Tapestry Of Color

Tapestry of Color

I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD, who serve him and love his name, who worship him . . . and who hold fast to my covenant. I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer . . . because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. Isaiah 56:6-7

Sports have long been one of the leading agents for social change. While some coaches were slow to embrace the change that was coming to the nation in the area of race, other coaches were leading the charge. Eventually, once the recalcitrant coaches realized they could be more successful if they didn’t artificially limit their talent pool by race, even they joined in. Sometimes a myopic focus on winning can do some good.

If you’ve never been to a college conference tournament, it can be a fun experience. Fans show up from the various schools, dressed in their school colors, singing their fight songs. And because the format is usually a nonstop succession of games with different teams participating, quite often fans’ allegiances are formed and reformed. You might find a Wake Forest fan in their black and gold cheering alongside Clemson fans in their orange and purple, and then see them switch sides when the two schools finally face off. Or even Oregon Duck fans cheering for Oregon State . . . well, maybe not.

I think that’s probably what the Kingdom of God is supposed to look like. We all look different and have different passions and things that excite us. We live in different areas with different customs and languages, but as Christians, we all should stand together, singing praises and cheering for God.

Too often that’s not the case in our congregations. In fact, in many ways we may be less diverse than the rest of society. We need to make an intentional effort to change.

In making that effort to change, we show the world our true allegiance to Jesus and demonstrate that the superficial differences among us don’t carry the day—Jesus does.

But maybe we don’t have to cheer for Oregon State.

Who are you cheering next to in the arena of faith?

Uncommon Key > Think of an intentional step you can take to help the church live up to being a “house of prayer for all nations.”