One of the most honest and grace-filled books about diversity in the church is United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity by Trillia Newbell. In an interview about her book for Lifeway, she says, “The gospel transforms the way we think of ethnicity. The gospel empowers us to share cross-culturally because it is the Good News that all need to hear. Jesus charged the disciples to make other disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). This mindset is important to the pursuit of diversity because we could find ourselves otherwise reaching out to only those like us. God paints the beautiful picture of disciples of all nations, all tribes, and all tongues. He most often uses his people to accomplish this goal.”
Christians of the early church were counter-cultural for many reasons but especially because of the way they freely associated with people of vastly different backgrounds. God’s vision for the church has always included multiculturalism and we must also embrace that vision.
Source: http://www.lifeway.com/leadership/2014/12/17/united-an-interview-with-trillia-newbell/
