Cross-cultural Community

Cross-Cultural Community

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

Several years ago my church supported our local Hispanic community by allowing them to hold their own church services in our building. They are a wonderful community of people, and as Christmas approached one year, I wondered if our church could do something more to support them.

I talked to their pastor and found out what their big needs were, and then our church decided to hold a blessing service for them. It was a wonderful cross-cultural morning as we worshiped and prayed together, celebrating Jesus and getting to know one another. It was such a success that we continued our relationship with this community, helping with needs as we heard of them and blessing families with practical things—clothing, furniture, and household items.

But with all of the things people donated and along with all the encouragement we received to keep going, there were a few people who weren’t happy about our desire to help this Spanish-speaking church. A few voiced concerns because some of the recipients couldn’t speak English or hadn’t been in the US very long. As I sat in my living room, feeling discouraged by these comments, I opened my Bible and was reminded that in God’s eyes, there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. There is no longer English-speaking or Spanish-speaking. We are all one in Christ Jesus. This passage renewed my desire to continue on with what we were doing, assured that God was pleased with our efforts.

Have you ever been questioned about helping others? Maybe someone has been critical of a people group you’ve had a desire to help. Even Christians can hold prejudices against others or have biases against those who are different from them, but we can’t let this discourage us. Our love may not be perfect, but thank God that his is. If we are following what he’s asked us to do and loving those he’s asked us to show kindness to, we can continue confidently and can prayerfully release any criticism we receive to him.

—Kendra

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Show kindness toward a people group who often face criticism.