Why I Believe... in the Multiethnic Church
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It was a bright, beautiful, sunny day and “One Love” by Bob Marley fills your ears and the city streets around you. You know the song, right?
“One love… One heart …
Let’s get together and feel alright.”
As you're sitting there in front of your favorite and only neighborhood coffee shop with outdoor seating. Your senses are all being overwhelmed. Not only do you hear Bob Marley’s voice, but you also hear the rush of the crowds passing in front of you as they are going to and from their apartments, pulling their personal shopping carts, not speaking English.
Your sinuses fill up with smells from local food trucks and street vendors as they open up their Churro containers and the cinnamon sugar fills that air followed by the Birra stew cooking down the goat meat at the taco truck as people order Birra tacos that start to make your mouth water. A neighborhood friend walks by with his earbuds in, but you smell his coffee from one of the local Spanish bakeries on your block and the coffee is light and sweet (just like me).
All of this is happening around you, as you sit out in the road in front of El Barista (shout to Manny if you’re watching) because the city is allowing sectioned off outdoor seating, even though cars are whizzing past you, laying on their horns because an Uber driver and bicyclist cut them off.
This, believe it or not, is the moment that God impressed upon me the beautiful picture of what the Kingdom of God is like and what our future looks like.
Well, hey, my name is John, and I am the Outreach Director here at MCC and I am so excited to continue our series on Why I Believe …
We’ve covered a lot of ground so far and if you’ve missed anything, check out our website for all those past sermons.
That story I just shared about all the sights, smells, and sounds happened to me while my wife, Heather, and I had the pleasure to fulfill one of the desires of our hearts when we lived in New York City. I still remember that day not because I was caught up in the rhythms of a massive city, but because it was then that the Holy Spirit was vividly impressing upon me that this is what God’s Kingdom looks like: a beautifully diverse cornucopia of cultures and ethnicities that are united together in worship and service of God despite of and, quite possibly, because of their differences.
In fact, the Apostle John puts it this way:
READ Revelation 7:9-10
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
John was seeing a picture of what heaven is going to be like and what our future will be like if we are followers of Jesus.
Does that picture excite you?
This isn’t just a beautiful picture of a diverse cornucopia of cultures and ethnicities displaying some future more perfect Union. No, this is going to happen in the future because it is God’s will.
Not only is this God’s will for our future, but God also showed us His will thousands of years ago when he spoke to Abram, who wasn’t a Jew at the time, but rather was from the land of Ur, which is in modern day Iraq. God said this,
READ Genesis 12:1-3 NLT
“The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.””
Last week, Pastor Phil highlighted these verses about the responsibility of God’s People (His Church or His Bride) to be a blessing to absolutely ever ethnic group on earth.
The Israelites failed at this. Let’s be honest, modern-day churches are failing at this too. But, can we all agree right now, that that trend ends with us in this generation so that we may be a diverse community seeing future generations transformed by the gospel?
Don’t you want our church to reflect what heaven will be like?
Don’t you want your life to be a blessing to others, no matter who they are?
Don’t you want to live in that picture where unity and peace is everywhere?
I do!
Those pictures give me hope, peace, and fuel me to share the gospel of Jesus in tangible, tactile ways so that not only are spiritual needs met, but also physical, relational, emotional, and the holistic needs of others.
But I must confess that I’m burdened by this topic, because this is not the picture we currently see in our world. Instead, we see hate overflowing into every aspect of our society: schools, grocery stores, hospitals, Central Park bird watching. Children aren’t safe at schools, people aren’t safe in grocery stores or hospitals. Messages of hate directed toward people of color are increasing.
Just among Asian people groups alone, we see these messages on the rise.
“According to Stop AAPI Hate, an organization tracking instances of violence and verbal abuse, there were more than 10,900 incidents reported between March 2020 and December 2021.” (Zhou, 2023).[1]
We fool ourselves when we stay in our echo chambers and act like bigotry, hatred, individual and institutional racism is a thing of the past. It isn’t.
Just 39 days ago, students at one of our local High Schools, posted signs that come straight out of the 40s and 50s. Their signs read “whites only” and “blacks only” above their high school water fountains, took pictures, and posted those pictures online.[2]
Friends, we have a long way to go until those early pictures become a reality. We have a long way to go until we fulfill Jesus’ model prayer in Matthew 6, where he asks the Father that his will be done on earth as it is in Heaven (v. 10). We have such a long way to go to fulfill another prayer of Jesus found in John 17:21 NLT.
