Greetings! Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some thoughts for us to pray through our vision for our church as well as for our personal vision for how God wants to use each of us in our spheres of influence.
One of the aspects of our lives that God uses is identity. Diversity of ethnicity is not necessarily negative, according to Scripture. The ways in which our sinfulness turns our diversity into reasons for separation or segregation - those are the negatives! Though the Bible shows mankind as all originating from God and from one line of ancestry, the diversification of mankind happened as people moved to different areas and developed different lifestyles, cultures, and economies. Some of those preferences come out even in the differences between Cain and Abel in Genesis 4: one hunted and one worked the ground. (Adam's first commission was as a gardener so agriculture was not an inferior occupation.) Later in the Old Testament, God gives a certain clan special skills in artistic production so that the Tabernacle could be appropriately constructed and adorned (Exodus 31). Our ethnicity, culture, skills, and lifestyle differences are meant to be appreciated.
So, what is your identity? Who did God make you to be? Your ethnicity is not a negative aspect of your identity, but it is also not meant to be a limiting factor. So how can God use us for His glory in our context?
These are the types of things we're asking God to show us. So take time to pray, for your personal vision, and for EACF.
Praying for you,
Pastor David
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