Acts 11:18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

This was an absolutely shocking moment for the Jerusalem church. I can imagine the scene. The Japanese says, “they were speechless.” I would guess so! This turned their lifetime preconceptions on their head, and they had no choice but to accept it. And 99% of the readers of my blog are beneficiaries. There are probably some who have not yet acknowledged Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but I would guess they are a small minority. I pray that they would join the majority, even today! I also have friends who are genetic descendants of Abraham, and they likewise have experienced the “repentance that leads to salvation.” No one on either side of the divide had imagined a level playing field, but that is what Jesus created through His cross. Paul goes to some length about it in more than one of his letters, but most Gentiles simply ignore the issue, to their loss, I think. Most Gentiles don’t realize how big a privilege it is to be accepted as a spiritual descendent of Abraham. If a Gentile had been the first to say all the things Peter and Paul said about all this, it would be dismissed out of hand. However, they were both devout Jews, and Paul was the equivalent of a PhD in Jewish theology. I look at it all as being examples of a Japanese proverbial expression: “acorns comparing height.” We see our differences as huge, but from God’s perspective we’re all the same size. Discrimination isn’t just wrong, it’s stupid!

I have dealt with racial discrimination in one way or another all my life. I’m grateful that by the time I entered a US military dependents school, Truman had fully integrated the Armed Forces by presidential fiat, and also that my parents taught me that people might look different and/or have different gifting, but we were all of equal value in God’s eyes. As a Caucasian in Japan, I have experienced a great deal of discrimination in one way and another, sometimes to my emotional hurt and sometimes to my advantage. I’ve learned that I can’t complain about the one while taking advantage of the other! I resigned my only US pastorate because they wanted me to resign from the area ministerial association, because it was interracial, and they felt that my participation would signal that Blacks would be welcome in our church, and they couldn’t agree with that. Right now our church has people from Japan, America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China in it. We are aware of differences in culture and language, but even more aware that we have only one Savior, and we are all from one human race.

Father, thank You for the ground indeed being level at the foot of the cross. Help me proclaim Your Gospel effectively to all, regardless of background or ethnicity, so that as many as will may indeed repent and believe for their salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!