Opportunities for all
God loved the world, He gave His Son to save each one who believes in Him—unconditionally, without having to meet certain requirements, and without showing favour to any side (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:4–9). This gives all people, regardless of race, culture, or gender a tremendous possibility!
When Jesus went to heaven, He said, “Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples…" Matthew 28:18–20 (CEV). In other words, everyone, no matter what gender, race, culture, or nationality you are. It all depends on whether you want to, as Jesus explained in Matthew 16:24 (NLT), “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.’”
This is what Paul wanted to do and we can read his personal testimony in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
To be crucified with Christ has to do with being obedient to our heavenly calling. “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us.” Colossians 3:11 (NLT).
Paul, who was an apostle to the Gentiles, tells us to follow him just as he also followed Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1.) He didn’t say it is different for different races, genders, or cultures, but he made it clear that both men and women have equal opportunities to follow Christ and share in the death of Christ and the life of Christ! “But in the Lord women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. This is true because woman came from man, but also man is born from woman. But everything comes from God.” 1 Corinthians 11:11–12 (NCV).
Christ is all that matters and He lives in all of us
“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” Galatians 3:26–29 (NLT).
The church can only grow if there is this unity in Christ! There must never be any form of discrimination, and that also includes discrimination because of the family or culture you come from. All of us are members of one another and we are all called to grow up into Christ who is the head of the body (Ephesians 4:15–16). We must never rule over people; but we must work together with the others for the happiness of those who have this faith to share in the life of Christ (2 Corinthians 1:24).
That is why God “appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11–12 (GNT).
Let us serve each other with the grace that God gives, no matter what the others do and without expecting anything in return. (1 Peter 4:10–11.) The possibilities to be a servant in the body of Christ are unlimited within God’s grace over our life, for He gives different gifts to different persons, just as He decides (1 Corinthians 12:11). Therefore, it is very important for us to be in contact with God and not stand before people or seek their honour in our personal life or in our ministry (John 5:41).
Unity in Christ
The only way that we all can be one is when we have fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Only by walking in the light can man, woman, race, or culture be united in this one body of which Christ is the head (1 John 1).
“Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. He cancelled the detailed rules of the Law so that he could create one new person out of the two groups, making peace. He reconciled them both as one body to God by the cross, which ended the hostility to God. When he came, he announced the good news of peace to you who were far away from God and to those who were near. We both have access to the Father through Christ by the one Spirit.
“So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household. As God’s household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is joined together in him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:14–22 (CEB).
In the church, each member should be free to grow up to Christ who is the head. No one must rule over anyone! No one must take advantage of another—because that destroys God’s work with souls! (2 Corinthians 7:1–2.)
We are facing difficult times; we can see that in the world around us, where spiritual forces of evil rule. Our children experience much more ungodliness in schools today than just a few years ago. The church must be a safe place in the midst of everything, where children and young people can flourish together with those who want to follow Christ and be good shepherds of the flock! (John 10:1–18.)
Read 1 Corinthians 9. Do everything for the gospel’s sake; seek to win as many as possible! Then your focus will be on showing the death of Christ and His life in your circumstances (2 Corinthians 4:10–11). This is the only way how you can follow Paul as a servant to all!
May God bless His church and give all of us grace to understand our task, and that is to be examples to the flock and the believers, no matter their race, gender, or culture!
