Gemischte Pickles

Talk about “gemischte pickles.” This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  Over the years I have participated in various worship services to recognize that unity.  Those services have been okay but they usually become a tribute to American Civil Religion.  There have been some pastors who equate “unity” with making us all look alike, or more specifically, look like them.  That is not the way I see Christian unity taking shape.

When traveling to a new city I like to look in the Yellow Pages (so old school) of the possible places to eat.  I look at all the ethnic restaurants in the area.  I love German cuisine but my kids don’t.  We all like Korean food.  Sometimes I like Italian fare but it all depends on the time of day. Mexican food is fun but at my age I have to be selective.  There are other cuisines that I enjoy and some I would like to try and others I have no intention of sampling.  If we were all “meat and potatoes” kind of people we would be pretty boring.

It is the same with the Christian church.  All hail the difference!  The people of God have as wide a variety of experiences as they have preferences.  Sometimes people express their faith the way their ancestors did in the land they came from.  Other times, people worshiped in the style that was most convenient to their settlement. In this consumer society, there are many households that shop around for churches like they are shopping for jeans.  Christianity is a smorgasbord to select from. Denominations date back to the Church of Rome, Eastern Orthodox, and Coptic.  There are the churches of the Reformation period:  Lutherans, Anglicans, and Moravians.  The Reformed tradition includes Presbyterians and what we now know as the UCC and the RCA.  There are Evangelicals which cover a broad number of church bodies.  Pentecostals and Holiness movements add to the wide menu.  A few other denominations are difficult to categorize.

It is hard to lump Christians together.  Christians are liberal and conservative; Christians are liturgical or low-key; Christians sing at the top of their lungs or mumble a monotone mantra.  No way can somebody expect me to be just like them. Sort of like ethnic cuisine:  I like the flavor of some but not everything. You may have different tastes.  I’m not going to be a cookie cutter Christian and I’m not going to expect that of you.

I’ve been around.  I grew up in the Methodist Church and “crossed the aisle” to the Lutheran tradition.  In college I attended a Bible study with Dutch Reformed, a Baptist and a Roman Catholic. My senior year of seminary I lived at the Roman Catholic seminary and would have supper with a Dominican priest or a Presbyterian student.  I have been at the Moravian world center in Herrnhut, Germany.  I would love to attend an Eastern or Russian Orthodox worship.

Here’s the point:  we have Christian unity when we can respect our traditions and are willing to learn how we compare and contrast.  The kind of unity we pray for this week is the kind where we will celebrate our differences and rejoice in the gospel message that we have in common.  We are one big dish of “gemischte pickles.”