Our Values: Diversity
As we continue our input series on Community Church’s values, this week we focus on diversity.
As Community Church, we value diversity unified in the good news about Jesus. Since the good news is for everyone, we want to welcome all people to experience faith in community. Despite our differences, we love each other and walk with Jesus together.
What makes diversity so important for Community Church?
Diversity matters for Community Church because diversity mattered for the church from the beginning.
Many friends from many nations visited our recent Picnic in Mauerpark, brining along some delicious food with them.
In Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’ disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. How did the Spirit empower them? The Spirit descended on the disciples like a rushing wind, so that they began speaking in other languages (Acts 2:4).
When the people in Jerusalem heard the commotion, everyone ran toward the noise. Hearing all the different languages the crowd said, “How can this be? These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!
Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!”
On that day, the day of Pentecost, when God’s Spirit descended on the disciples, at least 17 different nations heard the good news about Jesus.
What happened when these people heard this good news? Verse 41 says, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.”
If God created the first Christian church from a diverse community of people, then diversity should still matter for us today, especially in a city like Berlin! Much like Jerusalem at the birth of the first church, Berlin is a multi-cultural city. People from all over the world live, work, and study here. Community Church should therefore reflect the diversity of the city.
Since the good news is for everyone, we want to welcome all people into our community. Paul, an early follower of Jesus, clarified for the church in Colossi, “And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory… In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us” (Colossians 3: 4 & 11). God does not exclude anyone from salvation in Jesus and neither should we.
A diverse community, however, brings its own set of unique challenges, including potential for misunderstanding, disagreement or conflict. And yet, despite our differences, we are called to love each other and walk with Jesus together. Peter, another early follower of Jesus, encouraged Christians across the Roman empire to, “show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart” (1 Peter 1:22b). In Jesus, we can celebrate our differences as we love one another, because we are united in Jesus.
Diversity mattered for the first church, and it still matters for the church today. No matter who you are, or where you are from, you have a place in the church.
Join us for our next Explore the Bible series where you can experience community with a group of diverse people finding unity in Jesus!
