Good News for diversity

In the midst of ethnic hostility that rears its head time and again, many Christians often struggle to see if the Gospel they believe has any relevance for this issue.

I sincerely believe it has.

Take for example the second half of chapter two of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Here, Paul unpacks the implications of the good news for centuries-old enemies…jew and Gentile. In doing so, he reveals some incredible truths for them and for us.

The first one is a radical redefinition of identity. Paul tells the Gentiles that in Christ they are now defined by a greater reality than their ethnicity from birth.

Furthermore, through the work of Jesus on the cross, both Jew and Gentile that have come to faith in Christ are not two different groups that must try to get along, but one new humanity. No longer is anyone a foreigner and an alien, but all are now fellow-citizens. The cross has therefore put to death the hostility between Jew and Gentile, and therefore any other ethnic divide.

It has given us a new primary identity, made us one new humanity, and has reconciled us to each other by being reconciled to God through Christ.

When we fully grasp this, historic enemies can become friends who share the same primary identity.

In other words, perhaps the most significant thing we can do in a world of ethnic hostility is to preach the good news – reconciling people to God and each other, and then ‘unpack’ its implications – in how we redefine our primary identity, and how we see and treat those ethnically different to us.

Be blessed, Tendai Chitsike Every Nation Church