One Church, Many Colors!
Color bar, ethnic nationalism, and cultural identity are the hallmarks of the human race. We were raised to respect and identify with our heritage. We grew up ‘enslaved’ by the cultural ethos of our homeland. We then step out with our worldviews — seeing with our lenses heavily tinted. And given the peculiarities of our birth and limited experience of other climes, we were in for a shock as we encounter products of other cultures.
Genesis, the book of all beginnings, tells us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; after that he created mankind in his image and likeness — male and female he created them. From Adam and Eve the human race descended, multiplied and dispersed across the earth.
How did it happen? One God, one universe, one family — becoming many tribes, peoples, and nations with diverse languages, skin colors, unique characteristics and physical features.
The book of Genesis 5, gives a rundown of human generations from Adam to Noah and his three children — Shem, Ham and Japhet. Chapter 6 speaks to the great wickedness that marked the world of children birthed by “daughters of humans” resulting from cohabitating with “sons of God” or Nephilim — interpreted by one theological school as “hybrid sons of fallen angels.” It was such a corruption of the human race that God decided to wipe them off the earth in the Noah’s flood.
Another school, however, says “sons of God” were human beings — from the righteous line of Seith — intermarrying with the daughters of heathen Cainites. This interpretation matches a pattern in Israel’s history, whereby the chosen people repeatedly fell to the temptation of intermingling with pagan nations, and abandoning God for false idols.
Proponents of this view point to the report of ten of the twelve Israelites sent to spy the land of Canaan:
“We even saw the Nephilim there — the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.” (Num. 13:33).
This is clear proof that the Nephilim survived the flood, perhaps into our modern age.
It would appear that the “Nephilim” factor has continued to surface in every human generation since the fall — one writer gives it an ‘obscure meaning,’ interpreting it as “fallen ones.”
The Fall is a fall from the “Perfection of Godliness” — soul and spirit— to the “Corrupted Human Nature.” The human nature is marred, weird and distorted. Would that explain distorted psychic make-up of homosexuals? It’s food for thought eh? Which is why even the “chosen” people— old and new — continue to fall short of God’s standard and in need of the Savior?
Truth is human beings, regardless of spiritual status, remain sinful — as long as they are cloaked in the human flesh!
Humankind in the post-flood era spoke one language, had one government, and one goal. United, they decided to build — build a tower reaching to God in heaven. Their motive? “…so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Gen. 11).
The LORD had said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for they are mortal “ (Gen. 6:3).
Something was fundamentally wrong with their motive! God’s mandate to mankind is that they would multiply and replenish the earth. They were meant to scatter over the face of the whole earth. Now they embarked on a self-centered project — “make a name for ourselves” — and is targeted at disobeying the LORD’s command.
So the “Tower of Babel,” — a monument of rebellion— was dead from the outset. Human projects, intentionally conceived to counter God’s purposes are bound to fail.
Noah’s descendants were “scattered from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.” (Gen.11:8).
Genesis chapter 10 is a record of how the descendants of Noah — Shem, Ham and Japhet developed into nations and replenished the earth — giving rise to the diversification of peoples, and the resulting diversity of humans on earth.
God is a lover of colors and diversity. He gave the rainbow as a marker that He will no longer destroy the earth in a flood. It was the seal of His covenant with humankind. He “painted” humans, the crown of His creation in shades of pink, black, and brown colors. Ironically, what gives God joy in His creation becomes the stumbling block for peoples of the earth who cannot see beyond themselves and their immediate cultural environment.
They wonder why some human beings are different from them — becoming suspicious of peoples with different religion, skin color and language. It is the beginning of one nation preying over the other and of nations invading and colonising weaker nations.
Different peoples with different languages in different geo-physical and political settings — developing different cultures with unique religions and perception of the Creator? Incredible!
It is the Old Testament story of the Jews, and the story of Christians still grappling with our cultural diversity.
