According to Revelation 7:9, the people of God in heaven, gathered around the throne, come from every nation, tribe people and language. That means there are Americans, Europeans, Arabians, Indians, Hispanics, Africans, Australians, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Germans, etc. They all gather around the throne without notice of their differences. They do not argue over politics. They do not argue about heritage. They do not ridicule color, language or culture. They simply gather in unity to honor the God of heaven and the Lamb. 

That is what it looks like in heaven.

Why doesn’t it look like that in my home congregation? I obviously recognize if there is a language barrier the people may not be able to come together in the same congregation (cf. I Corinthians 14:13-15, 27-28). But, I can’t help questioning why are there black churches and white churches? Pockets of foreigners move into the country. They learn the language, but they still assemble with their “own people.” When will our own people simply be the people of God no matter nation, tribe, people or language?

When will our congregations look more like heaven?

I know some congregations are doing a great job with this issue. If you are part of one of those, that is awesome. Continue being an example for the rest of us. The majority of congregations, however, need some work here. I’m not talking about “affirmative action.” I’m just talking about getting the message out beyond the lines of people who look just like us.

I once heard a white brother say he was all for teaching a black man and bringing him into the congregation if the opportunity arose, but he didn’t think we needed to just make that our goal. If you have that thought, let me simply remind you of Acts 11:19-20. There were some people that spoke only to Jews. There were others that specifically made it their goal to speak to Gentiles. Maybe it is not so bad to make it our specific goal to get some diversity in a congregation. And yes, before some wounded white person trying to salve his conscience says it, I know this goes both ways. 

Let’s quit working on having congregations that look like our culture and start working for congregations that look like heaven.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC