We are going to continue the serious sermons
devoted to God. We have only two studies left
today and then next Sunday. Before we start,
let's pray. Let's pray together for these things.
Lord, the way you led Siri and Sang to know you,
how you brought them to Christ, and then called
them to engage in all these different opportunities.
Thank you for the heart you've given them. And
we ask you that you bless This initiative is
that people will come to know you because of
this. And empower us at ECB as we engage so that
we can show your love to the world. Thank you
also for your word that we get to study together
today. And I ask you, Lord, I really need you.
Empower me. Empower me with the power of your
spirit and your grace. In Jesus' name we pray,
amen. In this series, Servants Devoted to God,
we realize that when God saved us and we started
following Jesus, he did not just call us to die
and go to heaven one day. He called us actually
to follow him here and now. And when Jesus saved
us, he made us part of his kingdom. He's our
king. We belong to him now. And as we live for
him, the Bible calls us to see ourselves as servants
devoted to God that are driven by our love for
God, but also by this desire to serve him with
devotion. And that summarizes the whole thing.
If we're loving God, serving him with devotion,
we're servants devoted to God. That's what it
means to follow Jesus. And we discovered that
the first Christians, as they embraced this identity
and this calling, they had to overcome different
things from the very beginning. And we took time
each week to look at one of those different dimensions.
If you have not heard the previous studies, I
encourage you to go to the app or go to our website.
You will be able to access all the studies with
the PowerPoints, the notes, the audio, the video,
everything there for you. Today we're going to
be talking about the identity of the kingdom.
Because when God called us to belong to him and
to serve him, there's a core change that happens
from within that has to do with the way we see
ourselves and the way we see others. And the
challenge is that you have already been shaped.
The way you see yourselves or others has been
shaped by your upbringing. The culture you were
in, the family you were in, the social class
you were in, the political environment that you
were in, all of these different things already
shaped us growing up. And now that God calls
us to his kingdom, he wants us to change the
way we see ourselves. Now, for some people, their
source of identity is nationality. Oh, my country
and everybody else. Other people see themselves
more from the class they belong to. It's not
so much the country I am, but the social class
I belong to. It's my people group and then everybody
else. Other people see themselves based on the
color of their skin, what they look like. And
it's like my people group and then everybody
else. And no matter what source of identity we
have, if it's not the identity of the kingdom,
then it's a distorted identity. And it matters
that we pay attention to it because if we don't
adopt the identity of the kingdom, our ability
to love God and serve him with devotion will
be compromised. It doesn't matter what has shaped
your identity. The struggles that we go through
are the same. When I start seeing me and my people
as one group and then you and all the other groups,
It's me and them. And then that creates these
different dynamics that are the focus of studying
sociology and anthropology, cultural studies,
and you will come up with all of these different
tendencies. Ethnocentrism means that I believe
that my people group, my ethnicity, is better
than yours. Sorry, that's the way it is. And
that leads me to start thinking of your people
group as a people group that I just don't have
very good feelings about. I just have this internal
attitude that I'm not inclined very much to your
people. And therefore, that leads me to discrimination.
I start treating you differently than if I would
treat this other person, especially if the other
person is part of my group because we're better
than you. But then that can also lead me to xenophobia,
which means that I actually feel uncomfortable
around your kind. I'm afraid of your people,
or I hate your people. Especially if your country
is invading my country. And now I have this hatred
that every time I see you or hear your accent,
it's just like, ah. Which leads me to the next
thing, which is segregation. I just want to avoid
your people. I cannot hear your accent. It just
makes all these emotions in me. I just need to
stay away from you. And if you're walking on
the street and I see you, then I'm going to choose
to go across. Because I want to avoid you as
much as possible. Hey, we have to work together.
I have to work with you. But that doesn't mean
I have to be your friend. I'll just keep my separation
from you and we will live life that way. All
of these tendencies are tendencies that you and
I, to one degree or another, have experienced
or wrestled with. You have been the agent of
it or the receiver of it. And this happened not
just to you and to me, but this happened at the
very beginning also to the first Christians.
As you might remember, I am Chilean -American.
