United in Hope: What the Bible Says About Unity Across Cultures

Can a church made up of different languages, cultures, and backgrounds really be one? Scripture says yes. Unity across cultures isn't something the church invents. It is part of who we are in Christ. When believers who are very different love each other and serve side by side, the world gets a living picture of the hope of the gospel. We are distinct, but we are not divided.

What does the Bible say about unity in the church?

The Bible says unity is part of who we are in Christ. Unity in the church is oneness in Christ that holds across language, culture, and background. God made people to be united with Him and with each other. When sin entered the world, the first thing we see is separation. People were cut off from God and from one another. The world still lives with that split. In the kingdom of God, oneness across our differences is the mission being lived out.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26 to 28

The whole Bible speaks to it. Ecclesiastes says there is strength in unity. The Psalms say there is blessing in it. Ephesians tells the church to keep it, which makes unity an assignment. And Jesus prayed for it so that our message to the world would not be hindered.

Pastor Marty Sloan, joined by Pastor Alberto López, brought this message at Calvary United on September 13. That Sunday, Calvary English and Calvary Español gathered as one church for the second message in the Living Hope series. His big idea: our unity demonstrates the hope of the gospel. When English and Spanish speaking believers worship, serve, and reach Chicagoland together, we become a living picture of God's kingdom and a testimony to the world.

What is the dividing wall of hostility in Ephesians 2?

The dividing wall of hostility is the barrier that separated Jews and Gentiles, and Jesus tore it down through the cross. In Ephesians 2, Paul reminds Gentile believers that they were once far off. They were without hope and without God in the world. Then everything changed.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.

Ephesians 2:13 to 14

God's kingdom is built on our union with Christ, whatever our ethnicity, language, gender, or income. That was true from the start. God's promise to Abraham was never meant for one nation only: "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3). Across Scripture the heartbeat stays the same. God is redeeming people from every nation, tribe, language, and culture.

So the church was never meant to be a set of separate congregations keeping to themselves. It is one redeemed family. Paul says we are no longer strangers but fellow citizens and members of God's household. We are built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19 to 22).

Why did Jesus pray for unity in John 17?

Jesus prayed for unity because He tied it directly to whether the world would believe. Just before the cross, He asked that His followers would be one, "so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

Your unity with other believers backs up the message you share. When people who are very different love each other and work side by side, the gospel becomes visible. Pastor Marty was honest about the cost. Living out the gospel in a multiethnic community means getting past yourself and into God's mission. That takes humility.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Philippians 2:3 to 4

Paul goes on to point to Jesus. He did not hold on to His equality with God but made Himself nothing and became a servant, obedient even to death on a cross. Paul asks us to share that mindset with one another.

Does unity mean everyone has to be the same?

No. Unity is not sameness. Pentecost shows it clearly. People from all over the known world were in Jerusalem. When the Holy Spirit came, each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language.

We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!

Acts 2:11

Nobody became the same that day. People who were still different heard one gospel through one Holy Spirit. God doesn't erase our differences. He redeems them for His glory.

From its first day, the church has spoken many languages and carried many cultures. Christ holds it together, and the Spirit empowers it. As Pastor Marty put it, the church united around a theology, not an ideology.

What does a united church show the world?

A united church shows the world a preview of heaven. For example, when Calvary English and Calvary Español worship together, it gives a glimpse of what John saw in Revelation.

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.

Revelation 7:9 (ESV)

Pastor Marty summed it up in four lines:

• Jesus is greater than language.
• The gospel is greater than culture.
• The kingdom is greater than preference.
• God's mission is greater than our comfort.

Why does unity matter so much in Chicagoland?

Unity matters here because God planted Calvary in one of the most diverse regions in North America. As Pastor Marty added, it is also one of the most divided. Ethnic and cultural tensions run high. Into that, God is raising up a light.

Our mission is to show something to the world, not only to be something.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:20

Calvary's location isn't an accident, Pastor Marty said. It is an assignment. And that assignment reaches into your own neighborhood, workplace, and conversations.

Common questions

What does the Bible say about unity in the church?

Galatians 3:28 says all believers are one in Christ Jesus. Ephesians tells the church to keep the unity of the Spirit, and Jesus prayed in John 17 that His followers would be one so the world would believe. Unity is part of our identity in Christ and part of our mission.

What is the dividing wall of hostility in Ephesians 2?

In Ephesians 2:14, Paul says Jesus broke down the wall that separated Jews and Gentiles. Through the cross He made the two groups one new people and gave both access to the Father by one Spirit.

Why did Jesus pray for unity in John 17?

Jesus connected unity to mission. He prayed that His followers would be one "so that the world may believe that you have sent me." When believers live in unity, it shows the gospel is real.

Does unity mean everyone has to be the same?

No. At Pentecost people kept their own languages and heard one gospel. God doesn't erase our differences. He redeems them, and Revelation 7 shows people from every nation and language worshiping together before the throne.