Last week Jon spoke on loving the poor and this week Morgan spoke on multi ethnic churches.  
He kicked us off with a joke centered around how divisive the church is today.  There are so many divisions among Christians, denominations, etc.  We live in a divisive world and the church shares it's own version of division.  
We have to be carful because as the world secularizes, it will lean towards politics.  Politics is no longer a way to lead and solve problems.  Politics is now a way to divide and it's thick within the church.  We cannot be discipled by political talking points instead of being discipled by Jesus.  
Christians in the early church were heavily persecuted.  Why would anyone want to be a part of the most persecuted group?  These 5 characteristics are what stood out among the early Christians:

If you look at these 5 things and consider politics, the first two are in line with democrats, the next two are in line with Republicans, and neither really align with the 5th.  
Redeemer needs to follow Jesus and not a political party.  The gospel offends both parties.  
Morgan stated that the next few weeks we will tackle tough topics and we each need to pay attention to the tension these topics main bring.  Press in and dig deeper.  Let God meet you.  

Our scripture was Acts 15: 1-35.  The scripture shows conflict.  Acts 15 is a watershed moment in the Bible.  This is the first major dispute over how fast multi-ethnic churches were growing outside Jerusalem.  

This moment challenged what it meant to be Jewish vs what it meant to follow Jesus.  They were planting Multi-Ethnic churches! 
We read I Cor 9: 19-23 together.  Paul explained how he has become all things so that he might save some.  Paul had cultural discernment.  He went from one side of town to the other for the sake of the gospel.  "I have become...."  Paul mastered this.  
We find that the only place Jews and Gentiles sat at the same table was the table of Jesus.  

Morgan provided information from studies looking at multi-ethnic churches.  If you are a member of a homo-ethnic church, this can promote racism.  When we are only around those who look like us, act like us, think like us, that becomes your norm.  Then you start to project that onto others.  A diverse community makes us aware of our blind spots.  
Morgan gave the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who experienced the "Jim Crow South" with his black pastor from Harlem.  If he would have not experienced this, he would not have been the anti-Nazi force later in his life.  
Please remember that proximity breeds empathy and distance breeds suspicion.  Spend time with those different than you.  Be a good listener and try and see things from other points of view.  
Jesus is the ultimate "I have become...."
Looking more at the text from Acts, Peter tells them "You know God wanted us preaching the gospel to the Gentiles." Some were surprised that "Even the Gentiles were filled with the Holy Spirit."  Peter comes back to Jerusalem with criticism from the Jews.  
Morgan reminded us that who we eat with communicates our theology more than we know.  Peter was experiencing this.  

This all led to the letter basically telling the Gentiles they did not have to assimilate.  We should not be putting road blocks up for anyone seeking Christ.  
How do we engage culture with the gospel?  How do we steer away from colonialism which tries to force assimilation?  
What message are we sending as a church?  Are we crating a space for differences?  Are we creating a pathway for ALL to become leaders in our church?  
Morgan encouraged us to do the following...

Listen and learn.  Stop talking and really listen to those with different life experiences than you have.  
The church has done a poor job in the past of not lamenting our lack of diversity or our encouragement of separation.  What does this look like for us as a church?  
Create a habit of self examination.  We all have work to do.  

 

https://redeemerwichita.church/