READ John 17:21 NLT
“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”
Could it be that the world’s level of belief in Jesus is based upon our level of unity with one another?
I think so. I believe that one reason why the world is so broken is because most American churches, aren’t even trying to reflect the picture that John saw in Revelation 7, nor are we trying to reflect Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17. Sure things are getting better, but data shows us we are a long way off.
Studies show that most American churches are made up of one ethnicity, and that most churches are fine with that level of diversity, which is no diversity at all.
Most of our churches in America are not inclusive nor diverse. Nor are they multi-ethnic, which is what God is calling us too.
Instead, most American churches are exclusion and tribalism and they does not reflect the inclusive, reconciling nature that is at the heart of the Gospel.
Think about this and even pray about it to.
Do you want MCC to become more diverse?
Do you want to see the picture of Heaven that John saw and that Jesus prayed for to happen here at MCC?
Do you want your life to become more diverse?
Attention/Need:
If you answered ‘No,’ to any of those questions, then you would have really hated the Early Church, because, at its inception the Church was multiethnic and multicultural, and it literally changed the world.
Sermon Statement: That is one reason why I believe … because from the very beginning, God has been building a beautifully diverse family that is filled with a cornucopia of cultures and ethnicities that are united together in worship and service to Him.
Scriptural Statement: God wants His Church, including MCC, to be multicultural and multiethnic.
Transition: But how? How can we fulfill that beautiful mosaic that John saw and Jesus prayed for in today’s cultural climate of hatred and division?
If not us, then who? If not the Church, then who? Friends, …
Point 1: The Multi-Ethnic Church is our Spiritual Heritage
If you are a follower of Jesus, then your spiritual heritage is multiethnic.
After all, Jesus commanded us to be multicultural.
READ Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
all nations - panta ta ethne = all ethnicities
Jesus’ earliest followers took this commandment to heart and even fulfilled it, in part, on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit empowered and enabled them to speak to the diverse crowd that had gathered in the city of Jerusalem.
READ Acts 2:5-13
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
“from every nation” - same words in Greek - pantos ethnous = all ethnicities
It means that from its beginning the Church has always been multi-ethnic.
Look at this picture of where the first Church congregation come from.
[PENTECOST PICTURE]
3,000 people from different cultures, different ethnicities, who had different lived experiences entered the family of God and started doing life together and living in unity with one another. It looked like this:
READ Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
This is your spiritual heritage! This is why we build relationships. Share Burdens and Share Jesus. So that we can bring everyone into the diverse, inclusive, reconciling family of God. Due to this uncommon multiethnic and multicultural unity, the church began to grow, and the wider culture began to believe in Jesus.
We are starting to see this take place down in Avondale. I love what God is doing in and through us down in Avondale. God has called us and opened a lot of doors for us to partner with and help support a lot of good Kingdom work down in Avondale. Most recently, we have been partnering with The Wesley Educational Center to help expand their preschools playground and partnering with other churches and organizations to help clean up parts of the wider neighborhood. Also, shout out to EPIC who blessed Wesley so well with hand soap and toilet paper! 102 rolls of TP for that preschool!
[EPIC TP Picture]
Now, I will never forget the impact that one of the pastors we partner with said during one of our planning meetings. Bishop Tait said, “The Church leads the way.”
In Acts, we see the church leading the way by living out its identity of being beautifully multiethnic and reflecting that picture that John saw of Heaven, its why God blesses His children so they can be a blessing to others, and it was living out what Jesus prayed would happen.
Transition: That is one reason why I believe … because, at its inception the Church was multiethnic, and it literally changed the world. But it takes work to live out our spiritual heritage, doesn’t it?
Point 2: The Multi-Ethnic Church requires Ongoing Intentional Care
We see that everything was going great in the Early Church in Acts 2. They were learning how to live like Jesus, they were living in unity with one another, no one was in need because those who were economically privileged sacrificially loved those who weren’t well off by giving out of their wealth. We see that this unity didn’t just exist out in the open or “at church,” but also happened in each other's homes.
Because of this, the culture started to notice. They saw the church's outward expression of inward unity, and the Holy Spirit was able to move within the wider culture attracting massive amounts of people to the church.
Because of this crazy growth, a massive problem arose within the church that threatened its very existence.
READ Acts 6:1
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
Not only were Jewish people from Israel and afar living in community with one another, but a new type of Jew was also entering into the church: Hellenists. These people, while Jewish, did not share much in common, culturally speaking, with their fellow Hebraic Jewish neighbors. Hellenistic Jews were “ethnic Jews who practiced Judaism [but] largely adopted Greek language and culture. They may have lived most of their lives outside of Judea.” (Barry, FSB) [5] These early Hellenistic believers were the original ‘others.’ They were displaced from their ancestral homeland, dislocated from their cultural and religious heritage, and now disavowed from societal support in the form of daily provisions for communal and physical sustenance.
