This morning I attended a seminar called Intercultural Symposium. The intent of the seminar was to help congregations "to embrace the mission at our doorstep". Presenting were Sam Owusu, Andrew Lau and David Macfarlane (David was the speaker at the EMMC gathering in the summer).
I found Sam's presentation very interesting. He argued that in order to be faithful to the bible our churches need to be multi-cultural. Sam pointed to many different passages. It was fascinating to here him read the bible as an immigrant with a multi-cultural prespective. One passage that struck me was 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 in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:Sam pointed out that worship in heaven is diverse. Once we are in heaven we don't simply become one culture rather it is a gathering of all cultures. And then he pointed out that we pray "your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." So, aren't we praying that our churches become multi-cultural?
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."
I think he is right. If the church truly embraces the great commands - love God and love others - and the great commission - make disciples of all nations - then we will be multi-cultural.
However I still have some questions, like:
If we are suppose to be multi-cultural does this mean that we should no longer start churches that target a certain ethnic group?
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