Christian theology and multiculturalism

No. 23, 27 February 2006

by Brian Edgar

Multiculturalism is not merely a calling for the church or a statement about what is appropriate for Christians. It is a calling for the whole of society. The Lordship of Christ is a Lordship of the Cosmos and not merely of the hearts and lives of believers. The church community is to be a sign, an illustration and a promise of what the world can be under Christ. Christians will join with others who support multiculturalism for pragmatic, historic and philosophical reasons, but the church bases its life on the calling of God, particularly as expressed in the life of Jesus Christ.

God the Creator

God is the creator of all that is good (Gen. 1:31) and, as the psalmist says, ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it’ (Ps. 24:1). All nations and peoples live under God’s care, and he looks forward to the time when all will know that, ‘The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance”’ (Isaiah 19:25).

Christ the Saviour

Paul wrote to the Galatians, ‘in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (3:26-28). Here Paul is dealing with the implications of being in Christ. There is a practical, social dimension to life together in Christ that will affect the way Christians live and relate to one another and the wider community. Christ came to redeem the whole world, to inaugurate a new kingdom and to transform relationships as well as enter into union with each believer.

This transformation began when the church resisted living by the Jew/Greek distinction that was such a deep-seated cultural division of the first century. Earlier in Galatians Paul had made the point that one is justified only by faith in Jesus Christ, and now he draws the implication that Jew and Gentile are united in Christ and any distinction is irrelevant in matters relating to salvation.

One immediate effect of this was that any actual separation of Jew and Gentile in the church had to end. Christian Jews could not regard themselves as superior in any way or require Gentiles to become Jewish. Jewish and Gentile believers could, and should worship together, and because they shared equally in the gift of salvation there could be no distinction in ministry which would suggest that one was more competent, or that one was more restricted in what they could do, or that one was in any way superior to the other. For Paul it was impossible to try and restrict the grace of God to one ethnic group. This inevitably transformed the nature of the church, and it should continue to transform the way Christians live today.

But what began with a change in the life of the church worked its way out in wider society as well. The principle that in Christ there is ‘neither slave nor free’ undercut any possibility of maintaining such social distinctions within the life of the church, and eventually removed any justification for the practice of slavery anywhere. Similarly, the principle that in Christ there is ‘neither Jew nor Greek’ undercuts any justification for monoculturalism within the church, and this has wider social ramifications. What is expected of the church is also a model for the world: a society where different cultures live together in harmony.

The unity of the Spirit

The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) was marked by a miracle of tongues which overcame the divisions of language and culture. Those who spoke different languages heard one message. In this way the scattering which took place at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) symbolically ended and the divisions between the nations were overcome by the presence of the Spirit. The various nations are listed to make the point that unity comes through the gift of the Spirit, and it is noted that the community grows rapidly. The Holy Spirit is the one who overcomes divisions, creates the community and brings about growth.

The fact that the various languages are not all replaced by a single language (which would be a more exact reversal of the scattering of Babel) is an implicit affirmation of the value of the various languages and cultures that were represented there and is a clear declaration that one does not have to cease being a Mede or Parthian (or Anglo, Lebanese, Chinese or Italian) in order to be filled with the Spirit and become a Christian.

Unfortunately, some Christians were soon arguing that people ought to become Jews first before they became Christians. This was, rightly, resisted. Christians today must likewise avoid suggesting directly or implicitly by word or by action that ‘to be a Christian you must become like us and take on our customs and habits and ways of life.’ Only those things which are contrary to God’s laws are to be rejected or changed, not those things which are simply culturally different. God’s community is diverse and includes people and cultures from around the world.

A vision of God’s future

John’s vision of God’s ultimate future includes ‘a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb’ (Rev. 7:9 also 14:6 and 22:2). This is a picture of what God desires and what will be achieved. The church is called to work towards this. While it would be a false hope to expect this present world to achieve the shalom of the ultimate kingdom of God it would be a lack of faith not to call this present world towards the life together for which Christ died.

Rev Dr Brian Edgar is Director of Public Theology for the Australian Evangelical Alliance. This article extends the argument of his earlier Soundings piece published on 7 February. The full article is available at http://www.evangelicalalliance.org.au/pdf/Christ%20and%20multiculturalism.pdf

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Soundings is a publication of the Centre for Christian Ethics, edited by Rod Benson. Soundings welcomes submissions of 750 to 1000 words that seek to facilitate debate and explore issues of religion, ethics and public policy in Australia and internationally. Previous columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for acceptable essays. Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the author of the column, Soundings, and the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College, Sydney Australia. Views expressed in Soundings articles are not necessarily those of the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College or the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT.