October 04, 2026
• Rev. Mindie Moore
Love One Another Week 1: Unity and Diversity
October 4, 2026
Genesis 11 and Acts 2
Today we're kicking off a new series called "Let's Love One Another." We are just weeks away from the Midterm elections and we come into this election, like the past several, in a very divided, tense atmosphere in our country. And every major election year, United Methodist Churches around the country join together to do what we call a "Kindness Campaign." Our largest church, Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, leads the way and we spend four weeks exploring how we can love each other well even when division is very real.
Alexandra Hudson wrote a book called The Soul of Civility that Pastor Rob is currently doing a study on. We will actually get to hear from her on October 25 (we will stream her in from North Indy), and she has an interesting take on the way politics has started to outweigh other aspects of our identity and social engagement:
As traditional touchstones of meaning—church, family, community—have declined in recent decades, people are now turning to politics to derive their meaning in life. Because people are deriving their meaning from their own policial views—as well as assessing the value of others based primarily on their politics—it is becoming impossible to talk rationally about issues in public life. P. 337 of Soul of Civility
My guess is that most of us see this show up in our own relationships and interactions. Maybe in person or in our algorithms, there is very little room for nuance and actual conversation because everything gets supercharged immediately. And honestly, I don't know about you, but for me, that is exhausting. I love a good, interesting conversation with someone who has a different viewpoint or perspective. What I DON'T love, and I think this is true for most of us, is feeling like I'm on perpetual defense, just waiting for the conversation to devolve.
And that can create a lot of fear in us, plus a lot of resistance to encountering difference. And so what we can end up doing BECAUSE of that fear and resistance, is end up shrinking our circles to people who are very similar to us.
And what I really believe, despite when it might be challenging or uncomfortable, is that (SLIDE) Communities that reflect the fullness of God are communities where diversity and difference are present.
Today we're looking at two stories in the Bible that illustrate this—the Tower of Babel and the Day of Pentecost.
So let's start with what we find in Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel. This story, like many in these first several chapters of Genesis are not literal history, but they are commentaries on humanity and how God works. And so in this story, we're introduced to a group of people building something called a ziggurat, which was a common tower structure in the ancient world. And they are building this tall, tall tower in a valiant act of self-preservation. They think if they can just build a tall enough tower, a tower that can reach heaven, then they will magically become this self-sufficient, self-contained, all powerful society.
And once they become all those things, they will have everything they need. They won't need God. They won't need contact with any of the people around them who are different than them. They can just be with people who are exactly like them, people who are familiar, safe, and it will all be just perfect.
We quickly see that God is not having that and this group of people is broken up. They're given different languages, they end up scattering, their beautiful self-preserving building project left abandoned.
And this is where I think that the interpretation of this story gets a little messy. Because I have heard it interpreted before, maybe you have too, that God gives all these different languages, that God creates difference and diversity, as a PUNISHMENT. Like it's a BAD thing that people are no longer all the same. That there's this implication that God's ideal would be a monolithic society, but these foolish humans ruined all of that. That unity when done right means uniformity.
What if we asked some different questions when we read this story? What if instead of seeing God's actions here as a form of punishment, we instead looked at God's actions as a result of assessment and correction? That God sees what's happening here with the people and says, "oh, no that's not how this is supposed to be. This could be better, so let's change it."
You might know I love Walter Brueggeman, he was an Old Testament scholar. And I was reading a bit about what he has to say about this story, and one of his points is that the unity that people are seeking here is unity that has roots in a really unhealthy and insecure desire. Because this is unity that will do whatever it takes to secure self-preservation. No matter what it costs, no matter who gets left out. And that sort of self-serving way of viewing the world is incredibly counter to what God would want for us. Unity that reflects who God is only works when we have space for the diversity that God has created and when we work for not just the well-being of people who are the same as we are, whatever that means, but when we work for the well-being of ALL people.
One of the things this story shows us is that our big, creative, amazing God is not especially interested in isolated, monolithic communities. And we don't need to be afraid of experiencing and naming the difference that exists around us. Even when those difference make us uncomfortable or we don't know what to do with them, they help us see the fullness of who God is.
And the truth is, this can be difficult to lean into. No matter who we are, no matter how much we believe that we're really committed to diversity and doing life with people who are different than us, it can be tricky and there can be hidden things within us that get in the way. I came face to face with this when I was going through ordination. As part of the process, we took the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), which is a tool that has been used in all kinds of settings, from academia to corporations, to a bunch of pastors in Indiana. And what the IDI does is it measures how you approach and interface with the diversity in your world.
Here's an image (SLIDE) of the continuum that you can place on. The left is the least developed, while the right side is the most. When I took this six years ago, I tested right in the middle, as something called a minimizer. What that meant is that I was showing evidence of downplaying difference in order to achieve a false sense of unity by overly focusing on the ways that we are the same, and not honoring the important differences that we all bring to the table.
And I was SUPER FRUSTRATED at this! Like, I have done diversity! I've been in diverse environments; I've led trainings! And those were all things that I angrily shared with the facilitator that I met with to discuss my results. And when she told me that this was actually where MOST people scored I, of course, told her that I was not like most people and there was obviously an error.
