According to God's administration given to me…, this mystery... is Christ in YOU the hope of glory. ·Him we proclaim: admonishing every human being, and in all wisdom teaching each one so that we might present every person mature [Gr. teleion] in Christ. …·in order that their hearts might be encouraged and knit together in love towards all the wealth of full confidence of understanding— towards knowing the mystery of Father God, (and) of the Messiah, ·…all creation’s Firstborn. (Col.1:25,27-29; 2:2; 1:15, Med.#80 & Med.#31)

What was Paul's goal in all pastoral issues in 1^st century multi-ethnic churches? It was not the eradication of the problem of sin—in the lives of believers or in their corporate life together. His goal was the growth of ‘each’ believer towards maturity as fellow adult sons and daughters (while being ‘knit together’ into a single multi-ethnic family—with each one growing in a confident relationship with God as a son or daughter of their Father, and with Jesus as their Eldest Brother). Is that your goal in all your pastoral work? –both for yourself and for each of your fellow believers? In both his Colossians letter and the one to the Galatians, Paul uses two ‘labels’ to describe the social powers that prevent believers from growing to maturity in Christ. The first is the stoikheia, the best translation being ‘elemental powers’—basic powers that go back to the beginning. The other ‘label’ makes use of two words: the arkhais & exousiais —rule and authority, or, in its plural form, ‘rulers and authorities’. In every culture, societies only work if these social powers are present.

Now Paul does not use these words to describe demonic powers associated with the devil.  When he writes about the arkhai & exousiai  in Ephesian s 6 (the first part of verse 12), he does so to represent these as one of the two different kinds of enemies we are up against. On the one hand there are these social powers (6:12a); on the other hand, there is the Devil and his ‘cosmic powers of darkness’ [Gr. kosmokratoras] and the forces of ‘spiritual wicked things among the celestial ones’ [Gr. pneumatika tes poneerias en tois epouraniois] (6:12b). The Devil and his powers are out to destroy us, but the social powers are primarily interested in keeping everything orderly and under control. And what do Christians in any society represent? Some of the biggest disturbers of social order as each ethnic group has known it this is because our first loyalty is to the new family kingdom order that is already being established through us under the lordship of Jesus. More specifically, because we come with a revelation of ‘the Mystery’ that says: men and women of all ethnic groups are all now co-heirs in Christ. What? Impossible! That disrupts the social order as we know it. This is why Christians get a lot of opposition from the social powers, not only from these powers outside the church, but also from the same social powers inside the Church—that Christians (unconsciously) bring with them into the church. What does Paul say in his Colossians letter about the social powers?

Watch out that no one takes YOU captive through the philosophy and empty deception drawn from human tradition—drawn from the elemental powers [Gr. stoikheia] of this world—and not drawn from Christ. ·For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form; ·and YOU have been given fullness in him who is the head of every primal chiefdom[Gr. arkhais] and authority [Gr. exousiais]… Visible and invisible—whether thrones, lordships, primal chiefdoms [Gr. arkhai] or authorities [Gr. exousiai]—all things were created through him and towards him. (Col.2:8-10; 1:16, Med.#31)

Notice how Paul connects the ‘elemental powers’ to the influence of human traditions and to various forms or positions of social authority. He is not talking about a danger from demonic powers, but from human social power because Christ is the ‘head’ of these authorities, not Satan. For positions of social power and authority (including the arkhai and exousiai) were all created through Christ and ‘towards’ him!  This is not something you can say about the Devil and the demonic powers. Yes, the Devil was originally created by Christ, but not to be God’s adversary or enemy. By contrast, God had a purpose in creating the social authorities through Christ—for the first stage of his plan. But now that he has come in the flesh, the philosophies connected to human traditions are empty and deceptive when compared to the ‘fullness’ that was revealed in him and then given to us in him. But if we don’t understand both the God-given role and the limitations of these social powers, we can easily be ‘taken captive’ by them again—especially as leaders and members of multi-ethnic churches—and so fail to grow and help others grow to maturity in Christ.

Now what does Paul mean when he says that all these social powers were created ‘towards him (Christ)’? And what does he have in mind when he speaks of one group of people drawing on these ‘elemental powers’ to bring a group of believers again into ‘captivity’? And what does this have to do with preventing growth in maturity? Finally, why does Paul call the attention of these believers to the ‘fullness of the Deity’ that indwelt Jesus in a human body and that has also been given to us? First, we need to look at how the Bible speaks about God’s purpose for these social powers before Christ came.

