After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ Revelation 7:9

I see the faces of my friends when I’m thinking about heaven as I worship: Sara, Ansel, Tani, Rabia, Alex and Abdullah. One day we’ll worship together for all eternity!

Well, we’ve passed the 8 billion population mark. China and India lead the way, but by 2050, one quarter of the world will be African. As Islam spreads south from North Africa, the gospel is spreading north. Michael Oh, Executive Director / CEO of the Lausanne Movement, points out that by 2050, 50% of global evangelicals will be African.[1]

We can forget, as we worship week after week with people who may be largely from our own culture, that God’s family is a gloriously global family.  Revelation 8:9 speaks of “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.”  Romans says, “so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:5). There’s an African saying which echos the verse: “If you belong to Christ, you belong to everyone who belongs to Christ.”[2]

Darlene Sala told of when she was in China and a woman wanted greet her.  Darlene spoke no Chinese and the woman spoke no English.  So the woman pointed to her own heart saying, “Jesus!” then pointed to Darlene’s heart and repeated, “Jesus!”

Michael Oh has a challenge for us:  “Let’s grow in the global breadth of our faith. Let’s know our global family and break from the bonds of a single culture.”[3]  Who do you know in God’s family who comes from a culture other than your own?

[1] Oh, Michael. How Global Is Your Faith? YouTube, YouTube, 26 Oct. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7k7svW8DLM. Accessed 15 Nov. 2022

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.