As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  I Timothy 1:3 – 5

Paul is helping young Timothy to ponder the mysteries of divine grace, so clearly seen in Jesus Christ. God’s saving grace has nothing at all to do with blood lines, cultures or history. Every person who comes to Christ in repentant faith is accepted, no matter the language or history.

It looks to me like there were some among the believers in Ephesus, probably Jews, who gained a small advantage by appealing to “myths” that places one culture above another. The Gentiles, unfortunately, could not find any comfort in their family trees while the Jews reveled in their special heritage, going way back, maybe even to King David, who knows?  By doing so they built a wall between Jews and Gentiles, both saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

I found this to be a problem, unseen by me, when I found myself among African believers in Tanzania. I could trace my cultural history back into northern Europe.  My ancestors were Christians for many centuries.  They built cathedrals, empires and businesses.  In a way, I felt that my culture was superior to the cultures of central Africa. Furthermore, my denomination, Mennonite, can take pride in the way it avoided being Catholic or Protestant, for that matter.  They were Anabaptists.  That gave me an edge, a position just a bit higher than almost all other believers.

This feeling of superiority can squelch feelings of true brotherhood among believers. I began to understand that.  So what do we do with our cultures, our histories, our family trees?  We cannot deny how much we were shaped by all of them. Becoming a follower of Jesus does not make us one culture, or give us one human history.  Those who are cleansed by the Blood of Jesus and who know the power of the Holy Spirit remain in their cultures while at the same time, they love deeply and fellowship constantly with believers who have their own cultures!

Paul assigned Timothy the awesome task of working out how people of different cultures can be one in the blessed Kingdom of God.

Are we all not called to this?