In Rev. 7:9, there is a picture of heaven where every tribe, tongue and nation is gathered in the presence of God. It is a picture of God's people coming together for all eternity. It is a picture of the diversity of God's people coming together because of him. The question is this: Is Revelation 7:9 simply a portrait of what will be or what could be?
Clearly this is a picture of what will be of heaven. However, couldn't it or shouldn't it be a picture of the church today? We need for this reality to become reality in our churches.
Last month, my wife was a part of one of our worship team training days. She noticed we had some new people on stage. More interestingly she realized our hope was becoming reality. As she looked across the stage she noticed one person was from Nigeria, another from Haiti, another from the Philippines, and one from Mexico. There she was, a one-stoplight-town girl from east central Illinois serving alongside a ministry with global implications.
What an amazing reality! From the beginning, Common Ground has intentionally pursued a multi-ethnic church. It hasn't always been easy and it hasn't always happened, but diversity matters. Diversity is the core to how we live as a church.
Common Ground is now 9 months old. It is hard to believe that the vision of God has become a normal reality in our church, but it has!