I have two passports. And when I was born in
my country, my birth certificate simply had my
name, the name of my parents, and my gender,
and that's it, and of course the date. But in
my second country, when my children were born
in America and the U .S., I had to also add what
was the race. And there were several options
to choose from. And they are not based on your
DNA. They are based on a social narrative that
we have. And perhaps your child was born in another
country than yours. And you have to figure out
some categories. Sometimes some countries ask
you to put their religion, what ethnic group
they belong to, etc. And I remember that I had
to learn that... In the U .S., we have this different
narrative. We have the desire, the tendency to
want to categorize people. When we see people,
we want to know, what are you? And some people,
you know, we can ask, and that's a normal question.
What are you? And if you're not used to that
question, you may realize, what are you talking
about? What am I? I'm a human. What else? But
we think in categories, and those categories
are influenced by history of science, our Darwinian
evolution, and all these theories that develop
in the 1800s. To the point that even we compose
Christian music like that. We say, Jesus loved
the little children, all the children of the
world. Red and yellow, black and white, they
are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little
children of the world. You know, we categorize
children in colors, red, yellow, black, white,
and that's normal for us. But that's just a distorted
form of identity, like the one you inherited
in your country, in your family. And when we
come to love God and serve Him with devotion,
identity has to change. And the first Christians
will experience that. The Apostle Paul will have
to start teaching about the identity of the kingdom
because it was especially in the ministry in
which he was involved that these things started
developing. You might remember that the first
Christians in Jerusalem were primarily Jews.
And when the persecution started right there
in Jerusalem, many of these Christians started
spreading throughout the Roman Empire. Some started
preaching the gospel only to Jews because they
thought Christianity is just for us, Jews. But
then some others had understood that it was for
everybody and they started preaching the gospel
also to Greeks and Gentiles. And in the city
of Antioch in the north, that was the first multicultural
church that was established. The city of Antioch
was what the third most important city of the
Roman Empire. You have Rome, you have Alexandria,
and then Antioch. And as a cosmopolitan city
with lots of business, there were people from
all over the area. So when you went to Antioch
and you showed up to the church of Antioch, You
will notice that as described in the book of
Acts, the leaders of that church were a representation
of all these different ethnic groups and backgrounds.
And as you looked around, it's like, okay, these
are not just Greeks or Jews. These are also people
from other places. And you have, wow, what is
this? And it wasn't just challenging for the
people that were part of the community. It was
challenging for those that were trying to identify
them from the outside. It's like, what are these
people? Why do they get together? It's like,
they are not Jews. They are not Greeks. They
are a mix of all these things. So you know what
they decided to call them? For the lack of a
better label? It says in the book of Acts, the
disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
That was the beginning of the word Christian.
Because they couldn't identify with anything
else. The only thing they had in common was these
people from all these backgrounds, they all follow
Jesus. So they call them Christians. And the
Apostle Paul will start teaching, not only Antioch,
but the other churches that were established
in that area of Asia Minor, like the Ephesians,
for instance. And he will start teaching them
about the identity of the kingdom. That this
identity of the kingdom is different from any
other identity that has shaped your upbringing.
He says, for instance, in Ephesians chapter 2,
consequently, you are no longer foreigners. but
fellow citizens with God's people and also members
of his household. You belong to Jesus? Hey, you're
a part of the family. Come in. You belong to
Jesus? It doesn't matter what passport you have.
You're not a foreigner. You're a family. Come
in. And he started teaching this to the first
Christians so that they would embrace the identity
of the kingdom. But there was a problem. People
already had other identities that shaped them.
And that is going to collide with following Jesus.
And the Apostle Paul has to address it. The first
one of those occasions was a struggle with the
Apostle Peter from all people. You see, the Apostle
Peter was the first one that preached the gospel
in Jerusalem. Did you remember how many people
came to know Christ that day? 3 ,000. Huge group
right there. but they were primarily Jews. And
then God used him to preach the gospel to the
first Gentile, Cornelius, and his family who
were Romans. And then he heard about what was
going on in Antioch, so he was excited, genuinely
excited. So he went to Antioch to visit Paul
and the friend Barnabas who had started this
place. And just to meet the new Christians that
were there and teach them and interact with them,
it was a good intent until, as he was there,
and some of these Christian leaders from Jerusalem
that didn't like Gentiles that much showed up.
