Acts: A 14-Day Devotional For MenSample

A Gospel for All People
Acts 10:34–43

The heart of this text is reconciliation. Reconciliation between radically diverse groups of people. Reconciliation that was necessary due to centuries of division and mistrust. 

When the events of Acts 10:34–43 took place, a couple of millennia ago, non-Jewish people were coming to faith in Jesus, but it was hard for Jewish converts to Christianity to know what to do with this reality. They often believed that this new message about Jesus was only for Jewish people, or that non-Jewish converts had to become officially Jewish to be a part of this new faith. After all, hadn’t God separated the Jews from all other people groups for a reason? Even though God had declared his love for all nations early in the Bible (Gen. 22:18), and the prophets had seen that God would one day be worshiped by people of every tribe and tongue (Dan. 7:14), seeing these words become a reality was a different matter. 

In most places today, we don’t see much of a separation between Jews and Gentiles, but if you take a minute, you can probably think of certain people whom you would rather not associate with. We often say we believe in diversity, and diversity is nice as a slogan. Slogans are easy to get behind, especially when they are kept at arm’s length. Bumper stickers rarely demand much from us. But what about when “diversity” is sitting in your living room? Or sitting next to you at church? Or when “diversity” moves into your neighborhood? Or “diversity” marries your son or daughter? Or “diversity” asks something of you? 

Peter’s vision, which addressed the major issue of diversity in the first century, shows us how to deal with those situations. It doesn’t involve feeling guilty if we aren’t automatically delighted by things that are strange or different, but it shows us that God transcends our own little circles of race, behavior, personality, upbringing, politics, and even theology. Imagine what your church community would communicate to an onlooking world if it were radically diverse? If the only thing the members had in common was Jesus? It would communicate that Jesus is the true unifier. It would communicate that Christ and our allegiance to him runs so much deeper than superficial things that can divide us. 

If we truly believe that the gospel is for *all*, we’ll want to pursue relationships that, at times, might make some people around us question the company we keep. This is where the gospel has to lead us, just as it led Peter and the early church.—Justin S. Holcomb