By Drew Williams
PART 1
The Barna Group conducted some research that concluded that most Americans think it would be difficult to have a natural and normal conversation with people in minority groups who are different from them. This included atheists, Christians, Muslims, and so on. Curiously, the largest group that has this difficulty is American Christians. In fact, not only do American Christians have the hardest time having normal natural conversations with people in minority groups, 28% of Christians say they have a hard time having a normal conversation with other Christians.
What might these findings have to do with Jesus’ words, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8)? Not a lot, if we look at these words as a set of sequential operating instructions in which we reach out with the love of God to those closest to us first and then (once we have had a bit of practice) to those within the same cultural group and then (if we are really bold) to those who live cross-culturally. The problem with this analysis is that it ignores the simple fact that the disciples were not from Jerusalem and were not even Judeans. They were Galileans (Acts 1:11, 2:7). Therefore, they were already reaching out cross-culturally right from day one. If Jesus had wanted them to start with their family members, He would not have told them to stay in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4). Bottom line, what Jesus would have us understand by His exhortation is that the love of God is for the whole world. Who might Jesus put you in front of today in order that they experience His love through you?
PART 2
When Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) He would have us understand that the love of God is for the whole world. This is not a new idea. Speaking of the people of God, the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, said, “I will give you as a light to the nations, that My salvation shall reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6b). Indeed, Jesus said, “Go make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19a). So, what gets in the way of that? The answer is that invariably, we do.
Jesus’ exhortation has much less to do with geography and sequencing and has much more to do with the kind of people who figuratively live in our own “Jerusalem,” “Judea,” “Samaria” and the back of beyond. This has much more to do with making us face up to the objections and prejudices that we are inclined to hold onto in justifying why we don’t need to show the love of Jesus to “those kinds” of people.
So, figuratively speaking, what is our problem with the people in our own backyard? Let’s call that our “Jerusalem.” While Jerusalem was not the disciples’ hometown, Jerusalem could be described as Christianity’s first “hometown.” This is where the first Christians worshipped together. This is where the first Christians welcomed in their neighbor into the family of God. Jesus is saying to us, in witnessing to the world, do not neglect your Jerusalem. So, who is our “Jerusalem”? It is absolutely our own family and absolutely includes our church family. But Jerusalem is not merely “our people” at our place of our greatest comfort.
PART 3
The American author Anne Rice was a committed atheist until she became a follower of Jesus. In the course of her faith journey, she made this unilateral declaration: “Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to ‘being Christian’ or being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. … My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. … Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity…”
In some ways, her words are appealing. Who could possibly argue with her desire to socially drop a bunch of quarrelsome, hostile, and disputatious religious people? But is raising the drawbridge and the declaration of splendid isolation a legitimate choice? St. Cyprian wrote, “One cannot have God as his father who does not have the Church as his mother.” The Bible knows nothing of Christians who relate to God as isolated individuals or who see the local church as optional in their faith. Part of the faith experience is learning to love difficult people at close quarters. This includes actively moving toward people we don’t naturally like or enjoy.
PART 4
Before I left for Seminary buoyant with optimism, my Rector wisely told me: “Drew, when you get to Seminary you are going to find people who really irritate you! These are some of God’s greatest gifts to you because in their company God will knock off your rough edges. Like a rough pebble in a rock polishing machine, you will be smoothed out!” And he was so right.
God has this magnificent way of working through our differences to bring out the best in each of us. Rick Warren wrote, “The local church is the classroom for learning how to get along in God’s family. It is a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love. As a participating member, you learn to care about others and share the experiences of others … Only in regular contact with ordinary, imperfect believers can we learn real fellowship and experience the New Testament truths of being connected and dependent on each other.”
PART 5
Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
I want to pause upon Jesus’ express mention of Samaria. What is Jesus getting at by the inclusion of Samaria? A little history might help us. In a nutshell, after the separation of Judah and Israel in the ninth century B.C., King Omri of the Northern Kingdom bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer [1 Kings 16:24]. There he built the city of Samaria which became his capital. In 722 B.C. the city fell to the Assyrians. While many of the inhabitants of the city and the surrounding area of Samaria were led off into captivity, some farmers and others were left behind. They intermarried with new settlers from Mesopotamia and Syria. When Cyrus, king of Persia, permitted the Jewish people to return from the Babylonian exile, the Samaritans were ready to welcome them back. The Jewish exiles, however, despised the Samaritans as renegades. When the Samaritans wanted to join in rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, their assistance was rejected. You will find this in the Book of Ezra, chapter four. The Samaritans then returned fire by attempting to undermine the restoration works.
The fact that there was such dislike and hostility between Jews and Samaritans is what gives the use of the Samaritan in the Parable of the Good Samaritan [Luke 10:29-37] such a kick! The Samaritan is the one who is able to rise above the bigotry and prejudices of centuries and show mercy and compassion for the injured Jewish man. By Jesus specifically mentioning Samaria, He is impliedly asking us if we might do the same. This is why Samaria makes it in His list! Tim Keller wrote: “Tolerance isn’t about not having beliefs. It is about how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.”
In His great love,
Bishop Andrew Williams
In 2000, Andrew Williams received his theology degree from Trinity College Bristol and was ordained in the Diocese of Exeter. He served as curate at St. Andrew’s Whitchurch and from 2003 to 2009 was associate vicar at St. Andrew’s Chorleywood in the Diocese of St. Alban’s. Between 2003 and 2009, St. Andrew’s tripled in size. In 2008, while speaking at a conference, Williams was connected to Trinity Church (Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan) and subsequently became its pastor. Williams wrote weekly at that time for the Sentinel Newspaper. On November 17, 2018, Williams was elected bishop of ADNE.
Learn more at https://www.idachurch.com/bishopandrew
