Paul did not want the Gentiles to become Jewish, which is why he was so vocally against the Gentiles being circumcised and following the same Jewish laws and customs that he did. To force them to do such things would be to pervert the gospel, since the whole point of the gospel was for God’s family to become increasingly multicultural.
Through Jesus, God reached the nations in their diversity, not watered them down into a singularity. The customs and laws of the Hebrews are therefore not applicable to the Gentiles. Instead if the Gentiles are truly obedient to King Jesus (who is the fulfillment of the law), then they will naturally submit, rethink, and redeem their own customs and laws to honor Christ—and some customs and laws they’ll even end altogether as they find them to be completely dishonoring to Christ.
The gospel is grounded in multicultural themes. Just because the church down the road doesn’t look or act like your church, doesn’t mean that they are less of a church or that they need to have their services converted to look more like yours. Their unique expression is the promised fruit of the gospel successfully spread. Let us be sure that we do not bland-ify the church or look down upon other Christians because they’re different. Instead, let’s celebrate our diversity and work together to create churches that more fully express the richness of differences, for that’s where the body of Christ can really shine.
Jamin Bradley 