one old saying, and there is much truth to it (especially if the spice is jalapeno!); if we all dressed the same, ate the same food all the time, wore our hair (or lack of it) the same, how boring would that be? Gone would be varieties of food, song, dance, art, etc. that have enriched the human race and shown off the great skills and creativity with which people have solved basic human needs over the millennia. That doesn’t sound too exciting to me (as just today I bought some sauerkraut, ate an English muffin, munched on some tortilla chips, and had some fettuccine Alfredo and a Caesar salad. Maybe some ramen noodles for a bed snack?). No, unity without diversity can be trouble; unum needs pluribus to be complete.

So, how does this issue relate to the Church?

The Christian Church has the same tension between unity and diversity that is experienced by the societies in which it operates. Here are some aspects to that:

1. There is the matter of ethnic and racial diversity. While churches can feel the pressures of cultural divisions reflected by their members (refer to the comment above about Lutheran churches in America divided by their languages and ethnicities), ultimately, the Church around the world is and will be eternally comprised of the greatest diversity. The Bible is clear that not only is God the Creator of all people, he also desires all kinds of people to be saved and to dwell with him in eternity.

From Old Testament prophets who foretold all nations coming to worship God on his holy mountain (Isaiah 11:1-10 and 66:20), to Jesus commanding his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20), to John’s revelation of heaven in which he saw “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,” (Revelation 7) God’s desire is to save us. He is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He so loved the world (that’s everybody!) that he gave his only Son, so that whoever (that’s anyone!) who believes in him shall be saved (John 3:16). God’s love is universal; his Church is the largest faith on earth today, and the most diverse in people and cultures from around the world.

One Sunday in 1988 I worshiped at a Lutheran church in Helsinki, Finland. The service was in English (led by an American pastor from one of the Dakotas), but the small congregation was representative of what heaven will be like: worshipers were from Australia, Germany, Finland, and even from Namibia in southwest Africa. One of the Namibians was the mother of that country’s president. We were all different, but united in our faith.

2. Unfortunately, just as countries can be divided, so can the Church. I’m not talking about disputes over what color to paint the church door, or what kind of clothes the pastors should wear when preaching, but about matters of real importance. I’m talking about doctrines and essential practices such as baptism and communion. Over the centuries Christians have disagreed on the Nicene Creed (does the Holy Spirit proceed from just the Father or from both the Father and the Son?), the nature of Christ (God or man or both?), the cessation or continuation of the charismatic gifts, the role of the Church in society, and how we are saved (by grace or by the works which grace enables?). Some baptize infants, others insist on a “believer’s baptism.” Some believe that communion is only a symbol but done by obedience, others recognize that Christ’s true body and blood are received with the elements, and still others say the elements change physically into flesh and blood.

Schisms, anathemas (curses) and even wars have resulted from such divisions, and though settling such issues is important (the Bible commands true doctrine and condemns false teachings), the resulting divisions are a scandal to the world. Rather than presenting a united (unum) message to the world, we have such a diversity of beliefs (pluribus), that you can find some theologian, preacher, or church body that will proclaim just about anything. We see the Balkanization and weakening of the Church.

3. What we need in the Church is unum. Yes, we are a very diverse group of people consisting of people from every nation, tribe, and language. Our cultures and forms of worship vary. (Luther said, “Liberty must prevail in these matters and Christians must not be bound by laws and ordinances. That is why the Scriptures prescribe nothing in these matters, but allow for freedom for the Spirit to act according to his own understanding as the respective place, time, and persons may require it.”) Our songs and hymns vary. Our languages vary. But what must not vary is the Gospel.

For ultimately, we are one people, a royal priesthood, a chosen nation, created and called out by God from darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). We are one, for which Christ prayed in the Upper Room, as he is one with the Father (John 17:21). We are one, because “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

So which should we seek? Pluribus, or unum? The answer for Christ’s Church, for America and the world, and indeed, even for my town, has to be “E pluribus unum.” Let us celebrate our diversity – but in unity, for we have but one God, Creator and Savior of us all. To him be the glory. Amen.

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Genesis 11:1-9, Ephesians 4:1-16, Revelation 7:9-17