The God who made the world... ·made...every nation [Gr. ethnos] of human beings to inhabit the whole surface of the earth. And he marked out prearranged times (for them) and the boundaries of their habitat. (Acts 17:24,26, Med.#6)

He assigned to each nation a heavenly being, ·but Jacob's descendants he chose for himself. (Dt.32:8-9 GNT, Med.#C)

When we read about how God made the nations, we see that he formed each of these within territorial boundaries, with ‘prearranged times’ and an ‘assigned  supernatural guardian—‘a heavenly being’ (as a category of beings called ‘angels’ or ‘sons of God’ [Heb. beni elohim] in the Dead Sea Scrolls)--while God himself took personal responsibility for the nation of Israel (‘Jacob’s descendants’).[3] At some point I want to do a more in-depth study of this subject (social power) throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament) to demonstrate what was behind Paul’s thinking as a Bible scholar when he writes about the stoikheia, and about the arkhai & exousiai having both a heavenly dimension as well as an earthly one (Tit.3:1).[4] And when he speaks about the ‘elemental powers’ in his letter to the Galatian churches in relation to both Israel and the other nations.

In this letter, Paul refers first to the ‘elemental powers’ that all Jews (‘we’) experience when growing up—not under a supernatural being, but directly under God through the Law (the Torah) that he gave to Israel as an 'elemental power' equivalent to those over other nations..

The heir is no different from a servant as long as he is a minor…,·he is under guardians… until the planned-in-advance-placing by the father. ·Even so, when we were under-age-children we were enslaved under the elemental powers [Gr. stiokheia] of this world… ·under the Law… (Gal.4:1-3,5)

The Law became our childhood tutor [Gr. paidagogos] towards Christ… ·but...we are no longer under a childhood tutor. (Gal.3:24-25 Med.#30)

Paul speaks of the Law (the Torah) being given to Israel as a ‘childhood tutor’ [Gr. paidagogos] until Christ came! What English word derives from this Greek word? Pedagogy—the raising/teaching of children. And so the social systems that developed in Israel for administering the Law functioned as the ‘elemental powers’ [Gr. stoikheia] during the time that Israel was a ‘child-heir’ before the ‘planned-in-advanced placing’ that God as their ‘Father’ would confer on them in the Messiah. Until then, their position as a ‘minor’ under these ‘guardians’ was comparable to that of a servant or slave in God’s household. Then Paul uses the same language to describe the slave-like position of the nations (‘YOU’)—before Christ came.

When YOU did not know God, YOU were enslaved to those that are not by nature gods. ·So after you have come to know God…, why are YOU turning again to those weak and destitute elemental powers [Gr. stoikheia]? It is as if YOU are desiring to be enslaved again from above! (Gal. 4:8-9 PH) 

They too were in a slave-like position under the ‘elemental powers’ [stoikheia] of beings who are god-like, but not really gods. But what Paul says next is the real kicker, because these non-Jewish believers (‘YOU’) are not ‘turning again…to be enslaved again from above’ under their former god-like ‘elemental powers’. Instead they are turning away from their adult freedom in Christ and going back to the ‘elemental powers’ that are now represented by socially powerful Jewish believers in the church who are imposing their former ‘childhood tutor’ (‘the Law’)—on their fellow, non-Jewish believers.

YOU now observe (Jewish) days, months, seasonal events and years… ·YOU …desire to be under the Law…, ·Many people desire to make a nice show (and) compel YOU to be circumcised. … ·(Yet) if YOU become circumcised…, ·...Christ has become useless to YOU.  (Gal. 4:11,21; 6:12; 5:2 PH, Med.#30)

Paul says that all ‘childhood tutors’—of any culture, no matter how ‘biblical’—are equally enslaving when compared to the new relationship we now enjoy with the Father through Christ. And this includes the Jewish Law that in itself is ‘righteous, holy and good’ (Rom.7:12)! This would not have made Paul popular among the Jewish believers in Galatia. And this is why Paul tells the believers in Colossae that—when faced with such social powers—they need to focus their attention on the ‘fullness’ of God that indwelt Jesus in a human body and that has also been given to us. If they do not do so, they can be taken ‘captive’ again through the social power of other people in the church and the elemental power of their cultural ideas and human traditions. Because of sin, these are deceptive. Even when such ideas and traditional practices have the ‘appearance of wisdom’ they are ‘empty’ in comparison to Christ and to what we have been given in him (Col.2:8-10,20-23), and they are ‘weak and destitute’. Turning back to them will only make Christ ‘useless’ to us (Gal.4:9; 5:2).

