Faith Discussions 1

As Colossians 3:11 states, “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” This helps to explain how the Christian faith and the Bible play into the way that we lead in the area of cultural diversity: instead of seeing everyone as someone who is from this part of the world or who has such and such a socio-economic background, we look instead to the spiritual qualities—the fact that everyone is made new in Christ. Moreover, we should see Christ is in everybody and treat everybody as though we were dealing directly with Christ Himself. This is the truest way to approach others and to be a leader. It is like the prayer of St. Patrick’s Breastplate: “Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.”

The same idea is found in Gen 3:28: “man is become as one of us”—meaning that we are made in God’s image, and therefore we should not be quick to judge others because of cultural differences. This idea extends to inviting everyone to participate in the work of faith. Nemetz and Christensen (1996) state that faith calls for the “free and equal participation of all subgroups” in the work of grace and of God: no one...

435). Ephesians 4:4 notes that “there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling,” which tells us that we are all one body in Christ and that because of this unification in Christ, there is really no difference among us because the faith and the spirit are what matter—not the external things, like race or heritage or background or custom. The faith is what erases all of those differences and makes everyone equal in Christ.
References

Nemetz, P. L., & Christensen, S. L. (1996). The challenge of cultural diversity:

Harnessing a diversity of views to understand multiculturalism. Academy of Management Review, 21(2), 434-462.

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Christianity does call us to be accepting of all people, as you point out, because this is how Christ was. The only time Christ became physically upset was when the moneychangers were acting like thieves in the temple where they should have been praying. Christ whipped them and chased them out. He was furious, however, because they were neglecting the spirit in a spiritual place—not because they were ethnically different or anything like that. Christ healed people regardless of their ethnicity and background. His example alone shows us how we should treat others. No matter who called upon him for assistance, He listened and gave them His time so that they might want to live in Him. We cannot attract people to God unless we…