The Gospel in Diversity - by Madison Pinto

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female,

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

God is redeeming all sorts of people to Himself. Jesus commissioned His disciples to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). The gospel began in Jerusalem, spread to Judea, and then Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). We know that this is increasingly true because here we are today – 21^st century Americans who worship the Savior that first came from Israel.

Have you ever considered how diversity shows the gospel? This verse from Galatians isn’t trying to eliminate our distinctions. It’s not that our ethnicities, our gender, or our jobs suddenly don’t matter when we come to Christ. That is something that today’s world would try to convince us of. No, instead, God delights in our differences. He redeems from all over the place and creates a hodgepodge group of people. Then He puts those redeemed people in a church and tells them to love one another, serve one another, and worship Him together. Isn’t that strange?

Imagine a church with people groups that normally don’t mix: blacks with whites, rich with poor, Republicans with Democrats, millennials with baby boomers, college graduates with high school drop outs, athletes with the physically disabled, Americans with those from the Middle East. Could you imagine what kinds of questions the world would ask if they saw a room full of those people singing to God together? “What in the world is going on with those people? How is it that they all get along?”

For this reason, the church makes the gospel visible. Salvation not only reconciles us to God, but through God, it reconciles us to one another. People that normally hate each other now love and sacrifice for one another. Consequently, the more diverse our relationships, the more God is made known. Ultimately, the friendships that we have in Christ point to the strangest relationship of all – that the holy and perfect God of the universe would make a way to have relationships with sinful and rebellious men and women.

Therefore, let us pursue Christian relationships with people that are so very different than us. May our strange friendships put the gospel on display to the world.