Loving My (Different) Neighbor, Part 3

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” (Acts 15:1–5)

In the first post of this series (“Breaking Down the Walls”), we mentioned this passage as one of the first issues the early church had to confront. Evangelicals have rightly seen it as a defense of the Gospel, a Gospel that preaches salvation by faith apart from works. When we consider the groups involved and the religious context, however, we find a bit more to the story than that.

Beyond the implications of salvation, what was the real issue? The real issue was whether Gentiles should be forced to become Jews. God had established one way into the covenant community of Israel–the sign of circumcision and obedience to the covenant. For a Gentile to submit to that requirement would mean he was no longer a Gentile but a Jew. The Jews worshipped one specific way–everyone did it the same. Though several schools of interpretation had come up by the time of Christ, the Jews were, by and large, a unified and uniform community.

So, the real underlying statement by the Pharisee party was, “You must become like us. You must be circumcised, adopt our laws, follow our customs, and worship like we do if you are to be saved.” This is not just a nationalist statement. This is not just a religious statement. No, this is also a racial statement. Those Gentiles who submitted to circumcision would lose their primary identity. They would forever be known as Athenian Jews, Roman Jews, Ethiopian Jews, etc. Their racial identity would be wiped out.

Why highlight this? Simply for this reason: To point out that such thinking is still rampant in the church today. How is it that, in the United States, once the “foremost exporter of democracy” and the largest missionary-sending country in the world, 11:00 A.M. on Sunday morning is still considered the most segregated hour? Is it not because we hide behind our walls of “do it our way”? When we send missionaries to other countries to form churches, do we not teach “our” style of worship and cultural standards instead of learning to worship in that culture? Instead of the church being a multicultural body with one Head, have we not become separate bodies that stay away from each other, interacting only when it serves “our” purposes?

The church has so many divisions over so many minor things that we can have ten or more churches of the same denomination or label within a few square miles of each other. Why is that? Because we want the others to become like us. But then, we also have churches across the street from each other, one predominantly white, and the other predominantly Black or Hispanic, or some other minority. 

As Paula Fuller writes in The Kingdom Life, “What is perhaps the most painful aspect about this phenomenon [of 11:00 AM on Sunday mornings being the most segregated hour in America] is that we, as the church, are divided even though we live with the truth of the gospel’s power to reconcile us to God. God ‘has committed to us the message of reconciliation’ (2 Corinthians 5:19).”[1]

We most become the church of Christ when we learn from each other. We most become a united church when we are willing to move out of our comfort zones and experience worship from a different cultural perspective. 

As the Thai expression says, we are “same same but different.” We have the same Head, Christ. We have the same salvation, by faith alone. Yet, not only do we have differing gifts, personalities, and abilities within the church, but we have different people and cultures. The Bible says,

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9)

Notice one thing about this passage: The tribes and ethnic groups and languages will be distinguishable when all are around the throne. Cultural identity is not erased in the Gospel. There is no “Christian culture” (I know that may shock some of you). God wants all peoples to worship Him in their culture and language. And we would do well to see this time on earth as training to bring that about. 

When is the last time you worshipped with a group of people unlike you? When is the last time you deliberately spent time with people not of your culture? Remember that the Gospel is not a white Gospel, a Black Gospel, an Hispanic, Bantu, Creole, or Kurdish Gospel. It is God’s Gospel.

Paula Fuller, in that same work, told the story of her own transformation:

In November 2007, I attended a Native American theological conference along with other national leaders from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s multiethnic ministries department. Our department did not have a dedicated associate director for Native American ministries, and it was the desire of one of our senior leaders that the entire department and some of our Native American staff attend a Native American event so we could immerse ourselves in the culture and realities of Native American people. As we sat through a number of presentations, heard testimonies, and read articles about the historical and present-day atrocities committed against various tribes, I did not have words to articulate the anguish, brokenness, and pain I was experiencing. In that context, I did not feel like a fellow disadvantaged ethnic-minority woman. In that moment, I was attending as the vice president of a prominent parachurch ministry seeking to grow in my understanding of how to minister to Native American college students. 
    After the conference ended, we held a consultation with the Native American leaders who convened at the conference to seek their insight and counsel on our campus strategy for Native American students. We sat for several hours as they shared about their tribal histories and personal stories. When we began to discuss our ministry goals, one of the leaders asked, “Why are you interested in ministering to Native American students? Do you plan to indoctrinate them into a system that has resulted in the destruction of their people and culture, or are you coming in a way that is restorative?” As I reflected on the history I had heard that day, I realized that many of the perpetrators who had committed injustices against the Native American community were people who said they came in the name of the Lord. What could I say that would communicate that I was bringing a gospel that was actually “good news” for the Native American people? [2]

Do we not have the same good news, to share with all cultures? Let us therefore be the church, and live on earth as we will in heaven, embracing, learning from, and growing with “those other” people, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

[1] Paula Fuller, et al, The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation (p. 218).
[2] The Kingdom Life, (pp. 218-19).