I expect you have seen the maps which depict the placement of ethnic/cultural groups in major U.S. cities. What are we to make of these maps?

Here is the map of “New York” city, perhaps the most “segregated”, with caption from the article.

This map, created by Dustin Cable at University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, is the most comprehensive representation of racial distribution in America ever made. Here: New York City. Image: Dustin Cable White: blue dots; African American: green dots; Asian: red; Latino: orange; all others: brown

The most interesting one to me is DETROIT:

Here are some generalizations I think are true for the most part.

1. People move to (or stay) where their friends are; where their surroundings are familiar; where they can afford a domicile.
2. People move to better neighborhoods when they can afford to; they move to less desirable neighborhoods when necessary.
3. City planning sometimes forcefully evicts people from the place they have been and wanted to stay, and fails to provide compensation or viable alternatives.
4. Individual opportunity for improvement often/normally takes precedence over staying located within the community, even among those whose culture is communalistic.
5. Prejudice is a factor in preserving economic disparity in many cases.
6. Tweet This  Stereotypes persist, in part, because we do not personally know people of other ethnicities/cultures.
7. People vote selfishly, not communally.
8. Politicians legislate selfishly, not communally.
9. We would be enriched by closer proximity and more frequent interaction with those whose ethnicity/culture differs from our own.
10. Having integrated cities and neighborhoods is no guarantee of more interaction.
    Tweet This Unless people are intentional, interaction does not happen even in an integrated neighborhood.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I now conclude with this conviction:

We who, in spite of our wretched unworthiness, have been reconciled to God by our gracious Redeemer, who has broken down dividing walls and created one body through the cross, have both the indwelling power and the compelling obligation to live differently than the self-advancing pursuits of others. Our greater challenge is not to change the maps, but to change our hearts.

Tweet This  Our greater challenge is not to change the segregation maps, but to change our Christ-redeemed hearts.

WHAT OBSERVATIONS WOULD YOU ADD?

Links to the Wired article on these maps, and the interactive Racial Dot Map. (accessed 8/31/2015)

These are some notes from one of our Bible study times at our recent team retreat. Please excuse parts that are rough; notes were taken as ideas were shared.

How would Jesus treat a foreigner? This is a text which offers a definitive answer. (Gospel of John chapter 4)

Who was this woman?

– half-breed Jew (a people whose origin dates back to the Assyrian captivity)
– her life experience includes a long list of broken relationships with men
– she’s the opposite of Nicodemus (ch 3)
– a 2nd class citizen (classic „underserved“ person)
– Samaritans were hated by the Jews

Jesus „had to pass through Samaria.“ (v.4) He chose intentionally to meet with her on foreign soil, i.e., a foreign context for Him, but a familiar neighborhood/context for the Samaritan(s). Baffling that He was preaching to Israel at this time, giving them a chance to receive Him, yet He meets with this single individual.
God is concerned with the individual; thus, Jesus purpose was to meet/interact/confront this lowly individual (a seeker?)
Noon-day meeting = personal sacrifice. It was hot!
The woman came to the well alone, which says something about her low social status.
Jesus begins with a request/need. Tweet This Jesus initiated contact with foreign woman by asking for her help.
He confronts the Samaritan woman’s belief system, which causes her to question.
There is shock value in his statement in verse 8: „Will you give me a drink?“ The woman responds, „You want to put your Jewish lips to my Samaritan cup? (You know as well as I that that just is not done!)“
Jesus is well aware that this woman is dying of thirst – spiritually.

Tweet This First Jesus asks her for water, and then he offers her living water. In so doing, he impresses upon her how parched her soul is and how great her spiritual thirst is.

LESSON: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES TAKE A BACK SEAT TO THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF OTHERS
Jesus is Jesus – He operates on a higher plane. His behavior (vv.9-14) personifies:
– True humility
– Genuine compassion/empathy
– Self-sacrificing love that is willing to get involved
„Fountain of water“ (v. 14) Jesus took her from her felt need to her deeper inner needs. He enters into her story; Tweet This  Jesus gives more than just a gospel presentation of truth(s). Jesus enters into life narrative of this ostracized woman.
Jesus proceeds beyond her physical needs with His probing questions. God prompts us to go beyond just meeting physical needs. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom as to what questions to ask, to probe matters of the heart.

