Seeing What They See
Seeing What They See by Wendy Wilson
The unreached among the Bedouins in the deserts of Africa and the Middle East number over 2,319,000.
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DIVERSE CHURCH , diverse mission. If
the Great Commission is a calling to bring redemption in Christ into the diversity of all nations, people groups, cultures, and languages, how do we hope to be effective from where we live, from where we’ve been formed, and from what we see and don’t see? The growing conversation around diversity is an essential part of meeting that challenge to see more completely. And most of us are grappling with how to bring more diversity into our decision-making teams. While diversity has many aspects, one area that applies to virtually every human setting is gender. We are inspired to pursue the biblical ideal of men and women working together as co-regents of His creation, and as brothers/sisters and co-heirs in the Body of Christ to bring all to embrace Christ’s redeeming work in their lives. An increasing number of studies have affirmed God’s design by discovering that when men and women work together in strategizing and decision-making they
ANTHOLOGY / MAY 2018
create more effective, sustainable, and profitable organizations. More alternatives are offered, more skill sets are used, and more out-of-the-box thinking occurs from both genders. In addition, change accelerates, modernizing old ways; a preference for collaboration takes hold, a longer and wider time horizon emerges, and a focus on preventing crises develops; financial performance is higher; and improved policies for women and families come to light— work-life balance, health care, child care, equal pay, education, community building, and diminished violence. 1 So while the topic of men and women serving together has vast tentacles, let’s consider one powerful aspect of what we gain by more fully stewarding the diversity of maleness and femaleness together in our gospel efforts: identifying a horrifying reality experienced by over half the population and half the church. Since we all see life based on our own experiences, by bringing men and women together it more fully portrays