And suddenly, Peter's attitude started changing
and Paul noticed. And to understand what happened,
we have to go to the book of Galatians. Because
there is written, when Cephas, that's another
name for the apostle Peter, came to Antioch,
I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.
You can see that he was not conflict avoidance
culture. I opposed him to his face. That's pretty
much Chilean culture, by the way, too. It's like
we just call it for what it is. And that gets
me in trouble sometimes. He says, you know, I
oppose them to his face. For before certain men
came from James, one of the leaders in Jerusalem,
he used to eat with the Gentiles. He was fine.
But when they arrived here in Antioch, oh, he
began to draw back and separate himself from
the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who
belong to the circumcision group. Oh, do you
remember the struggles that I mentioned earlier?
He started feeling this attitude of just discrimination
towards these people. And he decided to start
practicing segregation. I'm going to separate.
I feel uncomfortable around you anymore. Why?
Well, because my friends feel uncomfortable with
you. Because, you know, we don't like your people.
That is, until Christ came. And now we have to
love you. So he starts experiencing all of these
things. And the problem is that it became contagious.
The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy so
that by their hypocrisy, even Barnabas, would
you believe it? Even Barnabas was led astray.
Barnabas was Paul's friend who actually invited
him to come to Antioch to start preaching the
gospel to these Gentiles. The church planter
now was affected by this attitude. And you can
understand why if you look at the background.
Because in first century culture, Judaism, people
like the apostle Peter, Barnabas, and any other
average Jew grew up in a context in which they
were told from very little how to think about
people. So it's us and them, we Jews and everybody
else. We are good, they are bad. And they are
the Gentiles. And we have even some instructions
even recorded today. Let me show you, for instance,
these instructions for the Jews. Like little
Peter in kindergarten. This is what you need
to know. Separate yourself from the Gentiles.
Do not eat with them. Do not perform deeds like
them. And do not become associates of theirs.
Never be their friend. This is what they grew
up with. That's why when the apostle Peter went
to Cornelius' home to preach the gospel for the
first time, I don't know if you've ever read
this story and you noticed, but the first thing
that Peter says to these people is, you know
that in our law, it goes against our law for
me to come into your home. It was really much
very ingrained in their system. But that was
not the only problem. Greeks also had their categorizations.
They thought we Greeks are the sophisticated
one. Everybody else is less civilized. And they
had words for that. They called them barbarians.
So if you were not Greek, you were barbarian.
And even worse, you could be a Scythian. Scythian
words is like the bottom. Many of them were just
only slaves. To the point that we even have some
of those writings describing what they thought
of those people. Us, we, good. Them, bad. And
this is what Josephus says about the Scythians,
for instance. Josephus was a Jewish historian.
And he says this is what people thought. They
differ little from brute beasts. In other words,
those people. Those non -Greeks, they are just
animals. And now, you have the Jew that thinks,
oh, you Gentiles should not associate with them,
those people. And you have the Greeks that say,
oh, those are animals. And now they come to know
Christ, and they attend the same church, and
now there's a little fellowship with food involved.
So Paul, as direct as he was, says, when I saw
that they were not acting in line with the truth
of the gospel, they were misaligned with the
gospel itself, I was not going to put up with
it. So, I said to Cephas, to the apostle Peter,
in front of them all, you're a Jew, yet you live
like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it
then? That you force Gentiles to follow Jewish
customs? Because Peter, are you telling me that
you are better than they are? That somehow they
are inferior to you? Is that the gospel that
you believe in? Because that's not the gospel
that I know. So he writes about this. He has
to teach people about these things. To tell them
these identities that you inherited and you're
trying to bring into God's kingdom are not compatible
with the message of the gospel. They are not
compatible with the kingdom. That categorization
that you inherited from your culture doesn't
work in the kingdom. You have to change the software
of your heart. Because if you are a... The follower
of Jesus, if you belong to his kingdom, then
our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly
await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who by the power that enables him to bring everything
under his control will transform our lowly bodies
so that they will be like his glorious body.
