The Multicultural Church

In reading the Bible and giving it enough time to sink into our minds, hearts and souls, we will discover that there is more to it than the naked eye can see. Because the message is so profound and satisfying. It penetrates so deeply into the heart that we get to realise it is deeper than we thought. But at the same time remains pertinent and valuable. Rich and enormously relevant for today as it was in the time when it was written. What makes the Bible powerful is the evidence we see in the transformation of people’s lives and character. That is irrefutable evidence!

Though the evening got cooler and the heat of the day is now only a memory, I would like to bring you back into the warmth of the Word of God. To discuss a subject which not foreign to any believer today. It’s very relevant and a reality we face every day. Perhaps something we see and live with, especially in Western societies. Where people are living together, but are foreigners to one another. You may say that’s what society is like, sadly. However, I am not describing what the society is like, but what the church is.

It may come across as a surprise, but if you are giving this thought a few moments to sink in, it’s true! Of course, we may be tempted to find justifications for why it is so. Which may explain a lot of things and bring to the surface things like immigration. Or culture and the liberty we have in the marketplace of ideas. Nonetheless, reading the Bible today and after having a nice dinner with a dear brother in Christ and his family. Among many things said and discussed, something came across. The church today seems to cool out slowly. And it is not a good thing. It rather affects the brethren and the fellowship or the church family. Is it really a church family? If relationships are rather transactional and produce a benefit, rather than strengthening the knowledge and testimony of Christ in the lives of people. A fellowship ought to grow not just in numbers, but in warmth and sympathy one to another. In knowledge and esteem for one another. In service to one another and abiding in Christ.

We can find excuses and even justifications for why a fellowship has become distant. Perhaps one of the key factors is a multicultural assembly. With people coming from different countries with little to no common ground. As true as this is, the barrier it’s not there. Reading Acts 20:1-6, we find an interesting event recorded by Luke with zero theological meaning. It only describes the apostle Paul, as already planned in chapter 19, departing to visit various churches. Leaving Ephesus and going to Macedonia, then to Greece. With a plan to go to Syria, however, due to the Jews’ opposition, this could not go ahead. Therefore, he had to go back through Macedonia and then arrive in Ephesus. Interesting journey and so much we can learn from, especially from Acts 20:4.

We read

And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. (KJV)

The above verse is so closely linked to today’s topic, as it expands the Scripture’s depths to us. First, I would like to point out the obvious. Which sometimes is needed to do, even though it’s so obvious. Notice that the people in Paul’s team came from different backgrounds. Luke is quite specific in giving us the cities they came from. Sopater – Berea, which was an ancient city situated in southwestern Macedonia. Aristarchus and Secundus – Thessalonica, which was close to Berea. Gaius – Derbe, a city in the southeastern part of Asia Minor. Timotheus – either from Derbe or Lystra, who was a child born from a mixed couple: a Jewess and a Greek. Tychicus and Trophimus, who were of Asia, a big geographical area, which doesn’t specify much about their background, but enough to understand their roots. And lastly, but not least, the apostle Paul, a Jew and Pharisee and a Roman citizen. And not only that, but Luke travelled with them on this occasion. This was the team Paul took with him, at least on the second part of the journey, after departing from Greece. A very multicultural team, I would say, embarking on a missionary journey with a clear scope and purpose. I wonder, though, what kept them together and close to finish the journey, moving on when resistance was met and keeping the friendship close. Apart from their cultural background and different mindsets, there was something they all had in common, so deeply ingrained in them all equally. A culture does not belong to a society, nor is it defined by a small city or tribe. A cultural background is built from childhood in the family context. And each family then contributes to the city culture and customs, then to the region and then to the country and so on. Even so, there is something powerful which can move away differences, break away mindset barriers and equalise value in each human being. It is not something new, or which we have not heard of. It is the very thing Paul did all his life and accompanied by different disciples working alongside him. The message of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour. The gospel!

The Word of God is powerful because it’s God Himself, as we read in John 1:1. How much more powerful is it to know that it can remove barriers which we need removing. But of course, not without accepting this great message the gospel holds within. By grace, through faith alone! The gospel is there, gracefully and proving itself day by day, how much it can change people and bring them together and closer to Christ and into Christ. Is the problem within the Gospel, or does it lie with the people? The obvious is quite evident, and we do not need any other explanation. The one thing a multicultural church needs is to allow the gospel to warm their hearts. Multicultural churches have existed since the beginning. The very first sermon Peter preached in Acts chapter 2 was to a multitude of people, coming from different countries and regions. Speaking different languages. That did not stop the gospel message from penetrating the language barrier and the cultural mindset, to have Christ as their Saviour. Once they were pierced into their hearts, they all laid aside the cultural past and moved into the present within Christ. The first church was so closely knitted, they instituted a welfare system so that no one was left behind in the day-to-day needs. Sacrificing their assets and wealth, so that the church and the gospel thrive.

The examples can continue, however, I fear it will be to our disadvantage and may put us to shame. Christ did not die for a specific culture, but for all humanity. Let us pick up this great truth and live by it. It first needs to break into our hearts and transform them. And by doing so, for us to remove any barriers, either cultural, mindsets or habits. Resting in the arms of Jesus, to grow in the presence and exhortation of the knowledge of Christ, who is all in all. (Colossians 3:11)