Discipled by the Nations: A Church that Crosses Borders

When was the last time you learned from someone outside your cultural comfort zone? When someone challenged you in your thinking – someone who didn’t share your culture, your language or your background?

I think of traveling to Mexico, and worshiping in one of our Advent Christian Churches in Ensenada. I sang worship songs in a language I did not know, danced and clapped with people who I could not communicate very well with, and ate a delicious lunch that was made by church members and very much a mystery to me.

I think of traveling to Japan and visiting Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and learning about these religions that are very different from my own faith. I enjoyed some of the best international food I’ve ever tried, and had a good laugh at learning how to eat with chopsticks.

It was one of the most spiritually enriching experiences I’ve had the privilege of participating in, and I learned so much about my own faith from a very different culture than my own.

I learned how to communicate with people who don’t speak the same language that I do. I listened patiently to others who practiced very hard to speak in English to me. I ate food that was unfamiliar to me. I witnessed a version of worship that was so very different from what I was used to in the United States, and encountered God in a new way. I learned how a different culture approached prayer and worship, and the respect and reverence associated with that. I learned to listen, to slow down, to learn and to observe with an attitude of respect and curiosity. I learned to adopt the posture of cultural humility and an open mind.

 “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”

1 Corinthians 9:22

We live in a time where the algorithm rules, and our social media feeds, hobbies and interests are all curated to our liking. The early church in the book of Acts suggests something different – learning from different cultures is one of the greatest ways that God stretches us and allows for growth. After all, the church is global.

Often, the “global Church” is imagined as a modern development, thanks to things like airplanes, passports, mission trips and missionaries. But the church in Acts did not start as a singular isolated cultural movement – it started as a Spirit-filled, multicultural movement that spread like wildfire.

Beginning in Acts 2, people from “every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) heard the message of the gospel in their own languages upon the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The church’s foundation was built on the beauty and miracle of unity in diversity. So many from different cultures, languages, nations and walks of life that gathered in that upper room; and they left with a message that would cross borders faster than anyone could imagine. 

This verse from the book of Acts comes to mind:

“[Paul] was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.”

Acts 20:4

Yes, this looks like a list of names that your eyes might gloss over as you read through the passage; take a moment and stop to read through them.

• Sopater of Berea, a city in northern Greece. The same Berea from Acts 17, where the Bereans were said to be of noble character and eager to study the Scriptures.
• Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, a city in Macedonia (modern day Turkey), and the location of the church to whom Paul wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
• Gaius of Derbe, a city in Lycaonia in Asia Minor. Paul visited Derbe in his first missionary journey in Acts 14.
• Timothy of Lystra, a city near Derbe. Timothy was half-Jewish and half-Greek, and Paul’s closest disciple and spiritual child. Timothy later became the leader of the church in Ephesus.
• Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia, likely the area around Ephesus. Tychicus was a trusted messenger, and often mentioned in Paul’s letters as the one who carried the letters to the churches. Trophimus was a Gentile believer from Ephesus, and the reason Paul is accused of defiling the Temple as he was seen with Paul in the Gentile courts.

This verse is a picture of the global church, a snapshot of a global movement set in motion. Here, Paul has seven men who represent every geographic region of his ministry, and likely are representatives of their churches. This is the visible fruit of Paul’s ministry, and in Acts 20-21, they bring an offering from the Gentiles. 

This offering was a tribute of the nations.

Things go awry soon after, as Paul enters the temple to give the offering, but is arrested after being falsely accused of defiling the temple by bringing Gentiles past the wall separating the outer court from the inner court. Paul would not have brought Gentiles into the area of the temple meant for Jews only, as he would have known the consequences. Nonetheless, Paul is arrested and ultimately imprisoned and then placed under house arrest.

But the church did not stop moving and growing. In the first century, the global church was marked by mutual leadership, a shared mission and a deep respect across cultures. Paul not only preached to the nations, but he also partnered with them.

Acts reminds us that missions is not a one-way street (we go, we give, we teach). We are also to receive, to listen and to learn.

The global church teaches us and disciples us in their stories of faith under persecution, their joy amid poverty, and their bold ministry among the unreached people groups (like the Hadzabe and the Datoga).

Are you paying attention?

When was the last time you listened? The last time you learned from a believer outside of your comfort zone?

Discomfort leads to growth, and growth requires humility. Are we humble enough to learn from the unexpected people in unexpected places who the Holy Spirit places in our pathways?

So read that book or listen to that sermon from the African, the Asian, the Middle Eastern, the Latin American leader. Volunteer with a refugee or immigrant community. Pray for a country or region that is not your own. Share a meal with someone from another culture – better yet, eat a meal that is from another culture!

Allow your discomfort to push you into growing in your faith. The church grows together and crosses borders, languages and cultures along the way. The gospel message is not bound by our cultural preferences.

Listen. Learn. Be discipled by the nations.

“Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right.’”

Acts 10:34–35