There was no error. But there was a moment to humbly acknowledge that I had some room to grow, and I didn't take that moment until much later.
And I just wonder...what if I had just been curious in that conversation, and not defensive? Like Ted Lasso says, "be curious not judgmental"...what if I could have done that? And on a bigger level, what would our world look like if we could collectively do that? If we could ALL acknowledge that we have room to grow and that God might be inviting us to shift to do things in a way that reflects God's kingdom differently? And that we don't need to feel shame or fear or embarrassment about that, but that we could look at these growth moments as a chance for the Holy Spirit to do some really important work in us.
I think when we find ways to do that, we often find a unity that is really rich and surprising and makes all kinds of room for our differences to be fully on display.
It's the kind of unity we see in Pentecost story. Another story of many languages and diverse cultures, and it's THROUGH that diversity that God creates The Church. A unified group of people who do not need to hide or downplay their differences, but who get to be fully themselves as representations of God's goodness and love.
And I'm going to be honest—this is a chaotic display. You've got the Holy Spirit moving and it looks like there's fire on people's heads... that's weird. And then there's this cacophony of languages all being spoken at once. And that's weird too. It's all so strange that some of the onlookers wonder if this group of people are drunk. Like something must be wrong for all of this to be going on. They go straight to judgement, there's no curiosity at all.
And that's going to probably always be the case when it comes to difference and diversity. There will always be resistance. There will always be people who assume the worst. But as disappointing and frustrating as that can be, what Pentecost reminds us of is that resistance is not the end of the story. I want you to listen again to what this display of diversity does for some of the other people present that day: (SLIDE)
5 Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
Can you imagine that? To be able to receive God's message in a way that makes you feel truly seen and known? To know that the love of Jesus is for all people and isn't limited to one culture, language, or background, and to know you're part of it?
What this moment on Pentecost does is it disrupts the barriers we falsely believe diversity can create. And shows the way that God works THROUGH diversity, not in spite of it, but in celebration of it. It shows us how God is present in every color, every language, every citizenship, every ability, every identity, every form and facet of a person we could imagine—those things exist because of God's holy creativity.
And so I guess the question for us is, how do we look for ways to live into the invitation of Pentecost and the holiness of the diversity around us? Like what practically can we do to keep creating relationships and communities where diversity is not only present, but can flourish and thrive?
For me, two very simple places to start are with (SLIDE) humility and proximity.
When I talk about (SLIDE) humility, I'm talking about taking the posture of a learner when we encounter something that is different than the opinions we hold or the culture we carry. A few weeks ago, Beck told me about a new coffee shop that opened on Mass Ave. It's called Niyyah Coffee and that location is Indianapolis' only deaf-owned coffee shop. I went and visited it this week, and it was such a great invitation to enter a space with humility and to show up as a learner.
Because when you walk in, it is clear that you are in a space that is very much crafted around the deaf community. There's no music playing, it's very quiet. There's a sign at the register that says "Deaf Barista" and then tells you how to order, either through signing, pointing, or even writing down your order.
There is no downplaying or minimizing the difference and diversity here, and while they will help you and guide you through it, it's also clear that if you're a hearing person who is used to interacting in certain ways, you're going to try something different. And I was a little worried about getting it wrong or being awkward.
But it turned out that I didn't need to be worried. Because, as I made eye contact with the barista, as we smiled and shared unspoken greetings, I realized I could trust that it was ok to not know how to do this. It was ok to be a learner. And I was welcome in that place.
I think humility is step one, the foundation...and then proximity builds from there. (SLIDE) Proximity is when we get in each other's lives and connect in a way that goes beyond the superficial.
Pastor Rob shared this really cool organization with me, called the Harmony Project out of Columbus, Ohio. There are several aspects of what they do, but one of the core pieces is a community choir of around 500 people from all different backgrounds, abilities, ages, races, everything. And it exists to bring people together, to confront biases that we all carry, and to create a space where people can be exactly who they are and experience as much equality as possible. People who would never interact, never hear each other's stories or understand what they had been through...they're working on something together. Here's a quick clip of the choir:
(SHOW CLIP OF SINGING)
And what they've found is that this is not only changing people's one on one relationships, but it is impacting things like public policy. One lawmaker who is in the chorus was talking with a formerly incarcerated man who is also in the chorus, who was sharing how having access to music programs while he was in prison helped him in some really significant ways. The lawmaker later shared that it was that relationship that changed his mind of funding arts programs in the justice system.
Those are two very specific and personal examples, so I would just ask you to consider: (SLIDE) what do humility and proximity look like in your world? How can you, even this week, encounter the diversity and difference around you? And as you encounter those things, how do you then in turn encounter the fullness of God?
As we come to the communion table today, on World Communion Sunday, we remember that what we receive at this table is received by people all over the world. Not in SPITE of difference, but with the celebration of the difference and diversity God creates. Jesus invites us to this table, exactly as we are. Seen, known, loved, fully welcomed to receive love and grace.