Peter, have you forgotten the gospel? Jesus is
our king. We are citizens of heaven. And if you
have the Holy Spirit, you belong to my family.
You are one of us. And therefore, I need to treat
you with the same love of the Father. Because
one day, Peter, we are going to reign with Christ,
don't you remember? The apostle John mentioned
it in the book of Revelation. He said that Jesus
purchased with his blood for God persons from
every tribe and language and people and nation.
All of this diversity now part of his. Why? Because
he paid for it with his own blood. And this community
of people, he says, Are not just anything. You
have made them to be a kingdom. And priests.
To serve our God. And they will reign on the
earth. Peter. Have you forgotten the truth of
the gospel? This is who we are. This is where
we are going. Why? Are you treating your fellow
believers. This way? You are not aligned with
the truth of the gospel. And thank God for truth
spoken in love, even if direct, because sometimes
we need to hear it as it is. And God used Paul
to reframe Peter and put him back in alignment
with the Holy Spirit. Later, Peter is going to
write about Paul saying, you know, He's such
a great guy, and God has given him so much wisdom,
so you need to pay attention to his writings.
That's how we know that they solved this problem
here. But it is true. If the Bible is going to
make any categorization, it's basically a dual
categorization. You belong to the kingdom of
darkness, or you belong to the kingdom of light.
If you belong to the kingdom of darkness, it
doesn't matter what religion you have or lack
of religion thereof. It doesn't matter. If you
have not repented of your sins and Jesus has
not saved you, then you do not belong to his
kingdom. But if Jesus is your savior and you
are following him, he gave you his Holy Spirit.
And if you have his spirit, Then, you and I belong
to the same family. You are my brother, my sister
in Christ. I remember that when I went to Cape
Town in South Africa, there was a tour guide
as we were going to see the prison where President
Mandela had been. And as he was helping me get
into the boat, the tour guide said to me, greets
me, and he says, Hi brother from a different
mother. And I found that so sweet, yet so profound.
He was right. That's the truth of the gospel
right there. You're my brother from a different
mother and you're my sister from a different
mother. But we have the same Father. Our Heavenly
Father and the same Holy Spirit. We are family
in the kingdom. Amen. They had to wrestle with
all of that. All the identities coming together
and suddenly realizing, oh, this is not compatible
with who we are now. Exactly. You have to change
the software of your heart. Invite the Holy Spirit
into that space so that you can start loving
people with the love of God, not with the prejudice
that shaped you. But that was not the only challenge
they faced. That was Peter. That was the first
one. The second one was Philemon. And it was
a whole different story. See, Philemon was a
guy that lived in a city called Colossae. And
that city was where the Church of the Colossians
was established. And the Church of the Colossians,
that was the letter the Apostle Paul wrote that
is in the New Testament, the Book of the Colossians.
So Philemon lived in that area. That was part
of the Roman Empire influenced by Roman law.
And like many of the Roman -influenced cities,
it was estimated that about 30 % of the people
were slaves. And Philemon was well -off, so he
actually had a few slaves himself. Well, one
of those slaves was called Onesimus. And we know
that the apostle Paul was the one that led Philemon
to know Christ. The apostle Paul had a good relationship.
But you know, Paul was persecuted, he ended up
being in prison, and now he's in Rome. Well,
Philemon's slave called Onesimus, he gets in
trouble, and he decides to flee. He escapes,
and he tries to go all the way to Rome to start
a new life. And God answered his prayer. He got
a whole new life. When he was there in Rome,
for some reason, we don't understand the details,
but he gets to meet the Apostle Paul. And we
believe that was in prison. So you can imagine
the Apostle Paul talking to this guy and says,
hey, what's your name? Onesimus, where are you
from? Colossa. Are you serious? Are you from
that city? I have a good friend from there. His
name is Philemon. What? Are you kidding? Philemon?
And then they start talking. And then Onesimus
says, you know, yeah, I know Philemon. And Paul
says, yeah, Philemon, I led him to Christ. Christ?
