January 6 is the church celebration of Epiphany, sometimes called the Gentile Christmas. It is the day when we remember the non-Jewish wisemen who visited the infant Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Epiphany is a yearly reminder that Jesus lived and died for all people because He loves all people and that heaven is going to be filled with every nation, language, and people group.
If that’s true, then surely the church should look a lot more diverse than it does, especially
in urban centers and suburban areas such as ours. If God wants to fill heaven with all people, then why do churches often look so monochrome? Sometimes, it’s almost one class, one color, one style of dress, one musical taste, or one education level.
In a few cases it’s because of the demographics of a particular area. No one would expect a thriving kids ministry in Sun City. But more often, it’s just fragmentation.
Tyle Wigg-Stevenson, author of “Brand Jesus,” a book about the dangers of marketing
Jesus, recently wrote, “The key to successful marketing is niche segmentation: dividing a population into identifiable groups who behave in predictable ways based on consumer
preferences…It has allowed us to live lives that are increasingly tailor-made to our personal preferences. We live in neighborhoods of single-family homes populated by people like us, go to church with people like us, consume media targeted at people like us, and shop with people like us. All of this makes us more reluctant to inhabit a world with people who are not like us.” Hear that? Consumerism in our country has made us uncomfortable with people unlike us to a certain extent, at least in close quarters.
At Christ the Rock, we are out to change that. We live in an unbelievably diverse area. The world is coming to Central Texas because of the medical, technological, and educational opportunities—to name just a few. There are now over 60 languages represented in the Round Rock Independent School District. This area is filled with the complex and beautiful mosaic that God loves.
And He’s given us the marvelous task to work with Him in weaving it all into the tapestry of heaven. Let’s make this a year to reach out to all people, the people of the world, the people of central Texas!
