“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, NIV).

He had been sent to the hospital three times after back surgery, not an easy procedure at the age of 90. Now he was in rehab, trying to get back to the people he loved in his retirement community. He shared with me His trust in the Lord and his desire to witness for Christ. He spoke of friend and co-worker from his past: “He was an African American gentleman with whom I would share the truth about Christ. He was always very skeptical. One day he asked me, ‘What if you get to heaven and find out that God is black?’ I told him, ‘That’s the wrong question! When we get to heaven, Will He be like us? Or, Will we be like Him?’”

In our fallen world, that which is different between us often drives us more than that which is the same. I feel this within myself. I prefer to be surrounded by like-minded people with my own cultural norms and feel less at home if I am not.

One day, the magnet will be flipped, and our differences will not repel us; our oneness will draw us together.

In our fallen world, skin color matters, location matters, education matters, beauty matters, wealth matters. They matter in God’s eyes as well, but not in the same way. The fallen world takes the distinctive and separates us. In God’s eyes, our distinctiveness should function like different colors for the Artist to paint His great masterpiece or like different piano keys He’s using to play His concerto for the ages.

In our fallen world, pride and self-centeredness gather together those who are similar into groups that demand distinctiveness and respect. Such gatherings must prove themselves to be better than others, or at least equal to others. Conflicts arise when group pride meets group pride or when group power leads to oppression.

Praise be to God that someday this will be different. Someday the pride that manipulates distinctiveness as a selfish tool will be destroyed, and the only motives fashioning our relationships will be love for God and love for each other. One day, we will maintain our individual personhood, but our hearts will be like His. Our pride will be dead except for our pride in Him.

“For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all” (Romans 10:12a, NIV).

Must we wait for heaven, O Lord? Or might you transform us just now so that while we serve you on this side of glory, we become more like you.

Amen