What's that? Oh, you do not know about Jesus?
No. Let me tell you. And now the apostle Paul
leads Onesimus. To believe in Jesus. And now
Onesimus becomes a follower of Jesus. Small world,
isn't it? But the story is not over yet. Now
Paul says to Onesimus, Onesimus, I think you
need to go back to Philemon. Go back to the church
there with the Colossians, you know, and just
serve the Lord. And Onesimus is like, yeah, but
how do I go back after I escaped? What do I tell
him? And Paul is thinking a little bit and he
says, you know, I have a solution for that. I'm
going to write a letter to Philemon. And he starts
writing. And that is the book of Philemon that
you find in your Bible. It's the letter that
the apostle Paul is writing to Philemon, the
slave owner of Onesimus. And you can imagine
how nervous Onesimus must have been, you know,
carrying the letter from Paul. He knocks on the
door. What is going to happen, you know? And
then Philemon opens the door. And Onesimus says,
letter from Paul. And he gives it to him. And
now he opens it. And this is what Paul says.
Hey Philemon, perhaps the reason he was separated
from you for a little while. Was that you might
have him back forever. No longer as a slave.
But better than a slave. As a dear brother. From
a different mother. He is very dear to me. But
even dearer to you. Both as a fellow man. And
as a brother in the Lord. So if you consider
me a partner. Welcome him. As you will welcome
me. What did you do. If you are a Philemon. You
have been shaped. By the Roman culture. To see
people in these two categories. Free and slave.
Good. Better. Bad. And now. As you are following
Jesus. This guy that left you. That repented.
Comes back. Is following Jesus. Now you are asking
me to see him. Through different eyes? Yes. Through
the eyes of Jesus who paid with his blood for
people of every tribe and ethnicity and social
class and language. Philemon, the categories
that shaped you to see yourself and to see others
are wrong. And if you are going to follow Jesus
and love him and serve him with devotion, you
will have to change the software of your heart.
And you will have to embrace the identity of
the kingdom. Because in this kingdom, something
changes completely. From now on, as you come
to believe in Christ, We regard no one from a
worldly point of view anymore. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do no longer.
Because now, therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
including Onesimus the slave that escaped, if
anyone is in Christ, The new creation has come.
The old has gone. The new is here. This is the
identity of the kingdom. So yes Philemon. You
need to start seeing Onesimus. Not as a slave
anymore. But as a dear brother. Because in the
kingdom of Jesus. There's only those in the kingdom
of darkness. And in the kingdom of light. And
if you are in the kingdom of light. You have
the spirit in you. You belong to him. You are
one family. Learn to live and love like it. As
you can see. The message of the gospel was completely
revolutionary. Because it challenged all the
mindsets and the attitudes of the heart. And
it was not just the first Christians that were
struggling with that. That new identity is our
identity as well. And the struggle is going to
be yours and mine. Because it is true that citizens
of heaven is the identity of the kingdom. We
are heavenians. And that's the next passport
you carry in your soul. But if we are to live
like heavenians. here on earth, we will have
to overcome the same attitudes that the Apostle
Peter and Philemon and all the other Christians
had to overcome. Because you and I will experience
ethnocentrism and prejudice and discrimination
and xenophobia and segregation either as an agent
of it or as a receiver of it. It's part of the
reality. But if here at ECB we're going to have
The impact that we desire to have on making disciples
for global impact, we cannot do that if we do
not embrace the identity of the kingdom. We will
be held back. And just think about it, ECB, such
a blessing to be part of this community. There
are very few places on earth like ECB. We have
a community of around 70 different nations. We
haven't even counted how many languages. So many
different cultures. And we are part of one community
that loves Jesus and we are here to love him
and serve him with devotion. But man, we should
not be naive. I'm thinking that ECB is great.
We won't ever struggle with these things because
we will. The very day that Russia invaded Ukraine,
I was counseling a Ukrainian guy and a Russian
guy here in Bangkok. And all of these things
affect how we love each other. And embrace the
identity of the kingdom. There are political
tensions. There are things that make us now look
at certain people from a certain country negatively.
