The authority of the Bible is central to the Christian.
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Bohdan Bevz
This is a controversial topic that any number of people would say I shouldn’t touch.
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Yet, to do that is taking the cowardly path that helps no one.
But in this brief piece, I would like to address the topic of multiculturalism from a Christian perspective.
The authority of the Bible is central to the Christian.
From the very first chapter of the Bible we read: “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”. ( Gen. 1:27 )
Here, we read that God created mankind as male and female, both equally bearing His image.
Scripture makes no distinction of race or ethnicity at creation. Fundamentally, all people share the same God-given dignity and worth.
Jesus also had much to say about God’s concern for all people. In Luke’s gospel ( Lk. 4:25-27 ), He noted how God acted with mercy to various people of the world. That in a severe drought God sent Elijah the prophet to care for a woman from the land of Sidon. When Elisha the prophet was ministering throughout the land, he cleansed Naaman the Syrian.
This outraged the people in the Synagogue because they thought it intolerable that God could give preference to people of other nations because these people believed.
But that is the reality.
He loves and cares for Israel, but He also loves and cares for Gentiles (meaning those from other nations) and responds to all who have faith in Him.
This love for all the nations is supremely shown in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Through this sacrifice, Jesus provided a way for all to be reconciled to God.
Sin came at a cost, and it required a sacrifice that could rightly answer for it.
Jesus emphasised this point: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
In doing this, God created a new community not based upon this constant divide between various people groups, but based on the new covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
This is why Christians of every colour can worship God together since the basis is our oneness in Christ.
The apostle Paul describes this clearly in Galatians 3:27–28: “For all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
We remain ethnically different, yet we share a common standing and common values because we belong to Christ.
I would suggest that, if a multicultural society is to work, there must be a common set of values to which we all subscribe.
David McAllan, Echuca Community Church
Otherwise, society will tribalise and tear itself apart.
For the Christian, our common set of values are found in the revelation of God found in the Scriptures.
The love we have for one another flows from our shared union with Christ.
He is the great leveller.
There can be no supremacy amongst us, since we were all sinners redeemed by Jesus, solely by His merits.
This leaves no place for tribal alliances.
It also reflects God’s original intent, for “He created him; male and female He created them.”
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