But why would these minority ethnic groups in the church give in to such pressures? Because submission to the guardian powers of the dominant culture seemed the only way to be fully accepted as true believers in Jesus—something Paul had already witnessed in the church in Antioch (Gal.2:11-14, Med.#28). Can this happen today in multi-ethnic churches? In your multi-ethnic church?

We’ve heard from Hans (Euser) this morning about the danger of ethnocentrism. Once when I was teaching about the social power of ethnocentrism in the church, a woman in the class who came from the Philippines began to laugh. I asked her why. ‘Because’, she said ‘I used to think that only Americans tended to be ethnocentrically dominant in this way. Now I realize that we who come from the region of Manilla (the capital city) tend to act in the same dominating ethnocentric way towards people who come from the southern regions of the Philippines.’ This is not just a ‘Western’ problem; nor just a ‘colonial’ problem. This is a human problem in all social groups. We need to understand that it is possible for anyone among us to fall into such dominant ethnocentric forms of behavior—either under the social powers of our own culture or group of cultures, or under the social power of another culture or group of cultures.

Recently, this was our experience in our multi-ethnic YWAM community in Amsterdam, during the time we were led by a non-western leader. Things went well for about six years. But when his leadership became part of a broader international movement that focused on promoting non-Western leaders in YWAM, this gradually became the goal in our own Amsterdam community. And cultural diversity itself became elevated as the main goal, rather than growth inmaturity for all believers (including leaders) of all ethnic groups—as fellow adult sons and daughters of the Father in Christ, by the Spirit. This affected our multi-cultural worship, as the former dominance of Western style ‘Vineyard’ praise singing was gradually replaced by non-Western rhythmic worship songs and dancing. When the social power of one dominant culture in the church is reduced, another culture or group of cultures can take its place. This was one of the problems that Paul was addressing in his letter to the church in Rome. First he needed to challenge the dominant attitude of a Jewish believer in the church—who thought Jews were the ones to teach everyone else because they had more biblical training (Rom.2:11-11,17-24). But he also needed to challenge a non-Jewish leader (probably an educated Greek individual: 'you', singular) was saying that the Jews had been replaced by people like himself (Rom.11:17-22). Paul had to remind everyone that both socially dominant cultures, Jew and Greek, were both ‘under sin’ (Rom.3:9ff, Med.#70).

In his letter to the Galatian churches, Paul tells how he himself was freed from the social power of his own Judean ethnic group. So in several of my meditations, and in one of the articles on my website, I point to the evidence that Paul’s main growing up years, as well as his formal education took place in Jerusalem, not in Tarsus (Med.#28; ‘Saul of Tarsus, his Cultural Background and Ethnic Identities’). The ‘Hebrew dialect’ of Aramaic was his mother tongue, not Greek; for on the road to Damascus, this was the language used by Jesus to speak with him (Acts 26:14). Paul himself says concerning his life ‘from the beginning’:

I am a Judean man—born in Tarsus…yet raised in this city—trained with exactitude in the Law of the fathers at the feet of Gamaliel. …·The course of my life—…, that which unfolded from the beginning among my own nation [Gr. ethne] in Jerusalem—has been familiar to all the Judeans. (Acts 22:3; 26:4 PH)

But because he was born outside Judea, this placed him a bit lower down on the social status scale in Jerusalem. So he was under social pressure to prove himself to be a real Judean. This is what he implies at the beginning of his Galatian letter when he says, ‘With whom am I trying to curry favor now?’ (Gal.1:10 PH). And he speaks of his striving to be ‘more exceedingly zealous for the traditions’ of his ‘fathers’ in order to ‘advance… beyond’ his peers (Gal.1:14 PH). But then he writes that ‘when it pleased God to reveal his Son in me’ (Gal.1:15-16)—to reveal the Spirit of Christ in him, making him an adult son (Gal.4:5-6, Med.#4)—God led him to walk and minister as an adult son for the next 13+ years far away from the region dominated by the social powers he had grown up under (Gal.1:17-2:1, Med.#28).

Perhaps that’s the reason why many of you from outside the Netherlands have been brought here to grow as adult sons and daughters in Christ—far away from the social power of your own extended family and ethnic group. The problem for many of you Dutch Christians, though, is that the social powers you grew up under are still close by and able to influence you. So you may need to do something else to come out from under these social powers. What helped me to do this?  What, as my Nigerian colleague once asked, ‘What makes you so different (in regard to intercultural relationships)?’ Like Paul, I too had a revelation. And it began with me—in obedience to Jesus—saying ‘no’ to my American culture with respect to obligatory military service during the Vietnam War. Though I didn’t fit into the normal categories for being given a conscientious objector status, the US authorities made an exception and allowed me to do alternate service. In that moment I witnessed how Christ indeed has greater authority than the most powerful nation on earth.