And now everything within me wants to avoid you
because I don't like you anymore. Because of
what your country did to mine. Understandable.
But do you remember that you're a citizen of
heaven? And so. Is this other person? And that
you have a new king and his name is Jesus? There
is something that we will have to understand
at the core of who we are. And that is that I
may be a Christian who was born in Chile and
then became American. But that doesn't mean I'm
an American Christian. No, I'm a Christian who
happens to be American. I'm a Christian who happens
to be Chilean. I'm a Christian first and foremost.
That is our primary source of identity. So we
will have to overcome certain obstacles and there
are three of them that are key. I want to take
you through them. The first one of these obstacles
that we have to overcome is the faulty The Apostle
Paul will write about this to many other churches,
and I want us to read it out loud. He's going
to tell us, remember, your older identities that
you inherited are not true. They are distorted
by history and politics and national identities.
But if you belong to Christ, this is your new
identity. And this is what he says. Would you
read it aloud with me? Put on the new self, which
is being renewed in knowledge, in the image of
its creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew,
circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian,
slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
And that is what matters most. That's the kingdom.
You're in Christ. That's it. All the other identities,
secondary. But then he understands that this
diversity brings conflict. So then he continues.
Will you read the next section? Therefore, as
God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, close
yourself with compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience. You're going to need
it. Clothe yourself with what? With compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, because
once you are surrounded by people of all different
cultures and tendencies and you name it, it will
test your patience and your compassion. There
are times in which you will want not to be kind,
but clothe yourself with these things that come
from the Holy Spirit. But not only that, he continues.
Bear with each other and forgive one another.
If any of you have a grievance against someone,
forgive as the Lord forgave you. Because at moments
you're going to be hurt, disappointed. It's tough
to be in a multicultural community, multinational
community. But when those moments you feel hurt,
you need to learn to forgive as the Lord forgave
you. because you are a heavenian now. And you
will have to discover the true meaning of loving
like Christ loved the church, you know, because
he says at the end, let's read this part, over
all these virtues put on love, which binds them
all together in perfect unity. Perfect unity.
Not perfect uniformity. You don't have to be
like me for me to love you. I may not like you,
that's true, but I'm here to love you regardless.
But you know what? It is love that puts all these
things together. And the world cannot experience
that love because that love comes from the Holy
Spirit. That love that is able to see the other
and see ourselves from God's eyes comes from
being aligned with the kingdom of Jesus. If you
do not belong to Jesus, I'm encouraging you.
Ask Jesus to save you. He wants you in his kingdom.
And when you do, Become part of his kingdom.
Then you experience his life. There's a spiritual
reality that changes that allows you to love
the other differently than you ever could. That's
the power of God. That's the power of the gospel.
I remember that one of the first times that I
have to experience some of these tensions and
realize how complex cultural differences are.
was when my family moved to Mexico to start working
in church plant. I didn't realize that we were
that different. Still Latin America, they still
speak Spanish, but I remember the first time
I say, hi, how can I help you? This person looked
at me and said, where are you from? And I was
wondering, how can they tell them from somewhere
else just by saying something like a greeting?
That's when I realized, oh, I have a Chilean
accent when I speak. which now is all messed
up. And Chileans let me know that. You don't
sound like a Chilean. Okay, thank you. Thank
you for all that, what you called, prejudice
coming in. But I was in Mexico, and we started
sharing the gospel with people, and then we started
discipling people. And it's like, hey, let's
meet for discipleship. That's great. Let's meet
at 6 p .m. Perfect. Tuesday, 6 p .m. Tuesday,
6 p .m. 2 to 6 p .m. comes. I'm ready, waiting
for the person. 6, 6 .10, 6 .30, 7. And I'm thinking,
oh, something must have happened. The person
is not going to come. So I'm going to get ready,
you know, to move on. And suddenly, you know,
7, 7 .30 or 8. I'm here. And sometimes not even
with an apology. It's like, oh, I'm here. So
it's like, and I'm thinking, what? This late?
