Social status, economic position, and other such identities ultimately should not matter in the church. In the world some classes, races, vocations, and cultures have more power than others. But the Bible calls us to refuse to let those distinctions in the world control us within the church. We are to deliberately practice the building of relationships with other believers across traditional cultural barriers as a sign of the coming kingdom. When we begin to follow Christ and come into the church, we inevitably bump up against Christians who belong to classes, groups, or vocations we had always disdained in our life outside the church. Working-class Christians may have a dislike for Christians from wealthier or more socially refined backgrounds and vice versa. Christians from one politi- cal persuasion may be upset by the presence of those from the other end of the political spectrum. Socially polished Christians may feel uncomfortable around believers who are socially awkward or marginal (and again vice versa). If we have fairly strong ties to an ethnic group (e.g., WASP, Hispanic, Chinese, African-American), we may feel uncomfortable around people whose cultural emphases are different.

We may be tempted to respond to these differences as Peter did in Galatians 2. We may decide to sit by “those people” in church, and we may not be overtly harsh or cold to them, but we will not “eat with them.” In other words, we won’t embrace them as friends. We won’t socialize with them, sharing our lives and homes and pos- sessions with them. How do we overcome the natural gravity of our hearts to stick with people culturally similar to us? How do we refrain from feeling superior to those culturally unlike us?

Tim Keller

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