E Pluribus Unum

Based on 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

E Pluribus Unum, “out of many, one.” That is our nation’s motto. It simply expresses the core of our national identity, and what makes the United States different from other nations. We see it in our tendency to use hyphens in identifying groups of Americans. We identify African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latin-Americans, less commonly European-Americans, which is one example of how Europeanness or whiteness is understood to be the norm and it is non-white ethnicities that are to be hyphenated. Be that as it may, we don’t conceive “American” to be an ethnicity, like English, or French, or Japanese, or Chinese. We often say that America is an idea, a great experiment to see if it is possible to have a nation that from the beginning was comprised of people who came from many nations and ethnicities, even as our constitution failed to fully incorporate African slaves and the indigenous peoples who already lived here. It is an idea, e pluribus unum, that has a complicated history, and an ideal that we are still trying to achieve in all its fullness.

I remember when I was younger being taught that America was like a great melting pot. All these different peoples, different ethnicities, and races, somehow all become assimilated into the American way of life. But then I heard a different metaphor that made more sense to me. It was the idea that America is like a great bowl of gumbo. It’s all the different ingredients thrown together into a gumbo that makes it taste so good. This image lifts up appreciation for difference, and how the differences make America unique as opposed to the idea of assimilation and conformity, the minimizing of difference with the image of the melting pot. I’m still biased toward the metaphor of America as a bowl of gumbo than a melting pot.

E pluribus unum, could also be a motto for the church, the body of Christ. I thought of that motto when reflecting on this passage from 1 Corinthians. That’s what Paul is saying to the church in Corinth. Although they are comprised of Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, they are united through baptism and through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Their differences don’t disappear. They retain their differences even as they are united as one body. Maybe my bias is showing, but I would like to think that Paul would be ok with identifying the church as like a bowl of gumbo. All the differences united in one body is part of what makes the body of Christ a rich, dynamic, impactful global presence. For, indeed, the body of Christ is a global body, not bounded by ethnicity, language, nation, or political arrangement. The body of Christ reflects the diversity of the human race. In reality, the body of Christ truly is e pluribus unum.

Just think about the rich diversity in the body of Christ. Paul specifically names Jews and Greeks, slave and free. This touches on ethnic diversity and the diversity of social status. That was the diversity present in the church in Corinth. But there is so much more. I don’t know if it can be said that every ethnicity on earth is somehow represented in the body of Christ, but I think it’s pretty close. The wealthy and well-connected to the lowest and poorest caste in India has representation in the body of Christ. But that’s not the only diversity. We are a diversity of many histories and cultural traditions, from our own traditions here to the traditions of central America, Russia, Ethiopia, Syria, the Philippines, and more. We have a diversity of communions, Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox. We have literally thousands of different Protestant denominations and non-denominational churches. We have a great diversity of theological differences. We hold a diversity of moral and ethical positions. There are a variety of spiritual gifts, which we talked about last week. It is astounding how diverse the body of Christ is.

At the same time, we are united in baptism and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Any Christian you meet anywhere in the world is a person who has been baptized one way or another. When you meet a Christian of any cultural tradition, ethnicity, language, or theological persuasion, you are in the presence of someone who is possessed of the Holy Spirit. The experience of baptism and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what all Christians have in common. It is important to claim this common bond that we share with all Christians everywhere.

As we affirm the unity that is ours through baptism and the presence of the Spirit, Paul also reminds us that we need the diversity of the body, a diversity that God has determined to exist. This diversity, not only in spiritual gifts but in all the ways we are diverse, is on purpose. God has designed maximum diversity in the body of Christ so that God’s purpose can be fulfilled. As Paul says, if the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If we had only one cultural tradition, how could we relate to the variety of cultural traditions in human society? If we had only one language, how could those who speak other languages communicate with us? If we all held the exact same theological, moral, and political positions on all matters, how would we be able to find common cause with those who do not hold the same positions? As it is, the body of Christ reflects the diversity of the world so that the witness of Christ can resonate and be communicated to all of human society.

