Expanding Your Family Photo Album

As you share Christ with people nearby, God will raise your sights also to see His love for all people in every place. Although cross-cultural evangelistic work is daunting, God's outreach promises assure you it can be done and will be done.

Picture this. Imagine a family photo album containing pictures of the entire Christian Church. Look, there are the folks in your home church. And over here are the faces of brothers and sisters from all over the world--every man, woman, and child who confesses Christ. And still the family photo album is incomplete. Many empty pages remain, awaiting photos of countless not-yet brothers and not-yet sisters who still need to hear the gospel.

Infertility. Our global family began with Abraham and Sarah, a barren couple to whom the Lord promised, "I will make you into a great nation .... and all people on earth will be blessed through you" (Gen. 12:2,3). "Look up at the heavens and count the stars .... So shall your offspring be" (Gen. 15:5). But years after receiving these promises Abraham and Sarah remained childless. Surely, their barrenness was a source of sorrow for them both.

Infertile couples who wish to have children mourn the death of their dream of raising a family. As you look at your participation in witnessing and global missions, do you ever feel sort of barren and childless? Do you accept this barrenness as normal, or do you consider it contrary to God's will?

Thicker than water. In spite of their infertility, finally God gave Abraham and Sarah the child He had promised. They named him Isaac, which means "laughter." Joy abounds when a child is born, especially after a long wait, and no one waited longer than Abraham and Sarah.

God compares evangelism to the growth of a global family. We see this in three texts from Isaiah which foretell Israel's redemption from exile in Babylon and restoration as a nation. However, the global details in these prophecies seem to point beyond the restoration of Israel to God's plan to raise up children of Abraham from among all nations (Gal. 3:6-9, 26-29).

Listen to the Lord's joy at expanding the family photo album. He sounds like a parent shouting, "It's a girl!" or "It's a boy!"

I will bring your children from the east and gather them from the west. I will say to the north, "Give them up!" and to the south, "Do not hold them back." Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth--everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory... (Is. 43:5-7).

Then you will say in your heart, "Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected.... but these--where have they come from?" This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner [meaning Christ] to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders" (Is. 49:21-22).

Lift up your eyes and look about you... your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy (Is. 60:4-5).

In English we say "blood is thicker than water," which means family is the highest allegiance. In these promises God arouses your profound, innate dedication to family, so that you will do all you can to add your not-yet sisters and not-yet brothers to the family photo album of those justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Thank You for placing me in Your global, growing family.
Action: Collect pictures of people from many lands. Place them in an album or collage. Let the pictures remind you of your family.

Harmony in the Multicultural Church

Culture shock. Are you uncomfortable with other cultures? Most folks are. Picture the ministry of Carl and Karol Selle, missionaries to international students on campuses in the USA. They meet students from Japan, China, India, Zaire, Pakistan, Egypt, Brazil, Colombia, Russia, Romania, and so on. Imagine the mind-boggling variety of ethnic foods, music, arts, folklore, governments, social customs, values, and religious traditions. When converts from these many cultures try to worship and serve God together, disagreements may arise and divide them into separate ethnic enclaves.

Our fearful response to multi-cultural outreach may be, "Why can't everyone else speak my language, eat my food, and sing my hymns? Why can't everyone be my culture?"

Have you ever felt this way? Would you feel better if the existence of many cultures was actually part of God's plan? It is! Revelation 21:26 says, "The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it [the new Jerusalem]."

Plenty of time. What are the glory and honor of a nation? A nation's language, music, art, science, and knowledge. We lump these glories together in one word&emdash;culture!

God not only declares individuals to be holy saints, in Rev. 21:26 He promises to sanctify our cultures as well. Although all human cultures (including your own) are tainted with much that is impure, shameful, and deceitful, none of this will be allowed entrance into heaven. However, everything which is glorious and honorable in each nation will be brought into the new Jerusalem as tribute to its King, the Triune Savior God.

In the 1960s, Black singer Aretha Franklin released her first hits. Her Afro-American music sounded foreign to my Euro-American ears. But when Aretha's fifth song hit the charts, I heard it on the radio one day and said to myself, "You know, this new Aretha Franklin song isn't bad at all. She must be getting better." Then I listened a little closer and realized it was not her latest release. The song I was praising was her first record which I had hated two years earlier. Who had changed: Aretha or me?

Recently my wife and I attended a gathering of Asian Indians. After hours of music and dancing which seemed strange to us, we admitted, "It would take a long time to get used to this culture."

Well, in heaven how much time will we have to learn to appreciate the thousands of cultures which will be represented there? We will have all eternity. Heaven will hum with multicultural harmony. Right now you may not like Indian music or Japanese theater or Bolivian dance, which are the cultural glories of those people. But in heaven what you now call "foreign" you will learn to love, as you experience it being used to glorify the Savior of the nations. Meanwhile, your music and art will be prized by the citizens of heaven from other cultures.

What culture or different environment do you need to grow to appreciate? How does God's promise of multi-cultural harmony in heaven liberate you to steadily learn and become comfortable with that culture this side of heaven?

Shoulder to shoulder. Here is a wonderful promise about multicultural ministry.

Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Cush [the upper Nile region] my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings (Zeph. 3:9-10).

The phrase "shoulder to shoulder" is a powerful image implying intimate proximity, concerted strength, and unified purpose. To serve God in this way with folks from other cultures is a joyous experience, but sometimes we miss out on it.

I once painted some rooms at an inner-city church which was used by two congregations, one English-speaking the other Spanish-speaking. As I painted, I listened to the church members talking about their brothers and sisters in the other language group. They were experiencing severe cultural tensions over the maintenance of the building. How Satan must snicker when petty disagreements divide the unity God has given us in Christ.

Perhaps you know of a multi-cultural outreach effort which is floundering because the people involved fail to understand each other's cultures. This occurs far too often. In stark contrast, when believers from many ethnic groups learn to serve God "shoulder to shoulder," they delight in God-given solidarity.

Have you ever known the joy of serving God with people from other cultures? Have you ever longed for such unity of heart and purpose? In Zeph. 3:9-10, the Lord promises this blessing to His international church. On the basis of this promise, what steps toward unified ministry are you willing to take?

Prayer: Thank You for cultures, Lord. Help me enjoy the variety.
Action: With a Christian from a different culture than yours, discuss how you both can better serve God shoulder to shoulder.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.