I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.
This is my covenant with you: I will make you the farther of a multitude of nations!
These promises are found in Genesis 12:2-3 and Genesis 17:4. This covenant was never “only” about the Jewish people; God is making an astounding claim: God’s people would be made up of anyone and everyone who might acknowledge the reality of God.
As we read through the balance of the Old Testament, we see this begin to come to fruition as various Gentiles are “slipped” in…Tamar, Rahab, Ruth (these are found in the genealogy of Jesus as found in Matthew 1).
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
When we flip to the New Testament, we see Jesus include Gentiles in his ministry, and in the book of Acts we see a massive shift and transition as Gentiles become followers of Jesus.
The Church Welcomed All Ethnicities. It’s important to note that this was a process. As we read through the book of Acts, we see resistance to the inclusion of Gentiles. And, we see lots of conversations about what it looks like for Gentiles to become Christians: What laws and rules should they be held to? Should they be circumcised? What about food laws? As we read through Paul’s letters, we see this topic discussed often, sometimes explicitly and other times through implication.
And, Acts is a book that details clearly the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The book itself is constructed that way; literally beginning in Jerusalem on Pentecost (where the gift of languages is manifested upon the disciples) and ending with Paul imprisoned in Rome, with the final words of Acts reading,
For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.
The Church Welcomed All Classes. Again, a read through the book of Acts reveals the proclamation of the gospel to anyone and everyone, from a crippled since birth beggar in Acts 3 to leaders like Felix, Festus, and Agrippa in Acts 24-26. Poor and wealthy alike responded to this proclamation by becoming followers of Jesus.
The Church Welcomed Women and Children. So much to say here. In the ancient world, neither women nor children had much value culturally. And as we read through the entire Bible, we see women demonstrate courage in the face of their time (again look at the genealogy mentioned above- they’re all women). We see a judge like Deborah, we see wives and mothers change the course of history. In the New Testament, we see Jesus elevate women beyond their cultural norms. We watch as Jesus reprimands his disciples over the treatment of children and their parents. Romans 16 is filled with the names of females, many of whom hosted church gathering in their homes. At the end of Acts 16, Luke lists Priscilla’s name ahead of her husband, and this is not inconsequential.
The Church was a Porch Light in a Dark World. It was the church who rescued babies (often female) abandoned by the Romans. It was the church who cared for the sick. In fact, Emperor Julian (an apostate Christian) in an effort to revive paganism in the Roman Empire wrote,
We ought then to share our money with all people, but more generously with the good, and with the helpless and poor so as to suffice for their need.
And I will assert, even though it be paradoxical to say so, that it would be a pious act to share our clothes and food even with the wicked. For it is to the humanity in a person that we give, and not to their moral character. Hence I think that even those who are shut up in prison have a right to the same sort of care, since this kind of philanthropy will not hinder justice.…
For it is disgraceful that, when no Jew ever has to beg, and the impious Galileans support not only their own poor but ours as well, all men see our people lack aid from us.
In her book, Oshman suggests a few action steps:
- Ponder the past growth and current size of the Christian family across the globe.
- Visit the census website for your county. Does your church “look” like your community? Click here for Scotts Bluff county.
- Reflect on the role and value of women (and children!) in your church community. Are we serving women and children who are outside of our church community?
- Search your heart for any hint of ethnocentrism or racism, classism, sexism, or any other ungodly way in which you may subconsciously view people who are not like you.
- Speak to someone different this Sunday.
- Pray for gospel unity in your local church, as well as gospel unity across the global Christian family.
We have a tremendous opportunity to be this same church today.
There are two resources I recommend for further reading: Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland and The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan Kreider.
The Cost, The Joy 