The Nature of Diversity

In nature, diversity is important in creating healthy environments. Monoculture farms have to use pesticides and fungicides because they don’t have diversity, and the environment they have created is “un-natural.” It cannot sustain itself. Nature does not need pesticides or fungicides because it welcomes a wide variety of plants and creatures to dwell together. 

A newly established garden is a new habitat and environment for nature and wildlife to call home. Pests and disease are often very noticeable at the beginning, and plants may not overflow with abundance in the first couple of years. But the imbalance is not to be worried about because in creating a new habitat, nature knows how to balance itself, if the gardener creates diversity in the garden. Diversity in a garden can look like planting different varieties of plants (like flowers or herbs mixed in with vegetables and fruits) that work together throughout the year, researching what plants beneficial predators enjoy in the garden, and protecting the microorganisms and nutrients in the soil.

Additionally, it can be easy to label creatures, fungi, or bacteria as evil, but in nature, everything works together in a balanced and healthy way. Rather than seeing slugs or aphids as pests with the intent to destroy the gardener’s hard work, they can be seen as signals of imbalance needing to be addressed. The same goes for fungi or disease; there is something off, and nature is communicating what is lacking or excessive.

In the Kingdom of God, the body of Christ, spiritual diversity is also essential for unity and health. 

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? God has placed the parts of the body into Christ, each one of them, just as he desired… God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have the same care for one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

God made us to be connected and share life with people in our community who aren’t like us. It can be uncomfortable and even frustrating to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Seeking to understand isn’t natural because the ways and perspectives of another person aren’t natural to us. But in the humility of letting someone else teach you or me his giftings, we will discover a new side of God. The glory of God is receiving someone unique to us. We can trust our Gardener, who carefully and strategically plants people into our lives because has created us to be woven together in perfect harmony, like a flourishing garden.