Diversity among humans is manifested in two different forms: identity diversity and cognitive diversity. The latter is about the differing mental toolsets individuals possess and is a boon to any group of problem solvers. The former is about the identification of individuals in relation to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability, religion, etc. and creates problems rather than solves them. The present-day collapse of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is a hopeful sign for present-day America. “DEI” was also a problem for the NT church.
… those who had been scattered because of … Stephen …20 … came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. 21 … and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 … the church in Jerusalem … sent Barnabas to Antioch.23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all …. 24 because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit [even] of faith …. —Acts 11:19–24 (NET)
As we’ve said over and over, since the NT churches were charismatic churches, we cannot fully understand the NT documents unless we read them through a charismatic lens. With that in mind, what does “the grace of God” in v23 mean?
Remember vv19-24 come immediately after the conversion of Cornelius and Peter’s report of that conversion to the church in Jerusalem. Thus, the significance of the Gentile outreach in Antioch is likely on the same level or greater than Cornelius’ conversion. With all of that in view, we suggest v23 means Barnabas saw the extraordinary fellowship of Jews and Gentiles at Antioch as a supernatural (thus authoritative) work of the Spirit.
Moreover, Barnabas’ rejoicing is also likely due to the same influence, especially in light of v24 where he is described as “full of the Holy Spirit [even] of faith, a grammatical construction where two nouns are joined together by Greek “kai” for self-explanatory effect, hence our insertion of “even” to indicate Barnabas’ estimation of the situation in Antioch came with divine authority. This is especially insightful in regard to Barnabas’ tendency to backslide into the Judaizing of Gentiles (Gal 2:13). That did not happen in vv19-24 because the Spirit guided Barnabas.
All of the above is a preface to pointing out how the NT views ethnic diversity as a problem to be solved—so much so that fellowship among people of diverse ethnicities in the early church was a sure sign of a miracle in progress. The overflow of that miracle, others like it, and later imitation of those supernatural examples eventually changed expectations toward expanded fellowship across previously unbridgeable lines for an entire civilization.
Fellowship across social, economic, sexual, cultural, political, and ethnic lines inaugurated supernaturally by the Spirit in NT churches changed the spiritual DNA of Western Civilization to the point where blindness to identity-group membership eventually became a normative ideal (if not practice) for most everyone without the need for divine intervention.
This ideal, however, has been under increasing attack in recent times by cultural revolutionaries who weaponize “identity diversity”1 as a way to foster racial, ethnic, class, gender, religious, political, and even regional hatreds as a way to overthrow the existing order in favor of neo-Marxist totalitarianism.
This is where the “Church as Contrast Community” must uphold the overriding importance of ultimate identity in Christ as the antidote to the chaos that naturally comes from focusing on the superficial identities of race, ethnicity, class, etc. The ideal of being blind to superficial identities is rooted in the miracle of God’s inbreaking kingdom.
If Western Civilization ever loses that ideal, it may take more than a miracle to get it back. —Bill Brewer
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Identity diversity is always problematic. Cognitive diversity, in contrast, is valuable in problem-solving situations. The former prospers through confusion with the latter, but they have no necessary connection.