UNITY AND DIVERSITY: IS IT A ZERO-SUM GAME?
Greetings church family!
It felt as if I was in a dream. There I was, one fan amongst a sea of nearly 100,00 other fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. All of us were there to support the newly crowned 2009 NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. We had endured 3+ hours of standing in line in 101*F weather to get to our seats, and it was all worth it! Eventually the crowd erupted as the Laker players converged onto a platform near the 20 yard line. What a day of joy and elation.
For a split second, my mind wandered to the mood of the city of Orlando, Florida. Their Orlando Magic was the losing team in the same NBA Finals. My guess is, the city of Orlando did not throw a victory parade for their team. My guess is, the town didn’t feel like there was much to celebrate. The Lakers won, their Magic lost. This is because playoff games are a zero-sum game. This term refers to the idea that the total gains and losses among all players add up to zero. There’s no possibility of a win-win, but rather there must be one winner and one loser.
Today, many see the ideas of unity and diversity in the same context. When we emphasize diversity, we fear losing our togetherness. When we emphasize unity, we fear losing our uniqueness. We live as though one must shrink for the other to grow — as though unity and diversity exist in a zero-sum game.
But in God’s eyes, these two are not rivals. They are dance partners!
From the first pages of Scripture, we see that God delights in variety. Light and darkness, land and sea, birds and fish, mountains and valleys — creation sings with difference. Yet, in all that variety, there is no chaos. Everything belongs. Each part complements another in the great rhythm of life. Diversity was never a threat to unity; it was God’s expression of unity. “And God saw that it was good.”
Paul paints this picture vividly in 1 Corinthians 12:12. “For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.” Every believer is distinct — gifted, shaped, and called differently — yet all belong to one body under one head, Christ. The hand does not compete with the eye; the foot does not envy the ear. True unity is not sameness, but shared purpose rooted in love. God’s kind of unity makes space for difference — it needs difference.
Even God’s own nature reveals this mystery. Father, Son, and Spirit — three distinct Persons, yet one in essence, purpose, and will. The Trinity is not uniform, but unified. The love between the Father and Son, expressed through the Spirit, is the eternal dance of unity in diversity. What humanity struggles to hold together, God has eternally perfected within Himself.
When sin entered the world, it distorted this divine pattern. Pride, fear, and self-protection drove people apart. The tower of Babel scattered language and hearts alike. But at Pentecost, the Spirit reversed the curse — not by erasing difference, but by sanctifying it. Acts 2:4-6 says, “Then [the disciples] were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” Diversity remained, yet unity was restored. Many tongues, one truth. Many nations, one Lord.
This sanctified harmony of unity and diversity will continue to be a highlight of heaven. Revelation 7:9-10 says, “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Diverse in background, united in worship!
Our calling as God’s people is not to flatten our differences or to idolize them, but to let both find their harmony in Christ. When we celebrate the mosaic of God’s image reflected in different cultures, gifts, and personalities, we honor His creativity. When we unite in love, mission, and humility, we reflect His character.
Humanity sees diversity and unity as balance to be managed; God reveals them as harmony to be celebrated!
So rather than asking, “Which should we emphasize — unity or diversity?”, we might instead ask, “How can our diversity make our unity more beautiful, and our unity make our diversity more meaningful?”
Today I celebrate the unity in diversity we experience at the Foothills Community Church. May we never feel the need to highlight one at the expense of the other. Earthly entities may perceive this to be a necessity, viewing unity and diversity as a zero-sum game. However, as ambassadors of the heavenly kingdom, this necessity does not exist, because in God’s kingdom, the two do not compete — they complete!
Have a great rest of your week, church family, and take time to celebrate our diversely unified God that is for you, that is with you, and that loves you!
Pastor Chris