But seven years later, here in the Netherlands, God also had to show me that I needed to confront another form of social power I’d grown up ‘under’—that of my father and his generation of mission leaders. Unconsciously, I was still looking over my shoulder for their approval. And this had led me to hold up my Dad’s mission (MAF) and the evangelical protestant missions they served as the standard for the very different kind of mission group God had called me to—Youth With A Mission. I was still thinking, ‘When will YWAM become a real mission organization like the ones I grew up with?’ But then I heard God say to me one evening during a time of prayer with my wife, ‘I want to give you the gift of speaking in tongues.’ My immediate reaction was, ‘But I don’t need that!’ In that moment, it was as if someone turned on a bright light, and I realized that I was more concerned about my earthly father’s perspective than about that of my heavenly Father. Now this wasn’t about theology, for my theology about the place of speaking in tongues did not radically change. But I had to learn to want anything my heavenly Father wanted to do in my life more than pleasing my earthly father and his mission colleagues. Has your heavenly Father led you into similar experiences in order to break the social power of an ethnic, family or religious culture over your life?

As Paul is writing about these things to the Galatian churches, he says: ‘I am crucified with Christ, yet I live’ (Gal. 2:20; Med.#28). And in his letter to the church in Philippi he expands on this understanding of the cross, speaking of how everything he grew up with, compared with what he has in Christ, is as nothing (Phil.3:3-7).

I have accepted the loss of all things… ·in pursuit of the envisioned goal. ·Let this be our focus, as many as are mature… ·Only let us be lining up under [Gr. stoikhein] the One in whom we have already attained it. (Phil.3:8,14-16, Med.#56)

At the same time, though, Paul, says elsewhere, ‘I am a Jew’; ‘I am an Israelite’ (Acts 21:39; Rom.11:1); ‘I would rather be lost myself, if it would mean the salvation of my lost Israelite brothers and sisters’ (Rom.9:3-4). He never stops identifying with his own nation. But being ‘in Christ’, he is now free from the social power of his own ethnic group over his life. That is the point of what he writes. Being crucified with Christ means living now by what Jesus said, ‘Whoever would follow me must take up his cross every day’ (Lk.9:23). This is not about suffering physical pain, but about being ‘united with Jesus in his death’ (Rom.6:5, Med.#48). And his death, according to Paul is about more than just reconciliation and forgiveness. It is also about a change in our relationship to the social powers of this world. Instead of continuing to ‘line up under’ [Gr. stoikheesousin] these ‘elemental powers’ [Gr. stoikheia], we must now ‘line up under’ the power of a crucified Messiah every day, in humility and vulnerability. Notice how Paul is able to do this in writing about his past sins—not only in abusing Jesus followers, but also in the racist language he once used to speak about non-Jews (‘Foreskin’).

Now you have heard…how beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and ravaged it, ·…being exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers, … ·…currying favor with human beings.. …·But (now) I will never boast in anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. ·For neither “Circumcised” nor “Foreskin” is anything compared to a new creation!  To all who line up under [Gr. stoikheesousin] this rule: peace and mercy be on them. (Gal.1:13-14,10; 6:14-16a, Med.#28)

I’m currently busy writing up my own story, how I learned what I learned about ‘culture’ and relating to people from different cultures. After reading what I have written so far, a professor friend of mine said, ‘Jim, what you are writing is not just about intercultural relationships. Yes, you are an anthropologist, but what you are writing is also about leadership development; for you are very honest and vulnerable about your own failures and mistakes.’ The reason I can do this is because I don’t have to perform for anyone. I don’t have to ‘curry favor’ with anyone, because I know who I am as an adult son of the Father. And during the time that I was one of the primary leaders in YWAM Amsterdam, I also learned that leadership in the church is more about authority than it is about social power. For in the Father’s family kingdom, Christ-like authority flows more from a relationship with the Father than it does from holding an official position (Med.#67).

In Paul’s letter to the believers in Colossae, he writes:

Blotting out the handwriting of the rules pertaining to us, that was opposed to us, he also took it out of the center, nailing it to the cross—·stripping off the primal chiefs [Gr. arkais] and authorities [Gr. exousiais]; triumphing over them in it, he made a public show of them… Together with the Messiah YOU have died away from the world—away from its elemental powers [Gr. stoikheia]. (Col.2:14-15,20a)

Here we see Paul saying that the laws and rules of any society that are opposed to us as followers of Jesus were nailed to the cross of Christ, ‘stripping off’ the ‘elemental (social) powers’ related to their primal authority over us. As Paul continues, we see that he is not just talking about official laws in this text.