And I had to learn that that was just part of
the culture. Mexico City is a huge city. It's
like Bangkok. Lots of traffic everywhere. Many
people drive two hours to go to work. I had to
learn that time meant something different in
that context. And you know what it's like. Perhaps
you've had that frustration of making an appointment
with somebody and you realize, oh, they don't
think of time the same way. And it goes the other
way too. It's like, hey, come for dinner at 6
p .m. And they show up at 5 .30 and you're thinking,
why did you show up so early? It's like, yeah,
because in their culture, that's what they do.
They show up early. Others show up late. And
we drive each other crazy. Be patient. compassionate,
forgive one another. Paul says, that's the only
way we can be the kingdom of God. There's so
much about culture that I would like to tell
you, but I don't have time for it. So I will
just share some resources with you. The first
one is this book, The Cultural Map. I highly
recommend it. It's written about the cultural
differences and how they affect multicultural
teams or multicultural companies, international
companies. If you are working for a company and
you go to another country and you're working
with this other team, you need to realize how
cultural differences affect the teams from the
way that you criticize something or the way you
ask for opinions, how direct, how indirect, what
about time, et cetera. It's just fascinating.
So if you are part of a multicultural team, a
multinational team, This is a must -read. The
second one is Leading Across Cultures. It also
talks about cultural studies and differences
and things, but this was written by a leader
of a mission organization, and he brings part
of the theology of things as well. So it's a
fascinating, well -written book. If you are working
for a mission organization in any form of leadership,
this is a good book for you. There's another
book called The Way Tithes Lead. This was written
by our own ECB friend, Larry. Larry, what's your
last name? Persons, yeah. And he grew up here
in Thailand. He understands the Thai culture.
He speaks Thai. And then he did his studies and
dedicated these studies to write about how Thai
leadership works. And man, when I was reading
that, it's like so much I did not know. If you
are working and you have come to Thailand to
work and you're working with a Thai company or
Thai teams, this is a must read. And if you are
Thai and you've never studied your own culture,
this is a must read too. It will help you understand
blind spots that we have. But amazing resources.
One more resource I want to share with you is
that I spent three years writing this doctoral
dissertation, and in it, it talks about the theology
that we're discussing today, the New Testament
struggles that we're facing, all of these different
things, the history of understanding of the narrative
in American culture, but also there's a whole
chapter about synergy in multicultural teams.
This also will help you. But about two years
ago, I was invited to publish part of this dissertation
in a book that was published in Chile in Spanish
to address part of the immigration crisis that
the country was going through. And even though
I wasn't living there and there were many years
I was not there, the concepts that I had learned
in serving in the U .S. and then writing the
dissertation applied so much to it that... They
asked me to publish the book, and I remember
that when they interviewed me for the TV show
that they did in Santiago, and then the launching
of the book, I couldn't go, so I had to do it
from here, from my office. And I asked the people,
this was a group of Christians, I said, if any
of you has dual citizenship, would you please
stand up? And only one missionary stood up. And
then I said, you know the Bible says that you're
a citizen of heaven if you're a follower of Jesus.
So that means that you have your earthly citizenship
and your heavenly citizenship. So let me ask
you again. Is there anybody here that has at
least dual citizenship? Will you stand up? And
everybody stood up that day. If you are in a
Latin American context and Spanish is your language,
that book will be helpful. Take a look at it.
And by the way, I don't get anything from any
of those things, so this is not a commercial.
But how do you see yourself? Are you seeing yourself
through the right eyes of the gospel, of your
savior? Or are you seeing yourself through the
identities you inherited? It's us and them. Or
is it us? The second challenge is distorted perception.
How you see the other. And there is something
that is part of the human experience. We need
to be seen. Do you see me? Me? Not my accent,
not my looks. Do you see me? Do you see my pain?