Unity in Diversity
God has chosen the Jews for our case study. Judaism caters to the spiritual needs of the Jews. It is based on God’s covenant relationship with Abraham, their ancestor. The “law and the prophets” stood on it.
But Luke 16:16 tells us,
“The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the Kingdom of God is being preached and everyone is forcing their way into it.”
Everyone has to find their way into it!
Regardless of national/religious/cultural practices prior to John, everyone from all nations and clime find their way into the kingdom of God from John.
The New Testament is about the good news of the Kingdom of God. Hitherto men have proclaimed the rule of men building human empires. Christ’s message and the Great commission is to “make disciples of all nations” for the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) — a far cry from Old Testament Judaism. It is an all inclusive Kingdom — for Jews and Gentiles.
Christ is asking peoples and nations of the earth to see beyond their individual, regional and cultural differences and perception of God as a tribal deity — to seeing the One Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth.
John the baptizer’s message to the Jews as he prepared the way for Christ’s coming was “repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
We do associate the word “repent” with sin — turning from sin. Yes! But the word has broader connotations than merely quitting our sinful ways. It means “change your mindset,” — change the way you think. It is about a new beginning — a new worldview.
The message became pertinent in a religious climate created by 430 years interregnum separating the Old Testament from the New.
Jesus’ message in the New Testament is all-inclusive. He came as fulfillment of the law and the prophets. Hebrews 1: 1–3 says:
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
“In these last days He has spoken.” Period.
He has said all that needs to be said through His Son!
As Christianity and the church was taking roots in other cultures — among non-Jewish peoples — the apostles faced a dilemma. They were forced to confront the question of whether new believers of different cultures should adopt Jewish law and such cultural practices as the circumcision. They did recognise differences in the cultures of new believers and never consider it expedient to force Jewish cultural practices on others.
In this way they removed barriers to the faith — cutting out all rules that were peripheral to Christianity’s core message.
It is noteworthy that the apostles, who were Jews, despite challenges posed by Jewish zealots, did not impose their will on the Church. Major decisions affecting the Christian community were taken at the general meeting of the church, formally known as the Council of Jerusalem. In the end the early church leaders believed it was the will of God NOT to impose Jewish cultural law on non-Jewish Christians.
In other words, people were free to follow Jesus without the requirement of cultural conformity.
One area in which the early church departed from Jewish cultural practices was its recognition of women’s role in ministry. Prior to the birth of Christianity, Jewish women were not allowed to worship in the same room as men. Indeed, the room assigned to men was much closer to the inner sanctuary where the presence of God dwelt.
But with Jesus leading the way, the early church opened up a world of opportunities that never existed for women. During the course of his ministry, women sat at the feet of Jesus as disciples, and were the first witnesses of the resurrection. They were church founders and leaders, prophets and apostles. Jesus’ inner circle included many women. It was a groundbreaking, counter-cultural advancement.
The early Church was full of faithful and influential female leaders. They included women like Phoebe, Chloe, Lydia, Eudia, Syntyche, Susanna and Priscilla.
Moreover, there was no social segregation in the early church. There was not a class for the rich and another for the poor. Early Christians who had plenty sold their possessions to provide for those who had little.
Thus the church of Christ was known for its inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness, for diversity rather than uniformity, for its progressiveness rather than conservativeness, and for its generosity rather than greed.
What does that say for the church today? Christ’s message to us all is that the whole world without Christ stands condemned because no group, nation or people is by itself, good enough to meet God’s standard of righteousness. We are all damaged products surviving by God’s grace through Christ. The Christian is a “work in progress.”
The Church is commissioned to call peoples and nations out of corruption, depravity, chaos and wickedness embedded in fallen humanity!
Scriptures say:
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6).
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands…” (Romans 3:10–11).
Jesus said, “I will build my Church, and the gate of Hades will not overcome it.”(Matt.16:18). The Church has no room for discrimination based on color, language and cultural differences.
Diversity is beautiful! It says much about the Creator of colors and the Universe.
The Church — the Ark of Salvation of the New Testament — is home to all Souls!
