You could make the case that Biblically speaking, diversity is a curse. Just 11 chapters into the Good Book, we find the story of the Tower of Babel. Man has started to come together, and as they raise up cities and civilization, they decide that having dominion over the planet isn’t enough – they desire equality with God himself (see Philippians 2:6 for Jesus’s thoughts on that matter). So what do they do? They build a tower, and seek to raise it up to the heavens. What does God do?

Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. Genesis 11:5-9 (HCSB)

So two things happen here: one, linguistic diversity is created, and a division is created based off the inability to communicate; and two, people are scattered over all the earth, and new civilizations rise up in different environs, with different people. This is the moment, within the narrative of the Bible, that different nations are created. As Douglas Adams might put it, this has been widely regarded as a bad move.

It’s not hard to find people who might agree with that initial proposed assessment. The Black Lives Matter movement has had trouble getting a word in edgewise over the clamor of #AllLivesMatter and allegations that hyphenated ethnicities, like “African-American” serve to divide. It’s not uncommon to hear that Black Lives Matter protesters are the real racists. The basic theory isn’t far off from the thinking of the people of Babel – we’re able to do the most when we aren’t divided by race, ethnicity, or any other identity beyond American. And that has a certain appeal, doesn’t it? If we look at the New Testament, we certainly see calls to live as a new nation:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 (HCSB) There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

And of course, when the Spirit arrives in Acts, it is marked by the gift of speaking and interpreting tongues – not speaking gibberish, but being able to speak and understand other languages, as seen in Acts 2:6 (HCSB):

When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.

So with all that in mind, shouldn’t the Christian be advocating for assimilation not integration into an aracial Christian Culture? If Christian values are worth emulating, shouldn’t Americans be advocating for assimilation into American culture (no prefixes), not integration or a “chopped-salad” model?

If we keep reading, I think we’ll find the answer is no – and we might better understand the teachings above. Let’s go to Revelation:

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9 (HCSB)

In John of Patmos’s apocalyptic vision, he sees a great assembly of worshipers in heaven, containing members of every possible ethnicity, language, and people group. In their glorified bodies and station, they are not all speaking Latin or Enochian. They are not cast in the same glittering alabaster skin. They have not forgotten where they were born, or the tribes they belonged to. And despite all this, we have the single greatest moment of human unity described in the Bible. This teaches us three things:

Unity can and does exist in light of differences Mutual understanding is necessary for true unity Shared values lead to unity despite differences.

The assembled people (much like those in Acts) are not divided by their different languages, because they share a common understanding – they are all singing the same song. They are untied in their worship, that is, in what they value and how they value it. And their differences are preserved in heaven, where all things are made new and perfected. Diversity was part of the plan from the beginning. These are values we can take directly into the fight against racial injustice and intolerance today.

When we acknowledge that integration and not assimilation is the goal of a healthy and diverse society, we’ll all be better off. When we preserve cultural heritages and differences, and learn each other’s languages, cultural modes, and values, we’ll all be better off. When we build a society based off mutual learning and understanding, and not just insist on one pre-prescribed mold because that makes understanding easier, we’ll all be better off. And when we recognize that all of us here – all the tribes, tongues, and nations of these United States – are bound together by a common hope and a national ethos based on liberty, democracy, and diversity, we might just have made it to the mountaintop.

We’ve got work to do.

E pluribus unum.