By the Way: Shed our tribalism and celebrate our diversity

By Dave Pollard on November 23, 2024.

This coming Sunday Christians around the world will celebrate the Reign of Christ. It’s the last Sunday before we launch into the season of Advent where we prepare for Christmas.

There are there are many ways that we try to build God’s Commonwealth, but they tend to lean in one of two directions. The first direction is Jesus has come with a set of rules and we had better follow them or else. The other direction is that Jesus is a disruptor of the status quo, an advocate for the vulnerable, and in general a thorn in the side of the powers that be.

When I imagine the Reign of Christ I think about the Social Gospel. This school of thought was very popular in the early 20th century in Canada advocated by people like JS Woodsworth and Salem Bland. The Social Gospel essentially boils down to this statement We are called to build the Kingdom of God in our time and in our place.

Advocates of the social gospel have been involved in movements like women’s suffrage, seniors pensions, peace initiatives, and organized labor.

A poignant example of the work of social gospel is found in All People’s Mission. This mission founded by the Methodist Church, now the United Church of Canada was in Winnipeg.

Started in 1892 in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city missionaries worked in literacy, public health, and promoting social order. As the city of Winnipeg grew and became both a railway hub and the last city many settlers would see on their way West to realize their hopes and dreams All People’s Mission began to serve the needs of new Canadians.

They offered classes in what it was like to farm in the prairies, they educated people about some of the possible scams they would face, and they ran English as a second language classes so people would head west with a rudimentary knowledge of the lingua franca.

This open armed welcome response to the poor and vulnerable and to new Canadians is very different and some of the xenophobic reactions we see to newcomers and some of the vitriol directed at the most vulnerable among us.

As we prepare to end our year it behooves each and every one of us to ask the question how are we as people of faith going to show that Christ does indeed reign.

Deep down inside I think most of us remember the scripture from Matthews gospel ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you? ‘ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

It’s well beyond the time for people in this city, province and across the country to stop their tribalism and understand that diversity and difference need not be feared. Just think about it for a minute, Jesus was also despised by some in his community, and I think it’s a hard proposition to say I love Jesus but slam the door in the face of a foreigner, spit venom at someone because of their sexual orientation or identity, or use religious doctrine to justify hate.

Rev. Dave Pollard is minister at Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church

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