Can you hear my cry? That aspect of seeing you
for who you are is a need that we all have. And
the gospel is meant to address that as we adopt
the identity of the kingdom. Several years ago,
I was reading this novel, The Kafir Book. Sorry,
the autobiography, The Kafir Boy. And this book
was the story of a famous South African tennis
player who grew up during apartheid and then
eventually, through tennis, was able to find
a way out of poverty and then moved to the U
.S. where he pursued his career. Famous, famous
book. But there was a moment in which he was
talking about his grandmother working for these
people that were Christians. And as she was talking
to them, she was saying, you guys are different
from all the people that I've worked for. And
what do you mean that they're different from
all the people? So he hears his grandmother say
to the boss, you treat us like human beings.
And when I was reading that, I just underlined
that in this book. And I thought, that's it.
As simple as that, that's the truth of the gospel.
It is calling us to see you as a human being.
Not as a category, a nationality, a skin color.
As a human being that has the same struggles
I have, the same pain I have, and that when you
suffer, I can see the suffering in you. I see
you. That is what the power of the gospel does,
and the apostle Paul writes to us, and he says,
that is how the body is supposed to work. The
body of Christ is meant to have this aspect of
empathy of how we see the other. Would you read
it out loud with me? If one part suffers, every
part suffers with it. If one part is honored,
every part rejoices with it. Now you are the
body of Christ and each one of you is a part
of it. Share the suffering. Share the joy. Because
I see you through the eyes of God. created in
his image and his likeness. You're a person.
And I will not treat you as a category, but as
a human being. So how do you see the other? Has
the gospel of Jesus redeemed that part of your
life? Or do you need to invite the Holy Spirit
to transform that part of your life? And the
final obstacle, earthly perspective. We're only
thinking about here and now by the categories
we inherited rather than letting the gospel give
us the eternal perspective. And this is the perspective
that Jesus gave us, captures by the words of
the Apostle John. And I'm going to ask you to
read it out loud with me because this is who
we are and this is where we're going. If you
belong to Jesus, you are worthy to take this
scroll. And to open its seals. Because you were
slain. And with your blood you purchased for
God. Persons from every tribe. And language.
And people. And nation. You have made them to
be a kingdom. And priests to serve our God. And
they will reign on the earth. Then I looked.
And I heard the voice of many angels. Numbering
thousands upon thousands. And ten thousand times
ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice
they were saying, Worthy is the lamb who was
slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom
and strength and honor and glory and praise to
him who sits on the throne and to the lamb. Be
praise and honor and glory and power forever
and ever. This is the kingdom. This is where
we belong to. This is who we are. This is our
identity. Worthy is the Lamb. That is how far
we need to see. Because if we fail to see that
far, We will not be able to see others through
God's eyes. And our ability to love God and serve
Him with devotion and our ability to make disciples
for global impact will be compromised. Powerful,
isn't it? The power of the gospel. The identity
of the kingdom. It's a complete different story.
And we have to invite the Holy Spirit to change
the software of our hearts. So I would like to
tell you finally, just this diagnosis a little
bit. You know if you have a faulty identity of
how you're seeing yourself for others? If you
are experiencing apathy towards the suffering
of other people? Are you just like... You cannot
see their pain because you see them as a category.
You are experiencing this negative attitude to
certain people. And you just can't help it. You
just feel it. Or you have decided to avoid certain
people altogether. These are symptoms that your
identity is misplaced. And I'm going to encourage
you as we close this time together saying worthy
is the lamb. Because we are not going to wait
until heaven to come as a group of redeemed people
of all languages, nations, and ethnic groups
as one body to say worthy is the lamb. We will
do that today. But as we do that today, would
you invite the Holy Spirit? To heal any of these
wounds that you carry. And to restore within
you the right perspective. That you will truly.
From within it will click. That you see yourself
as a citizen of heaven. And therefore you are
able to live like it. Have you embraced the identity
of the kingdom? We must. Lord, it was by your
blood that you purchased all of us out of your
love for us and you are calling us to become
a channel of that love. But Lord, we have been
clogged by all of these versions of what we are
and what other people are and we acknowledge
the struggle. But would you today Heal that within
us and give us eyes to see like you do. We cannot
love people with your love unless you give us
that. So I'm asking you in Jesus' name, increase
our capacity to love like you love. In Jesus'
name, amen. If God is calling you to support
our ministries, you will find giving options
on our website. And remember to join us next
week. God bless you.