Trevor Owen

Read: Acts 11:1-4, 15-18

The apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” Peter began to explain to them step by step… “…As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If, then, God gave them the same gift that he also gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?” When they heard this they became silent. And they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has given repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles.”

One of the things I have consistently noticed throughout scripture is how biblical characters regularly had their faith stretched and grown by seeing God at work in places and people they didn’t expect. I have also seen how God has done this in me through my various mission travels and some rather interesting people in my own backyard. Biblically and personally, I know one of the best tools God has to stretch our worldview is by calling us to listen to “them”: those who aren’t like “us.” Let me share an experience that has helped stretch me lately.

When I was in Togo several months ago, I was invited to teach for several days at an international missionary training institute. This institute was created by West Africans to teach their pastors and young missionaries how to reach beyond their tribal borders. They were practicing it practically as the current enrollment included participants from five different countries and multiple tribes. As one of the first Westerners to teach there, the group was politely curious to talk with me about colonialism and Christianity. We had a lovely, and emotional, conversation about which aspects of the Christian faith brought to Africa from the West were cultural and unnecessary and which were essential. We discussed whether the pipe organs in their churches were important to worship or if they should ditch them in favor of drums. We talked about the impact of Western dress and what aspects of it were spiritually important (they wanted to know if women could wear pants because they had been told they absolutely couldn’t!). The conversation culminated in collectively pondering what Christianity might look like in their tribes if the West had given them only Jesus and not imposed our culture on them, as well.

I left those days of teaching wrestling with how much of my, and my church’s, Christian practices and habits have more to do with culture and what we’re familiar with than about what is essentially Jesus. This wrestling seems particularly relevant, and strangely freeing, given all the 40 DAYS of PRAYER transitions the last year has forced on every aspect of our church life. I think we are all trying to figure out what it means to humbly follow Jesus through the transitions Covid brought and how to move our personal faith and Christian practices forward into what’s ahead. What is incredibly encouraging to me is how we see this wrestling, and these conversations, over and over through the Bible. This is nothing new!

There is this constant tension throughout Scripture over what is essential and central for serving God and following Jesus. What does it mean to be God’s people and faithfully follow him? How do we help others to find genuine faith but not over burden them? What is beyond the bounds of “okay” and what differences don’t really matter? I would argue that it is these questions that are at the root of the tension between the generations in our churches, lie at the heart of all the different denominations that dot our streets, and will ultimately guide our conversations as we rebuild, reform and move forward as Christians after Covid. Finding ways to see God in “them” in order to grow our faith in him may be exactly what is needed!

Right now, we have a unique opportunity to reform and reorient ourselves and our churches around the things that really matter and find freedom from some of the things that don’t. God may be offering us perspectives and insights into ourselves through those around us that aren’t like “us”. We can learn from Christians in other parts of the world about what really matters and what things we have missed. We can hear from those in our culture that aren’t Christians about how we are perceived and use those perspectives to reexamine what we emphasize about our faith. We can listen to those that share radically different political or social values and see aspects of ourselves we would have otherwise missed. We can go to the bible and see the many times God challenged his followers to change their cultural and religious habits in order to better align with his heart.

Both personally and collectively, we have that opportunity now

REFLECTION:

· What are some ways you can hear from “them” in order to hear from Him how to move forward?

· Whose voice have you previously silenced that maybe God wants to speak to you through?

I know I, for one, am glad Peter and “the circumcision party” listened and learned from the Gentiles. Sometimes we need “them” more than we realize.

God bless and, wherever you are, stay on mission!