Read Genesis 1: 26-28, Genesis 11: 1-9, Acts 2: 1-8, Revelation 7: 9-12

Scripture outlines a story of ethnicity: God’s original purpose for ethnicity, how that 
had been damaged over time, and God’s plan to redeem all our ethnicities. Read 
the following passage summaries below to track with some crucial points in the story 
of ethnicity in the Bible. 

• How do people respond to cultural and/or language differences in these 
  passages? How does God? 
• Creator God, Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ are active participants throughout 
  this story. How do you see them participating in these passages, and why is 
  that significant? 
• What do these passages tell you about God’s character? 

Go and do

Multiethnicity matters because it is an outpouring of the triune God’s creativity in 
designing humankind in their own image! It is also a rich opportunity to practice 
loving one another in the different ways we reflect our Creator’s image. Spend some 
time reflecting on your own community and brainstorm how you can display the 
value of multiethnicity in your life. Here are some suggestions: 

• Surrender to the scripture: Why does multiethnicity matter to God? Where 
  does culture come from? Who has a culture?
• Be curious. Think of a friend of a different ethnic background than your own. 
  Take time this week to ask them about their ethnicity and how their ethnic 
  background or culture has shaped them. 
• Practice honesty and forgiveness. Have you caused or experienced an 
  unresolved conflict due to a cultural difference between a friend or peer? 
  Take a risk to name the grievance and offer forgiveness. Or listen to the 
  grievance of another and be repentant. Look for Christ in the faces of those 
  around you. 
• Extend hospitality. In a truly multiethnic community, no one will always have 
  their cultural preferences met. Everyone will be uncomfortable at least 20% 
  of the time. Reflect on ways you can put aside your preferences to be 
  hospitable to others in your community.
   

Reflect on what you learned

• How did you experience God as you tried one or more of the suggestions 
  above? What was your experience of community? 
• What can you celebrate about your own culture and the culture of others? 
• How can you invite others into being curious, practicing honesty and 
  forgiveness, and extending hospitality with you?