“Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” (Acts 10:34-35 NASB)
It’s Sunday morning so I will keep it somewhat short. God has a sent message waiting for you at the worship service you will attend today. You are attending right, in person or by a virtual alternative? I thought so! Good for you!
Just know that the current crisis has not excused us from Jesus’ Great Commission to make Christ known and to help people come to know Him better. The extended months of the pandemic has not postponed our evangelism assignment. So as you evangelize, keep in mind what Peter wrote above, and the extent that we are to go on witnessing to all nations; including people who are in your nation that have a different national origin. Don’t restrict your evangelism to people who are like you. Don’t shrink your saving potential. Making disciples requires that we take a multicultural and diversity approach.
Did you miss an opening story? My goodness, don’t let me disappoint you. Several years ago when one of my granddaughters was very young, she went to lunch with my wife and me. I actually wrote a bilingual book about it, titled “Ariel’s Lessons.” It was a book that if you turn it one way, you could read it in English. If you turned it another way, you got the story in Spanish. As we sat talking at our table at a smorgasbord style restaurant, a Spanish-speaking family sat across from us. My granddaughter asked after hearing them talk in their native tongue, “What are they saying?” I responded and told her, “They are speaking Spanish.” She quickly replied in an innocent voice, “I’m not like those people.” Innocent voices can be changed by instruction. So purposely, our conversation continued and I took the opportunity to teach a diversity lesson to a young child. My eye opening conclusion was my clincher. I ended the teaching by saying, “By the way, didn’t you know grandma is Latino.” Her face reflected that she was processing my words perfectly. She’s smart today and she was smart then; possessed the ability to draw unyielding conclusions and unveiling deductions at a very early age. Short story shorter, my granddaughter goes to the table where the Latino family was setting and says, “¡Hola!!”
If you want to be a true disciple, just as Peter stepped out of the acculturation her experienced in a Jewish environment and extended His evangelism, taking the message of Jesus Christ to the Gentile world, we need to reach out to people of every race, color, ethnicity, creed, generational grouping, etc. and do our kingdom building work. God sent His Son so that whosoever would believe in Him could have eternal life. Everybody is a “whosoever! Be a witness, looking at an expanded view of prospects! Just do it and watch your church and the kingdom grow! You are “like those people,” people are saved by grace through faith; saved from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and the presence of sin. Enjoy church today my friend! Be blessed!
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NASB)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King