Don’t you just love this text? “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). The text is strongly indicating that once we come to Jesus in full surrender and commitment, we no longer have room to segregate ourselves into little compartments and pigeonholes.

In the remnant church, we are to be even more homogeneous. It does not require us to lose the uniqueness God has given us or the cultural considerations that make each of us special. It does mean we are to represent to the world what God is like — what Christ is like. He is the One who said they will know you are Christians by your love (see John 13:35).

I had a very special soul-preparing experience early in my ministry. While attending the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, my sponsoring conference administration assigned me to three different territories on paper, only to send me back home to Germantown, Ohio, when I finally began my work. In this little country church I pastored my father and mother, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and a host of international congregants. It was the experience of a lifetime.

Our church counted among its membership African-Americans, Hispanics, Brazilians, Caribbeans, Anglo-Americans, and individuals from several African nations. What a picnic! I learned so much from all these precious souls that it expanded my preparation for ministry far beyond anything I could have hoped for.

We experimented with worship styles, sacred music, social arrangements, and evangelistic outreach. I dedicated babies with all sorts of cultural ramifications. The church potluck dinners were adventures in ethnic cuisines. And this young pastor had to learn to counsel with a sensitivity that I could not have been aware of otherwise.

God was getting me ready to lead. He wanted me to know that when He calls you into ministry, you are not to decide who will be the beneficiary of your efforts. We are never to narrow our scope of outreach, but rather expand it to the near-breaking point. Throw out the Gospel net and expect a large draft of fish, all kinds of fish — even some swordfish!

Friends of mine, be ready. "Hope for Our Day” will produce even more diversity in our church families. Shouldn’t it be so? Remember, “There is neither Jew nor Greek … .”