Not To Be Presumptive...

...but several people have asked me to transcribe a little "rant" I gave in my sermon on Sunday. It's not on-line yet, but it's coming soon for those of you who have asked, here it is. Keep in mind the context, that I was trying to give a sample of the vast array of differences in people just in the room in which I was speaking. That even within that relative homogeneity there was also a fair amount of diversity.

And also, keep in mind that this varied a bit by the hour it was given...some I left out because I was trying to deliver them in a "rapid fire" manner. In other services I threw in some other contrasts as they came to mind that aren't here.

"It's one thing for Christ to pray for unity among the 11 guys in that room [in John 17]. I mean, even a football team can become unified. But it's quite another to think about the incredible diversity in the Body of Christ that's supposed to be unified as well. Churches will meet on different continents. Just in our own country there are countless believers getting together. In our own community there are lots of really good churches to be thankful for. And, just in this room alone, even with all the apparent same-ness, there's lots of diversity.

I don't mean to go on a rant here but there are...

Democrats.
Republicans.
Libertarians.
Independents.
Anarchists.
Fascists.
Pink bow-headed cheerleaders and black mascara-wearing gothic types.
Khaki-wearing button-downers and jeans-wearing Birkinstockers.
Social butterflies that gather for lunch and misanthropes that brood in coffeehouses.
Accountants.
Spenders.
Greatest Generation.
Baby Boomers.
GenXers.
Millennials.
Mosaics.
PodGens.
Powerbrokers and the power broken.
Dog people.
Cat people.
Computer nerds.
Rock stars.
Slackers.
Type-A's.
People in the marching band and people who get snacks at halftime.
Line dancers.
Headbangers.
Rich.
Not-as-rich.
White collar.
Blue collar.
No collar.
Teachers.
Students.
Boys.
Girls.
Men.
Women.
Married.
Single.
Single again.
Married again.
Military vets wearing purple hearts and draft-dodgers burning draft cards.
Bra-burners and letter-writers.
Motorcycle riders wearing leather and golf-cart drivers wearing plaid.
People who love yardwork and people who pay others to love yardwork.
Jedi afficianados.
Hobbit lovers.
(who I've heard can never really get along)

When the list gets to those two things, maybe it's time to stop. But you get the point, right?

Either we're all God's children, uniquely gifted and unified by our Savior or we're all just living a lie.

And if folks can see that a poorly-dressed, tattooed, conservative neo-hippie can love both the Jedi afficianados and the Hobbit lovers and they reciprocate, despite the obvious reasons not to, they'll want to know how that works...".

So, that's the tirade.

And I'll post the sermon link when it becomes available.