How important is political diversity in our churches and organizations? That’s a question that I recently pondered as we wondered about the political economy of our own church. Many pastors herald the idea of a “purple church.” One popular pastor praised the fact that his church had both members of ICE in it as well as undocumented immigrants (why he would tell the world, let alone ICE agents, about undocumented immigrants in his church is beyond me). Throughout the country, we see it as a virtue to set aside political differences in order to unite our bodies, our families, and our churches. It is a beautiful image, to set aside differences, for the sake of one another. I think we see this across race, ability, gender, class, and sexuality. But there is a much bigger difference between those embodied differences and political commitments and preferences.
Should churches be purple?
Should churches be purple?
Should churches be purple?
How important is political diversity in our churches and organizations? That’s a question that I recently pondered as we wondered about the political economy of our own church. Many pastors herald the idea of a “purple church.” One popular pastor praised the fact that his church had both members of ICE in it as well as undocumented immigrants (why he would tell the world, let alone ICE agents, about undocumented immigrants in his church is beyond me). Throughout the country, we see it as a virtue to set aside political differences in order to unite our bodies, our families, and our churches. It is a beautiful image, to set aside differences, for the sake of one another. I think we see this across race, ability, gender, class, and sexuality. But there is a much bigger difference between those embodied differences and political commitments and preferences.