Mingle or Merge?
Theme of the Week: Tackle the Ethnic Status Quo
Curtiss DeYoung
Friday, May 2, 2008
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people Ephesians 2:14. Bonus Reading:Ephesians 2:14-22
Over the next few months, the Christian Revival Centre moved from being a congregation for Indians to a church that sought to embrace everyone in their city. They decided that the power of God's call to unity far surpassed the barriers erected by generations of apartheid separation.
When the leadership discussed the issue of Sunday morning worship services, they decided on two: one continuing in the congregation's traditional format, and a second with a more Zulu feel, to incorporate members from the informal settlement. Yet the pastor wondered if they were taking the easy way out.
A month or so later, I preached there from the Book of Acts on how the first-century church moved from an ethnocentric congregation in Jerusalem to a multiethnic congregation in Antioch.
After the service, I learned later, the leadership council went to their pastor to say that the congregation mustn't take the easy road. They should have one service for everyone, incorporating Zulu musical styles into their worship. While this would require sacrifices for the Indian Christians, God had called them, they insisted, to the ministry of reconciliation.
—Curtiss DeYoung in United by Faith
My Response: Am I open to adjusting music and worship formats to welcome others?
Thought to Apply: I hear that melting pot stuff a lot, and all I can say is that we haven't melted.—Jesse Jackson (pastor & civil rights activist)
Adapted from United by Faith (Oxford Univ. Press, 2003) by permission.
Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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Make me willing, Lord, to move out of my comfort zone in order to grow your kingdom.
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