Holy Diversity

The greatest difference between my time in Haiti this past fall versus this spring is that there are American volunteer groups working here with us. Having the groups can be difficult at times, but overall it has been a wonderful blessing to have them here. This week Westminster is here and I am having a wonderful time with them. There are a total of seventeen volunteers, thirteen of them are from Westminster and four are friends of our church but not members. One of the volunteers who came down is a minster at Bethel Presbyterian, and he spoke today in church. Pastor Pierre likes to bring in new people to speak to spice up the services. To be perfectly honest, I have not been thrilled with the sermons that have been given by the American preachers. Some have been nice, but some have a pedantic tone and don’t exactly convey a sense of community. Some of the people who come to preach feel that they need to educate the Haitians. They feel their sermon is going to contain wisdom and knowledge foreign to the Haitians, and that they have a duty to “preach the truth to those who don’t know it”.

Though Haitians are, on average, are a little less educated than Americans, they are extremely well read with regards to Christian theology and Christian thought. They know their Bible from front to back (much better than I do), families often pray together, and most members are involved in other church activities beyond Sunday Chapel. Yes, the Haitians might not understand the nuances of biblical Greek or Hebrew, but they’re just as, if not more, familiar with the stories that define Christianity and the virtues preached by Jesus. Not all pastors who come here are like this, some are more humble than others, and they all have the best of intentions, but too often American pastors preach with an air of superiority, coming across as conceited rather than humble.

Today was a wonderful change of pace though. Josh Brown, the American pastor who preached, talked about the great celebration we have to celebrate with each other. He spoke from a passage in Revelations that described people, “from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne”. Josh talked about how we all are different in some way from each other, but we are all called to worship together. We might have different skin colors or come from different countries, but God doesn’t care about that, God loves us as the people we are, and loves us without hesitation. Theses differences might divide us in some circumstances, but in church they should be celebrated. How great is it that an American congregation and a Haitian congregation, being so different in so many ways, can enjoy church together?

Church has been tough for me at times, especially when I am the only American, because I stick out and look different. Today was joyfully different; I still felt different but I celebrated that difference with the Haitians and Americans around with me. Today Josh Brown didn’t try to impart his grand knowledge of systematic theology on the Haitians, nor did he tell them what is right and wrong, he celebrated our differences and the great God we all worship together.