Barnabas File

Diversity has become a hot topic these days, especially as the Federal government applies standards to not only delete references or training that recognizes and encourages the diverse nature of our country within government agencies but attempts to punish any entity that seeks to honor and promote diversity.   This is a fool’s errand.  Diversity is not an initiative; it is our reality! All we must do is look around us at the grocery store, at the shopping center, in the schools, and on our streets to see diversity.   We are a nation of people from many countries, cultures, and personal experiences.  We are made of people who decided to come to the United States or whose ancestors made that choice. Diversity is a fact of life.   Even so, diversity challenges us to both empowerment and acceptance.  How do we work to leverage our diversity to build a strong nation?  In some cases, people with specific backgrounds or needs be...

Let me be very clear.     I am a former Southern Baptist who attended Southwestern Seminary.   When I was a young minister, fellow alum Rick Warren was a role model for pastors.     He was not only a challenging teacher and preacher, but he was emerging as a successful church planter with Saddleback Community Church. It is now one of the largest congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.   My respect for Warren as a pastor continues.  I have a couple of his books on my bookshelf.  Due to some family experiences, Warren has been a strong champion for Christians to address mental health issues.   He championed evangelicals fighting AIDS overseas.  In recent years, he led the Saddleback church to ordain three women as staff pastors. His successors in pastoring Saddleback will be a married couple with the wife recognized as “teaching pastor.”   Even so, Warren misses the boat on some key issues.  ...

I have been to Washington, DC, a number of times and always came away with new insights.    We took a family trip there this past week to introduce our granddaughter, Erin, to the nation’s capital.   As always, I left with a new set of impressions.   This time I was especially sensitive to the diversity I observed.   Here are a few vignettes: The young father—possibly Ethiopian or Eritrean—sitting on a bench with his wife and two children between the Vietnam Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial and explaining to his family in precise English the importance of these sites. Muslim women carefully covered with full length dresses and the hijab while sitting at Ben and Jerry’s eating ice cream. The group of French students and their professor admiring the art works at the National Gallery of Art. Visiting school groups, both from out of town and local, composed of students of various ethnicities. Overhearing conversations in many languages and d...