Our Common Cause in the Midst of Diversity and Polarization

The RHPNA network is made up of a diverse collection of individuals, churches, and agencies, united in a common cause to welcome and walk with forcibly displaced people who are on the refugee highway. This means that at an RHPNA event, or on any of our digital platforms, we will meet people who are different than we are. What unites us is our faith in Christ, and our identification as “Christian,” meaning that we belong to Christ. Further, what unites us is our common cause, which is to welcome, walk with, and be amongst forcibly-displaced people. We were birthed out of a conversation that began in the World Evangelical Alliance, and want to work with people from the whole Church.  

We live in a time of fragmentation and polarization. At times it is easy to see people who are different than us as “others” – in fact, this is the cause of much of today’s forcible displacement. Even when there is no displacement, however, there can be a breakdown in civil discourse and in the level of grace offered to one another. We may meet people at events or online who locate themselves in a different place in the Church than we do, or who approach things differently than we do. Two of the six values held by the RHP network are:  “We are committed to relationships that reflect reciprocity, inclusion and lead to mutual transformation,” and, “We seek to collaborate and nurture partnerships.” This means that our differences are not meant to divide us but enrich and transform us.

The RHPNA Leadership Team is calling the network to focus on what unites us, and not on what might cause division. We are not calling for uniformity, but for unity in the midst of difference. We are united in our faith in Christ and in our desire to walk with the displaced. We commit ourselves as a network to not letting labels, assumptions, or theological differences divide us. How we vote or what we think about issues is less important than our desire to be a sign of God’s Kingdom by sharing God’s love in the act of welcome.  

At the same time, the biblical witness and the history of the Church includes a place for prophetic witness and critique, both to the Church and to the world. The RHP affirms the biblical witness that God has particular regard for the orphan, the window, and the foreigner, and that God’s people are to offer welcome to them and advocate for them. 

The Word and the Spirit are given to the Church as a whole, and in our communal discerning of God’s leading we may experience difference and disagreement even as we share in our common cause. We call on the RHP network to live with disagreement in a spirit of common cause, being open to being changed by the other even as we articulate the vision of God’s mission that we see. Christian unity is never at the expense of God’s intended shalom and justice. Disagreement is intended by the Spirit to lead us to greater truth and a deeper, more holistic involvement in God’s mission.

Let us offer one another grace in the midst of diversity.  We pray that any differences we have with one another will not harm the cause of Welcoming the Stranger as Christ has welcomed us.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . . (Mt. 25:35)