Why are YOU still being dictated to by rules ·“Do not touch! Do not taste!”·Human regulations and teachings…—even if holding an expression of wisdom, in voluntary piety or in a humbling of the mind or in control of the body, any one of these is of zero value to stop the gratification of the flesh… ·Therefore, let no one judge YOU in the area of food or drink, or for taking part in a festival—whether New Moon or Sabbaths… ·Let no one arbitrate against YOU, insisting on a humbling of the mind and a worshiping of the (angelic) messengers whose intrusion he (or she) has experienced. (Col.2:20b-23,16,18)

The elemental powers [Gr. stoikheia] of a culture, that Christians are vulnerable to returning to, are also about a variety of human rules and taboos (Don’t eat this, don’t touch that, etc.). But also about harsh treatment of the body, about requiring participation by everyone in the religious festivals and diets important to one cultural group (also in the church), and about demeaning the use of our minds and elevating the role of supernatural experiences as a mark of spirituality. Thus, ‘charismatic’ Christians can be just as much under the influence of social powers as ‘non-charismatic’ Christians. In his Ephesian letter, we also see how Paul speaks about the role of the cross in intercultural relationships.

Once YOU, the nations [Gr. ta ethne], “in the flesh” were those called “Foreskin”[Gr. akrobustia]—beneath the one called “Circumcised”…, ·But now Christ Jesus... ·…is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing boundary wall…, ·abolishing the law of commandments in the form of human regulations so that in himself he might create…one new humanity… ·and reconcile both to God in one body by the cross—in it having put to death the enmity… ·For by him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. (Eph.2:11,13-16,18 PH, Med.#44)

Interestingly, there is a Greek word [a-peremetois] for ‘un-circumcised ones’ (Acts 7:51), but Paul never seems to use it. Instead, calling a spade a spade, as it were, he frequently uses the more course, demeaning word, ‘foreskin’ [akrobustia]—literally ‘foreskin people’—that Jews used among themselves to describe non-Jews. He does this to expose the racist attitudes and racist language that were probably still common among many Jewish believers in the church—but only when speaking among themselves about non-Jews, of course (We wouldn't want to offend anyone!). One reason we don’t see this in the text is because translators often follow the social codes of their own culture that tend to cover ‘offensive’ words in Bible texts with more polite expressions, or with a euphemism.

As noted earlier, I’ve created a ‘harmony’ of the life and writings of Paul as found in the New Testament (PH after the above texts refers to my translation of the Greek in this ‘Paul Harmony’). This work has yet to be published, but my harmony of the Gospels (GH, The Good News of the Messiah by the Four Witnesses) was published in 2014. Now my goal with the ‘Paul Harmony’ is to write an intercultural commentary on Paul’s life and letters—something you are getting a glimpse of in this talk today. For I want to show how many resources we have in the Bible (especially from Paul’s life and letters) for approaching intercultural relationships and intercultural evangelism and pastoral work from God’s perspective, based on what Jesus has done and demonstrated.

Once when our team was presenting our plans to the Amsterdam leadership for our work among Moroccans in the upcoming year, a co-worker asked, ‘How are you going to disciple them when all the books written on this subject are in English and Dutch?’ The leader of our team answered, ‘Actually, the best book on discipleship has already been translated into their language; it’s called the Bible’ (‘Injil es-Sharif’, the name of the New Testament in Arabic). When we think about Christian literature, we don’t realize how often we are more ‘impressed’ by our own culture’s authors and their commentaries on the Bible, such that we take less time to search out for ourselves the breadth of material in the Bible itself—what it has to say about the intercultural issues in Jesus’ ministry and in the lives of the apostles and the first century church!

One other thing we see in the above text from Ephesians, is that the cross of Christ has broken down the dividing wall between Jews and other cultures (Eph.2:13-18, Med.#44). This is significant, because an important part of the way God made the nations involved how he fixed ‘boundaries’ between them. For territorial boundaries played a major role in the development of diverse human cultures.

The God who made... ·every nation [Gr. ethnos]… marked out…the boundaries of their habitat.  (Acts 17:24,26 PH, Med.#6)

The nations [Gr. ethne, LXX][5] spread out over earth… by their clans and languages, in their territories. (Gen.10:32b,31b NIV)

Compare the underlined social categories, though, to what John saw in the New Jerusalem, in the new heaven and new earth (Rev.21:1-2).