The Samaritan woman lived in a world in which categories such as class, race and gender were pivotal. Jesus broke through these artificial walls of segregation. Where Jesus interacts with individuals in the gospels, it is the person, not his status, which becomes His focus.

[Jesus flips the switch and the dialogue moves to truth-telling and true worship issues.]
And yet, he did draw lines (vv.20-24); there were limits in His level of tolerance, (even for Jesus). He never says, „It does not matter what you believe.“ Instead, He clearly states, that it is not ok simply to be tolerant of others and their belief system.

Tweet This  Jesus clearly states in this passage, that it does make a difference to which God you pray.

Worship God? It is not a matter of where, but how! When the Samaritan woman wants to claim that she and her people are the ones who are doing it right, Jesus objects. He makes it clear that there is a right and a wrong way to worship.

LESSON: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES NEVER TRUMP THE TRUTH
The truth we proclaim is often not understood; we need the Holy Spirit to „translate“, move the hearts of others, lift the veil
John 6,44: God the Father must draw others to Himself; He creates thirst and our role is to point them to Jesus
There is a gradual approach evident here: presence, interest, felt need, concern, deeper needTweet This When she is ready to hear it, Jesus proclaims „I am He“ (the Messiah). She acknowledges that He is indeed the long-awaited Messiah.

This passage/narrative/experience gives Jesus street credibility to send His followers out to make disciples of all nations.
„The fields are white/ripe for harvest“ (v.35) Jesus tells His disciples to look out to the horizon where they see a crowd moving towards them en mass. It is very possible that what they see is a crowd of white robed Samaritans headed their way. He is telling His disciples, „That is your mission field and it is a field ripe for plucking.“ Tweet This  Jesus sends His disciples to a people group with whom they have little in common, and with whom they have been at odds for generations.
This is a foretaste of that which will be revealed to them in the years ahead, ushering in the „church age.“ “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile them both to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.“ (Eph. 2,16).

LESSON: Tweet This   THE SPIRITUAL UNITY IN CHRIST SUPERSEDES CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Many believe (v.41), and it all started with a questionable witness who said, „Come meet a man who told me everything I ever did“ (v.39) The Samaritan villagers acknowledge that Jesus is their Savior (a spiritual, not a military Messiah), and the Savior of the whole world.

Jesus shared a spiritual principle that helps us understand various responses as we try to demonstrate God’s love to people today. The disciples asked Him why He spoke to the multitudes using parables, some of which, even for the disciples, were difficult to interpret. His answer was,

“Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him” (Matthew 13:11-12)

Those who show curiosity and interest in God’s truth are not only given some understanding but are granted more truth to believe, and so on. In other words, responders receive increasing access to God’s truth and life.

But the opposite is true as well. Those who do not show interest in what they see or hear get what they ask for: less revelation and understanding. They progressively disqualify themselves from the right to hear more. The truth may surround them in the form of witnessing believers, gospel television, Bibles and Christian literature, or dreams and visions — but “seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand”(Mt. 13:13).

I am frequently saddened and even frustrated by the teaching of Jesus and the Bible that those who do not believe will go to hell. I honestly do not know how we as believers can cope with such a reality. Living with this horrible truth is yet another way we admit that God is God and we are not.

Still, this spiritual principle gives some understanding. Even in a remote village away from any missionary or satellite reception, a person can respond to initial insight about the one true God, and God will give more, leading even to an “abundance” of truth. That person can ask the God who made the stars to help him and show him how to live. Not only that, a glimmer of the light of truth can be seen by a seeker who lives in isolation in a strict religious family anywhere in the world.

God, You alone conduct your affairs. You are able to bring light to any dark place. Be merciful even as you are just. Open dull eyes, awaken deaf ears. Grant understanding to hearts, and cause many to turn so that you may heal.

Tweet This The principle of increasing and decreasing access helps explain differing responses to the gospel today.

We know that society is becoming increasingly multi-cultural. But this isn’t just theoretical. Is it happening there where you live?

Here is a two-part challenge for you. Make an inventory of the eight neighbors nearest your residence (whether a house or apartment). List what nationalities are included in those households (some may have more than one, where the husband and wife are from different nationalities).

Secondly, how many first names do you know from those eight households?

Make a list or diagram of those households, and pray for them. Start getting to know them better. Think of ways to show Christ’s love to them.

Tweet ThisMake an inventory of the eight neighbors nearest your residence.