For some of you in this room or online, you know what that feels like. You know what it feels like to cautiously wade into situations hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. That’s what these people were doing. They needed support and community, and they saw a diverse group of people living that out. They believed in the gospel message because they saw it with their eyes and wanted to be included and cared for, but then their worst fears were realized - the majority were fine with letting them starve because they were different from them.
Imagine that. This level of hatred and discrimination and segregation was happening in the very same church that Luke previously said that “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” They drifted, didn't they. They drifted back to what was comfortable and natural. But even though it is natural to seek the welfare and prosperity of one’s own tribe, the church's mission is unnatural in this regard because followers of Christ are called to seek, serve, and sacrifice for those who are not a part of their family yet. Rather than segregating oneself from different ethnicities, cultures, or classes, Christ-followers are called to tear down walls of injustice through seeking out and serving the ‘other’ by accomplishing racial reconciliation through relational restoration. This is exemplified through the apostle’s solution to the discrimination that was happening in the early church.
READ Acts 6:2-7
So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
This was a serious situation and the Apostles recognized it and adequately responded by taking steps that would lead to unity amid diversity. The intentional care that the early church took to maintain and promote multi-ethnic unity is a model for all believers and even our culture today.
They didn’t turn a blind eye. They didn’t blame anyone. They didn’t sweep it under the rug. They didn’t hide the situation or downplay the severity of it. Instead, they brought everyone together which shows us that we are all responsible for multi-ethnic unity and multiculturalism within the church.
The leaders of the early church realized their limitations and delegated this very important ministry to highly qualified and competent leaders that were filled with the Holy Spirit who would guide their management of this ministry from a financial and distribution perspective within the church.
This is entirely countercultural, counter-intuitive, unnatural, and an amazingly beautiful picture of the Kingdom of God. “All seven of these men, … were not only Hellenists (v. 1), but are very obviously Hellenists [due to their names]. Elites often repressed complaining minorities; here the apostles graciously put trustworthy members of the offended minority into leadership roles.” (Keener, NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible) [6] These men were not simply promoted to practical leadership roles within the church that had little to no responsibility. Rather, the church and apostles are entrusting these seven Hellenists with tremendous responsibilities by being the hands and feet of Jesus and front-line witnesses for the church and the gospel.
Transition: That is one reason why I believe … because, at its inception the Church was multiethnic, and it literally changed the world by confronting its implicit bias’s and humbly following the guidance of the Holy Spirit to work out the perfect solution needed to tear down unjust dividing walls. The early church was able to achieve multiculturalism and so can we, even though there are dividing walls of hostility all around us today.
Point 3: The Multi-Ethnic Church is Achievable
One of my favorite passages in Scripture is found in Ephesians 2:14-16, it says:
READ Ephesians 2:14-16 (NLT)
“For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.”
A multi-ethnic church is achievable because Jesus purchased it with his blood, and he should get what he paid for.
So, how can we here at MCC achieve this beautiful mosaic of being a multiethnic, multicultural church? Here are four action steps that can at least get us started or further push us along down this path toward being a multiethnic church. Two of these action steps we are going to start doing today and two other action steps that you can schedule out:
1. Pray Jesus’ Prayer for Unity and Ask the Holy Spirit to root out any biases or favoritism from your life.
READ JAMES 2:1 (NLT)
““My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?”
READ John 17:20-21
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
We’re going to pray that prayer in a couple of seconds and invite the Holy Spirit to search our hearts so that we turn away from mono-ethnic favoritism and our own comfort levels and biases so that he can make us hungry for creating a multi-ethnic church here and now.
ACTION STEP: Pray for a multi-ethnic church
2. Intentionally Position Yourself to Build Diverse, Multi-Ethnic Relationships with Others
Jesus prayed that we would be one and commanded us to go.
Read Matthew 28:19a
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
When was the last time you had someone in your house that was ethnically different from you?
When was the last time you had a conversation with someone who was ethnically different from you?
Tribalism can quickly become our default lifestyle, unless we intentionally pursue and implement the multiethnic nature of the Great Commission and strategically place ourselves in places and spaces where we can build relationships with others who aren’t like us.