We see an example of this in the book of Acts when the apostles receive the Spirit and then immediately begin to proclaim the mighty works of God in the native languages of all who were gathered in Jerusalem. People were amazed that it was in their own native language that they heard what the apostles were saying. God intends for the body of Christ to be as diverse as possible so that the diversity of the human community can resonate with and experience the mighty works of God in their own, native ways.

All that said, it appears that the core issue that Paul is addressing with the church in Corinth is the issue of dissension. Paul makes it clear in vs. 25 that there ought not be dissension in the body of Christ but that there be equal concern for all. Paul calls for mutual concern for each other. Paul is saying to us that our energy is not to be spent on enforcing uniformity. Nor are we to fixate on our differences and either boost our own sense of superiority or regard ourselves as lacking or not good enough or irrelevant. Paul urges us to set aside hubris and comparing ourselves to others and instead to recognize the reality that we are one body. I love how Paul says in vs. 15, if the foot should say “Because I am not a hand, I don’t belong to the body” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. Whatever we say about ourselves and our relationship with one another as Christians doesn’t change the reality that we are in relationship. The unity we have in Christ is not something we create. The unity is a given. God has determined it to be so. The dissension that Paul saw in Corinth and that we see in the church today reflects a failure in acknowledging the unity that exists by God’s own doing. Paul is calling us to acknowledge the unity that God has already forged and to relate to each other based on this real unity that God has provided.

We see how Paul sets aside any focus on the diversity of difference in the body of Christ. In this passage we are reflecting on today, Paul says quite a bit about the diversity in the body and how all the different parts of the body, all the diversity we have in the body of Christ, is there by God’s own design to fulfill God’s purposes in the world. But then Paul shifts to talk about mutual concern for one another. For Paul, it is not enough just to appreciate the diversity within the body of Christ or to tolerate all our differences. Paul calls for a community of mutual care, one in which if one part of the community is celebrating, then everyone celebrates with them. If one part of the community is grieving, then everyone grieves with them.

I want to confess something. There have been times when I have witnessed parts of the body of Christ who are flourishing, making big impact in the world, transforming lives, doing incredible ministry, and my response has been one of jealousy or dismissiveness. Or sometimes feeling inferior or even a failure. Celebrating their success and effectiveness was not happening. And then there have been other times where leaders who were able to build incredible ministries fell due to a moral failure and rather than grieve how this has impacted the lives of so many and has hurt the community, I have felt some kind of vindication, that this fallen leader had gotten too big for their britches, that they weren’t all that. I didn’t grieve for them or the impact that had on the ministry or all the people that had looked up to and followed that leader, or the hurt inflicted on the community. I’m not alone in this. Pride and hubris, feelings of inferiority and irrelevance wash through the body of Christ. This sinful poison was present in Corinth in Paul’s day and continues to course through the veins of the body of Christ today.

There is an antidote. Paul speaks of it in chapter 13, and we will look at that next week. It is the pursuit of the greater gifts of faith, hope and love. Love is the antidote. Love expressed by celebrating with those who celebrate and grieving with those who grieve, of mutual concern for each other, this is what overcomes those feelings and attitudes that stir up dissension in the body and that causes the body of Christ to be dysfunctional. May God forgive us when we remain in our dysfunction, and may God give us grace to express equal concern for all who belong to the body of Christ.

As we practice mutual and equal concern for all who belong to the body of Christ, let us not neglect those who do not identify as Christians. What would our community be like if the equal concern for each other as Christians also included our fellow citizens, indeed every person in our community? What if we had equal concern for every person in society? That is asking a lot. And as we observe and sometimes perpetuate the dissension, the divisiveness, the dysfunction, in our greater community, our nation, and the world as a whole…my goodness. Yet, is it not desperately needed in these times, mutual concern for one another? Not just our own tribe, or political persuasion, or shared moral views, but mutual and equal concern for every person. To attempt that kind of equal mutual concern would absolutely transform our society. To actually manifest e pluribus unum, I can’t even begin to describe to you how radical that would transform how we live together as the human community. But oh how I wish we lived in that kind of community. It is a vision, indeed a divinely ordained vision, in which to strive. Only love will get us there. And we will talk about that next week.