The Same and Different

"What do you and I have in common?" - a great question from King David

 

"Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all." - Old Proverb 

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man." - St. Paul

 

"When you can find yourself, no matter how difficult or inconvenient or painful the search, in every other human being alive, you will love like Christ." - Yours truly

 

 

On the surface and superficial level of existence, every single person is brilliantly different. Beautifully different skin tones, facial features, hair colors, ages, postures, and so much more make the company of mankind a constantly moving, creative, and visual work of art. At this level, we are each and every one different.

 

Go a level deeper, and you will find the social and cultural level of existence. There are thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of these, but since they are communal in nature (that is, each one is shared by a group of people), there is a level of "sameness" with in each group, and a level of "difference" between each group. It is fascinating to go across national borders, continental boundaries, or just "across the tracks" to explore and experience the different societal norms and group assumptions. At this level, we are the same as some people, and different from others.

 

Go a level deeper, and there is the personality level of existence. You know those personality surveys? They expose, in a useful (if generic) fashion, the existence of different "personality traits". While no one knows for sure how many of these there are (it ranges from 4 to 16, generally, on the tests that I am aware of...but even they acknowledge an infinite amount of 'range possibilities'). However, broadly speaking, you and I could both be explained by our personality makeup (at least a little bit). At this level, we are the same as some people and different from others.

 

All of the levels leading up to this one, more or less, happen TO people (in other words, you don't choose what race, society, or personality you are born into). But go a level deeper, the preference and behavior level of existence, and you cross a line into the realm of our "ability to choose". Admittedly, our preferences and behaviors are shaped by the other levels, but we are not stuck with them. Our preferences are ours to alter. Our behaviors are ours to transform. We only need to stop explaining (or excusing) ourselves based on our superficial, societal, and personality differences, and instead start understanding ourselves through the deepest, common level of existence.

 

I think the Bible would call it the heart level. Here, in this the deepest realm of humanity, we are all the same. We have the same needs, desires, wants, longings, and cares...things like freedom, care, acceptance, wholeness, happiness, joy, peace, hope. All of these have "love" as their root, and while they are all fulfilled and manifested in different ways at the superficial level (based in large part to society and personality differences), you will be able to recognize them (or people striving to achieve them) when you view things from the heart.

 

The heart - this is the level that Christ is trying to get to. This is the level at which healing and restoration and reconciliation takes place. This is the home of forgiveness, both the given and accepted kind. It is here, within the human being, that the Kingdom (or 'rule') of Heaven is located. This is the level that, when it is touched by Christ, behavior and preferences get transformed into his very own image.

 

And this happens regardless of our personality differences, cultural differences, and superficial differences.

 

When a group of people's hearts are like Christ's heart, Christ will express his "heart-level-sameness" in an infinite amount of "surface-level" ways. It is beautiful chemistry! It is like the working of the human body, each part different superficially, but all made up of the same stuff...bone, skin, blood, cartilage...and all connected to the same head (and heart).

 

May our churches become home to ever-widening ranges of superficial, cultural, and personality differences. And may that happen because our churches are of Christ...going for the salvation of every life and heart...the kind that we all commonly need.

 

Is this right? Is there a level at which humans can make assumptions about humans, speaking with compassion and authority to one another there, because at that level we are all the same?