My wife, Heather, and I had to do just that when we lived in New York. We lived in East Harlem, or Spanish Harlem, and I stuck out like a sore thumb. One day I was meeting Heather at the corner of our block as she came out of the subway, and she started laughing because literally everyone was about chest high on me!
We made friends with people who either originated from or whose parents originated from Guatemala, Mexico, the Philippians, the Dominican Republic, and Ghana, just to name a few. It was through these relationships that some of our preferences and biases began to be revealed and torn down. Hearing their stories and their struggles helped us become more empathetic and united with them than we naturally would have been.
Hearing their stories of racial hatred from people who look like me humbled me and empowers me to work harder towards multiculturalism and multi-ethnic unity, not only in our culture, but also in our church.
ACTION STEP: [MEC SLIDE]
Sign up for the next Multi-Ethnic Conversation experience. That will be happening Wednesday evenings this Fall, starting on September 14th and you can register today if you go to the Events page on Realm.
This is a great experience to go through. I am currently going through myself and it’s a wonderful way of accomplishing what Dr. Eric Mason once said during a panel on race. He said that “If you don’t have proximity, you won’t have empathy.” That’s why it’s so important to intentionally build relationships with others.
3. Prioritize Peace Over Your Preferences
We read earlier that in Ephesians 2:14 NLT
For Christ himself has brought peace to us.
We can maintain that peace by living out the words Paul writes after that in:
READ Ephesians 4:2-3
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Your preferences don’t always have to prevail. You don’t always have to win the argument, especially if it is going to separate you from others. Instead, Paul tells us that we are to make every effort to maintain unity and peace among ourselves. When we do that the world will start to become hungry for the hope that we have found!
ACTION STEP: [NO SLIDE]
Participate in this year’s Juneteenth Celebration
Date: This Saturday, June 18th
Time: Noon – 9PM
Location: Eden Park
More information: www.juneteenthcincinnati.org
Transition: One reason why I believe … because, at its inception the Church was multicultural and multiethnic, and it literally changed the world.
Conclusions/Call to Action:
Friends, our country is changing. Ethnic demographics are shifting and, according to William Fry of The Brookings Institute “... racial and ethnic diversity will be an essential ingredient of America’s future. The mostly white baby boomer culture that defined the last half of the 20th century is giving way to a more multihued, multicultural nation.”[7]
God wants His Church, including MCC, to be multicultural and multiethnic. It is part of our spiritual heritage, but we have to intentionally care for it to be achievable, even in the midst of our deeply divided culture.
BIG IDEA:
I believe because God wants His Church to be multi-ethnic and he is inviting each one of us to play a part in it.
So, let’s do one of our action steps right now and pray Jesus’ prayer of unity
And then, after service, properly positioning yourself to intentionally build relationships with someone who doesn’t look like you.
Let’s Pray
Band Comes
Dismissal
READ 1 Corinthians 1:10
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
Isn’t that a beautiful picture? Friends, we can find unity even amid diversity. Why? Because it’s God’s will for us to do this! We can be perfectly united in mind and thought, there doesn’t have to be divisions among us, but it will take effort from us and reliance on the Holy Spirit to guide us to be able to fulfill God’s will for His Bride, the Church.
Let’s start working on that unity right now. It’s easy to do. As you leave today, simply ask those you come in contact with, especially those who don’t look like you, ask them this: “What’s your favorite restaurant around here?
I’m sure you will quickly find some unity.
[1] Zhou, L. (2022, March 15). The Stop Asian Hate movement is at a crossroads. Vox. https://www.vox.com/22820364/stop-asian-hate-movement-atlanta-shootings
[2] See Fieldstadt, E. (2022, May 19). 'Blacks only,' 'whites only' signs posted over water fountains at Cincinnati high school, students disciplined. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blacks-only-whites-only-signs-posted-water-fountains-cincinnati-high-s-rcna29584
[3] Smietana, M. (2015, January 15). Sunday Morning Segregation: Most Worshipers Feel Their Church Has Enough Diversity. Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2015/january/sunday-morning-segregation-most-worshipers-church-diversity.html
[4] Derwin L. Grey, Building a Multiethnic Church (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2021), 4.
[5] J. D. Barry, D. Mangum, D. R. Brown, M. S. Heiser, M. Custis, E. Ritzema, … D. Bomar, Faithlife Study Bible – Ac 6:1. (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2016).
[6] Craig S. Keener and John H. Walton, NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), Kindle Locations 248229-248232.
[7] Frey, W. (2020, July 1). The nation is diversifying even faster than predicted, according to new census data. Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/research/new-census-data-shows-the-nation-is-diversifying-even-faster-than-predicted