Over the last few weeks I have discussed the first five values of the Worship Arts Conservatory, which are:
The fifth value is Diversity. We have a God who clearly loves variety. Think about all the diversity built into creation. God was not satisfied with simple cookie cutter replication, but built into his creation mechanisms that ensure creative variety. In fact it almost seems like God revels in variation. For instance, who needs over 900,000 different insect species?
Why is diversity so valuable to God? Here are a few reasons to consider:
- Creativity. Our God is the Creator. The more variety involved in creation, the more creativity necessary. Is it really a surprise that the Creator enjoys being creative?
- Beauty. One of the concepts of art that leads to beauty is finding balance between repetition and variety. Too much repetition and the art is boring. Too much variety and the art is chaotic. God’s creation has a beautiful balance between repetition and variety.
- Health. Systems that have more diversity tend to be healthier systems.
- Effectiveness. Closely related to the above – systems that have more variety tend to be more productive systems.
These are just a few of the advantages of diversity that quickly came to mind as I wrote this post. Because of this, we love diversity and wish to emulate our God and make it a part of the Conservatory. It is our desire to be diverse in staff, student body, artistic styles, denominations and methodology.
Question: Can you think of other reasons God loves diversity? Please leave a comment.
by Jerry Wyrick, President of Worship Arts Conservatory