'...I TRY TO FIND COMMON GROUND WITH EVERYONE...THAT I MIGHT BRING THEM TO
CHRIST.' 1 CORINTHIANS 9:22

It is a mistake to think your way is the only way! Paul wrote: 'I try to find
common ground with everyone...that I might bring them to Christ.' You must
learn to become more comfortable with diversity. After all, staying healthy
means eating a varied diet; you would be foolish to eat just one food group,
right?

When people feel that you respect them for who they are, you are more effective
at influencing them and helping them to change. The Bible says, 'In Christ's
family...you are all equal...in a common relationship with Jesus' (Galatians
3:28 TM). Just think, when the saints of the ages gather round God's throne to
praise Him, they will not only be from different continents and cultures, but
different eras; some from the early church and some from the space age, all
worshipping together. What a concert! But you will not enjoy it if you are so
narrow that you only know one song, because they may not be singing that
particular number over there!

Some of God's choicest characters were culturally diverse: like Moses, an
Israelite raised in an Egyptian household to increase his understanding and
prepare him for his destiny; or Peter, who was prejudiced enough to think that
God only used Jews, until God straightened him out saying: '...If God says
something is acceptable, do not say it is not' (Acts 10:15 NLT). Jesus prayed,
'that they may all be one...that the world may believe' (John 17:21 NASB). God
knows there is one thing the enemy cannot stand, it is Christ-centred unity
that transcends diversity!