The Gospel Belongs to Every People

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The church has always been most alive when it remembers that the gospel belongs to every people. From the beginning, the Spirit has pushed believers beyond their familiar worlds. The early church in Acts was born multiethnic, multi-lingual, and radically hospitable. That reality still calls to us today. 

Look around your own city.

In Australia, nearly one in three people were born overseas. In places like Arlington, Texas, nearly every neighborhood tells a global story. Yet too often, our churches don’t look like our communities. If the good news of Jesus truly is for all nations, then we must ask hard but necessary questions: Who is missing from our pews? Who still doesn’t know Jesus? And what will it take for us to embody the welcome of Christ in ways that match the reality of our neighborhoods? 

This isn’t about chasing diversity as an end in itself. It’s about Jesus. It’s about being faithful to His mission. The picture we see in Revelation is not of tribes competing for space, but of a multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue worshiping before the throne. That vision belongs in our churches today. 

Make Room For All.

To step into that vision is to embrace a justice dimension to our witness. Not justice in the narrow, politicized sense we often hear debated, but the justice of God’s kingdom—where every people is seen, valued, and given space at the table of grace. When the church makes room for all, it isn’t bending to culture; it’s aligning with the heart of Christ, who tore down dividing walls and welcomed outsiders in. 

This means we cannot be content with a church that feels comfortable while leaving entire communities untouched by the gospel. The Spirit is still pressing us outward, calling us to notice who we’ve overlooked, to listen across cultures, and to learn to see our own cities with gospel eyes. 

A church that reflects its community is not a social project. It is a prophetic witness. It declares that Jesus is Lord not just of one people or one culture, but of all creation. It’s the gospel lived out in visible form—a sign to the world of the kingdom that has already come and is still breaking in. 

The question before us is simple but searching: Will we open our eyes and hearts wide enough to let the Spirit do this work in us? 

Ashley Berryhill

Ashley Berryhill

Ashley Berryhill is the Global Engagement Director. She loves cultivating people's hearts to bring hope to this world - so invite her to coffee.

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