I…saw a vast crowd that no one could count from every nation [Gr. ethne]—all tribes, peoples and languages—standing before the throne and before the Lamb. (Rev.7:9, Med.#90)

John still saw distinct nations and tribes (clans), and he heard diverse languages. What he did not see was territorial divisions—only one huge, open multi-ethnic city (Rev.21:23-26, Med.#92). In the church, we have already come to the new, heavenly Jerusalem (Heb.12:22; Gal.4:26). So while Paul addresses diverse peoples in the church as ‘nations’ that are ‘heirs-together’ (Eph.3:1,6), and while he speaks of God wanting to already put on display his ‘many and varied’ wisdom through this diversity in his multi-ethnic church (Eph.3:9-10, Med.#6), he also says that the cross of Christ has destroyed the ‘boundary walls’ between ethnic groups in the church. And he has destroyed the hostility that goes with the ongoing human desire for maintaining or strengthening group boundaries. Immigrant groups are generally very good at using certain of their cultural practices and themes to create new boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘the others’; for their identity can no longer be supported by actual geographic borders.[6] In his letter to ‘the Romans’, Paul recognizes this problem in the church in Rome, and he deals with it in some very interesting ways.

One of the reasons we don’t see this as an issue in Paul’s letter to this church has to do with the influence of ‘individualistic’ Western Bible translations. This cultural orientation prevents many modern readers from seeing one of the unique things Paul does in this letter, something he rarely does in any other letter to a church (only once in 1 Corinthians and once in Galatians). Instead of addressing the believers only as a group, or only in sub-groups, by using the plural ‘YOU’, Paul periodically in Romans switches to using the singular ‘you’ to address certain individuals. Personally, I think it is different divisive individual leaders he is addressing on five occasions when he switched to using the singular ‘you’, because of the final warning in his letter to avoid divisive influential individuals who ‘mislead’ people (See Med.#70).

Those who cause divisions and offences… ·…are not serving our Lord Christ but their own belly, and…they mislead innocent hearts. (Rom.16:17-18 PH) 

On two such occasions, he writes:

Seeing you have been given the name “Jew”,… ·you are also self-confident to be a guide for… ·…those in darkness… ·Circumcision is indeed beneficial, if you practice the Law! (2:17-19,25 PH)

The one eating (meat) must not despise the one not eating (it), and the one not eating (it) must not judge the one eating (it)… ·Who are you to judge the household servant of another? (14:3-4 PH)

In the first text (which actually begins in Rom.2:1), Paul is addressing a divisive Jewish leader who is holding up ‘circumcision’ as the cultural practice being used as a boundary marker for true Christian spirituality. And he is using circumcision and Israel’s custodianship of the Scriptures as a continuing boundary marker of Jewish preeminence in the church. In the second text, this Jewish leader, and another like him, is also in focus. For Jewish immigrants had a tendency to hold up a kosher diet, and the avoidance of meat (because meat in the market outside Israel had often first been sacrificed to an idol) as a boundary marker. But this second text is also addressed to a non-Jewish individual, ‘the one’ using the freedom of his group to eat all meat bought in the market as a spiritual boundary marker as well. In addition, both are also holding up a cultural approach to ‘holy days’ as a boundary marker as well (Rom.14:5-6).[7]

Paul’s challenge to all of these leaders, and indeed to each individual in the church can be found in four verses where Paul speaks of their ‘individual responsibility’ (‘you’, singular) in the context of their respective group practices (‘YOU’ plural)[8] to show respect and consideration for each other as is befitting for brothers and sisters in the family ‘kingdom of God’. 

You are no longer walking in love if by (your) food your brother is distressed… ·You (as an individual) must not let[9] evil be attributed to what for YOU (as a group) is good; ·for the kingdom of God is not about food and drink, but relational righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit… ·Happy the one who does not condemn himself in what he approves… (Rom.14:15-17,22 PH, Med.#70)

Here Paul affirms that certain practices might be ‘good’ for one group but not good for another. His point is that such distinctive cultural forms are only ‘good’ if they are practiced in faith, and if they do not cause serious offense to believers of other groups and so promote division through using a cultural practice as a boundary marker. In his Galatian letter Paul speaks of how, in the Church, the Holy Spirit takes over the role of the social powers.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also line up under [Gr. stoikomen] the Spirit—not becoming conceited by badgering one another. Therefore, stand fast in the freedom into which Christ has set us free and do not be entangled again in the yoke of bondage.  We, in the Spirit, look for relational righteousness—by faith, in hope! ·In Christ Jesus neither “Circumcised” nor “Foreskin” has any force. Only faith that is expressed through love! (Gal.5:25,1,5-6 PH, Med.#30)

How then do we express ethnic identity in the church without setting up boundaries based on the elemental powers of our own culture and so cause division?  In Romans 15, we see Paul promoting multicultural worship as a way in which diverse groups in the family kingdom can still celebrate their ethnic identities (Rom. 15:8-11 Med.#70).

