Christians pray to and worship God in more languages than any other religion in the world (Netland and Ott 15). This can be attributed to the gospel’s power to overcome all cultural boundaries. As heirs of God’s kingdom our truth is no longer found in our worldly identity, but in our creator (ESV Gal 3:28). Unfortunately, as fallen humans, it is impossible to completely separate our own personal understanding of the world from God’s infallible truth. For example, when we worship God we can not help but have our worldly perspectives affect our understanding of what it is meant to look like.. As Christians, our culturally bound worship was not designed to comprehend the fullness of God, but to glorify Him as best as our meager understanding of
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Crouch writes, “The gospel constantly challenges every human culture with the possibility that we live within misplaced horizons” (176). God’s forgiveness challenges the world’s inherent ethnocentric mind to think of others first. Furthermore, His forgiveness challenges the body of the Church to reconcile amongst each other, rather than exalt ourselves. It is written in the Cape Town Commitment that, “Christ is our peace, made peace through the cross, and preached peace to the divided world of Jew and Gentile. The unity of the people of God is both a fact, and a mandate” (39). The gospel was not for one people group of the world. Nor was it for one people group within the Church. We were not only told it was for all people, we were commanded to be the ones to go and tell others about it. The obedience to this command clearly reflects that our hope for the good life is also found in the salvation of …show more content…
We would take the time to observe and appreciate different cultures and worship styles, and if we were to judge them it would come from understanding and not prejudice. Rynkiewich said it well: “It is premature judgement that is the problem, not judgement.” God does not call us to refrain from judging others. He calls us to worry about our own selfishness and pride before considering it in our brothers and sisters (Matt 7:5). This mindset will allow us to distinguish between wrong and different, and more importantly glorify God in our efforts rather than
Crouch writes, “The gospel constantly challenges every human culture with the possibility that we live within misplaced horizons” (176). God’s forgiveness challenges the world’s inherent ethnocentric mind to think of others first. Furthermore, His forgiveness challenges the body of the Church to reconcile amongst each other, rather than exalt ourselves. It is written in the Cape Town Commitment that, “Christ is our peace, made peace through the cross, and preached peace to the divided world of Jew and Gentile. The unity of the people of God is both a fact, and a mandate” (39). The gospel was not for one people group of the world. Nor was it for one people group within the Church. We were not only told it was for all people, we were commanded to be the ones to go and tell others about it. The obedience to this command clearly reflects that our hope for the good life is also found in the salvation of …show more content…
We would take the time to observe and appreciate different cultures and worship styles, and if we were to judge them it would come from understanding and not prejudice. Rynkiewich said it well: “It is premature judgement that is the problem, not judgement.” God does not call us to refrain from judging others. He calls us to worry about our own selfishness and pride before considering it in our brothers and sisters (Matt 7:5). This mindset will allow us to distinguish between wrong and different, and more importantly glorify God in our efforts rather than