Jesus Christ became a minister of ‘the Circumcision’ to confirm the promises: made to the fathers …, ·and made about the nations [ Gr. ethne] glorifying God for the sake of his mercy. As it is written:

1). “Because of this I will acknowledge you among the nations [ Gr. ethne] and make music to your name” [Ps.18:49].

·Again it says:  

2). “Nations [ Gr. ethne] rejoice with his people!” [Dt.32:43 LXX], and again:

3). “Praise the Lord all YOU nations [ Gr. ethne]; and all YOU peoples extol him!” [Ps 117:1],

By citing the first text from the Hebrew Scriptures, Paul is saying with David, ‘I as a Jew among the diverse nations in the church will make music to you, Lord.’ In the second, he is using the words of Moses to tell the nations in the church to rejoice with Jewish believers. In the third, he is again using the words of David to admonish all nations and ethnic groups in the church, including the ‘peoples’ of Israel, to each worship the Lord together. Multicultural worship is not about little ethnic performances. It is about believers of different ethnic backgrounds using the sounds and creativity of their respective groups to contribute to the worship offered to God as a whole ‘church’ in ways that ‘make known’, the ‘many and varied wisdom of God’ ‘to the primal chiefs [Gr. arkhais] and authorities [Gr. exousiais]’ (Eph.3:10, Med.#6).

My time is up, but please allow me to close by referring to two other important texts in Paul concerning intercultural pastoral work. One of the main issues Paul had to deal with in the Corinthian church had to do with sexual sin being practiced by a number of its members, and by one person in particular

As household managers of the mysteries of God, ·it is required that (we) be found faithful… ·Though I perceive no (fault) in myself, I am not yet vindicated by this for the one who judges me is the Lord. ·So YOU must not judge anything before…the Lord comes. He will bring to light…the purposes of the hearts. Then each one will have commendation from God. … ·(Concerning) that one possessing his father's wife: ·when you are gathered together in the name of our Lord Jesus—with the power of our Lord Jesus…,turn over such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so his spirit may be saved. (1 Cor.5:1,4-5; 4:1-2,4-5 Med.#72)

Why did the leaders in the Corinthian church find it so difficult to deal with this individual? Reading the two letters we have to this church in the context of Acts 18-20, we see that this pastoral issue dragged on for a period of almost three years. Personally, I believe that this particular man (because of his social status, or wealth, or position in the church) was a man with considerable social power, more so than the (other) leaders in the church. And that’s why it was so difficult and took so long for them to deal with him. This man and others of his culture may have been using their ‘culture’ as an excuse for not finding his sexually immoral behavior sinful (see 1 Cor.5:9-11; 10:23a). Paul, however, chose not to approach this situation by making use of his own religious social power as the ‘apostle of Christ’ and spiritual ‘father’ (1 Cor.1:1; 4:15). Rather…

It was to spare YOU that I did not come again to Corinth—·that we not exercise dominion over YOUR faith but be helpers in YOUR joy. Did I “take advantage” of YOU by those I sent to YOU? —·Titus, who I encouraged to come, and the brother I sent with him. Did Titus take advantage of YOU? Do we not walk in the same Spirit, leaving the same footprints? ·…All we say…is for building YOU up! (2 Cor.1:23-24; 12:17-19 Med.#73)

Paul gave leadership in this pastoral situation without imposing the social power of his position. Instead, he depends on the Holy Spirit along with: a lot of prayer, several letters, a ‘painful’ visit in which his grieving over them made him look weak, and sending two of his ‘sons’ of the next generation (Timothy and Titus)

Why? He wanted the Corinthian believers (also Timothy and Titus) to grow in maturity as adult sons and daughters so that they would be able to deal with similar situations themselves in the future. For he might not be there to call on the next time. The goal must always be: the growth of everyone in maturity.[10]

Finally, going back to Romans, we see another case of Paul challenging an individual leader of a group in the church. I think that this person is an immigrant Christian leader who comes from a nation that has been abused by the Roman empire; and he has gathered around him immigrants who have also suffered severely from the brutality of Roman military and political power. Still carrying this pain, this leader and his followers are promoting the view that being in a new Christ-led kingdom means that they no longer have to respect or be subject the various levels of rulers and authorities in the Roman capital city.

In brotherly-sisterly affection towards…one another, with honor for one another leading the way, ·…not being conceited among YOUR OWN, ·repaying no one evil for evil, … ·living peaceably with all people if possible from YOUR side,·not avenging YOUR OWN…·Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities [Gr. exousias]…, the current ones…having been arranged by God... ·Thus, whoever rebels against the authority has resisted God’s arrangement… (of) ·principal leaders [Gr. arkhontes]. Would you then not be afraid of the authority [Gr. exousian]? Do that which is good and you will have its commendation, ·YOU should therefore render to all their dues: tax to the tax official…; honor to the one whom honor is due. (Rom.12:10,16-19a; 13:1-3,7 PH)

Paul’s response is that within the context of the church, Christ is supreme over the social power of every culture, including Roman culture. But outside the church, the present social order is still important to God. The current political and social rulers must still be seen as having been ‘arranged by God, and still have a role to play in human societies—albeit it a role that will eventually be phased out completely when Jesus returns (1 Cor.15:23-26, Med.#94). In the meantime, we must learn to live with one leg in the new creation and the other leg still in the old social order. As Paul tells Titus:

Remind them: to be submissive to primal chiefs [Gr. arkhais] (and) authorities [Gr. exousias]—to be ready for every good work; ·to defame no one; to be peaceful, considerate…to all human beings. (Tit.3:1-2 PH)

So, these are some things to think about in dealing with pastoral issues in a multi-ethnic church. Amen!

FOOTNOTES

[3] See: Michael S. Heiser, ‘Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God’. The author of ‘Hebrews’ also seems to have such passages in mind when citing Psalm 8:4-6. What does it mean to be human? Well, for a ‘little while at least (until Christ came) it means being ‘created lower than the angels’ (Heb.2:6-7a).

[4] For example: both the Torah and the Prophets speak of there being actual ‘gods’ [Heb. elohim] connected to other nations (e.g. Dt.4:34; 6:13-14). Yet while Paul acknowledged the existence of these ‘gods’ (which he prefers to refer to as ‘primal chiefdoms and authorities’), he also knows from the Scriptures that heavenly social powers—as well as earthly ones—have become complicit in human sinfulness and thus are influenced by the evil that entered the ‘world-system’ as a result (Rom.5:12). So they too are subject to divine judgment (Gen.6:1-4, Jud.6; Ps.82:1-8; Is.24:21-22). Further, Paul maintains the Scripture's distinction between such ‘gods’, which are real, and the ‘carved images’ that people make to represent them (‘idols’), which are ‘worthless’ (1 Cor.8:4-5; Dt.5:7-8a; 4:27-28; 17:25: Is.41:29; 44:10). He also maintains the biblical distinction between these ‘gods’ (or ‘heavenly hosts’) and the one true God and his supreme lordship over all nations (1 Cor.8:5-6; Ps.86:8-9; 95:3; 96:4; Dan.11:36). Psalm 86 also indicates both a heavenly and a earthly leveIs of social power. In the Prophets, God is often described or addressed as ‘the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’ (2 Sam.7:26-27; Is.37:16; 54:5; 47:4; Jer.23:36; 51:19; 44:7; 46:25; 48:1; Zeph. 2:9). Also in the Writings (1 Chr.17:24; Ps.46:7; 59:5). In comparison to the one true God of Israel, all the other ‘gods’ are ‘not gods at all’ (Jer.2:11 → Gal.4:8), and many can more appropriately be called ‘demons’ (Ps.96:5 LXX).

[5] LXX is the symbol commonly used to indicate the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Tanakh (Old Testament).

[6] Fredrik Barth, Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: the Social Organization of Cultural Difference (1969)

[7] In the other three texts where Paul switches to using the singular ‘you’, he again addresses a Jewish leader’s ethnic concerns  (Rom.9:19-20), then a non-Jew who is probably Greek educated (11:16-24), and then an immigrant church leader of other immigrants who resist submitting to Roman authority, probably because their nations have suffered grievously at the hands of Roman military and political power (13:1-7). See 'Dealing with Divisive Ethnic Group Leaders in the Church in Rome' under Additional Articles in the membership section

[8] Unlike the Greek and Hebrew languages that Paul was used to, modern English does not make a distinction in the 2^nd person between singular and plural, either in pronouns or in verbs. Only in the old English of the King James version (17^th century) is this distinction made with pronouns, with ‘thee’, ‘thou’ and ‘thine’ indicating singular while ‘ye’, ‘you’ and ‘your’ indicate plural.

[9] In this part of the text it is the 2^nd person verb that is in the singular form in Greek, implying that an individual is being addressed.

[10] See ‘The Corinthian Mess – the Backstory’ (parts 1 and 2) under Additional Articles in the membership section.