One of my favorite parts about getting to do what I do is the people I meet from all over the world.
When I first got here it was intimidating. Meeting Ines, Abdel, and Lily*. I remember asking Ines and Abdel, two presenters who frequently show their faces on camera in Christian programming, “How come it isn’t as dangerous for you two to put your faces on camera like it is for some other people from Morocco?”
Their response was basically, “It’s dangerous for us too. But that’s a risk we’ve decided to take.” Instantly I was humbled. I knew I’d led a privileged life in the states, especially when it came to religious freedom. So I always felt inferior. I figured God was probably saying, “You need to learn from these people. Look how much holier they are than you.”
And I certainly have learned a lot from them. But the more people I work with, the more my insecurities wane. What strikes me every time I encounter a believer from a new country or culture is not our differences but our similarities.
A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to talk to Rahim*, a young man from Morocco who gave his life to Jesus about four years ago and acted in one of our videos. I got that same urge to feel inferior. But as he told me why he decided to follow Jesus, he said, “My life didn’t really have a purpose. I was just going from one thing to another, and then I met Jesus. He gave my life purpose and freed me from addiction.”
As Rahim spoke, rather than hearing how inferior I was, I heard God saying, “Listen to how he talks about Me. It’s as if he’s speaking about the same God you know. Six thousand miles away from where you grew up, he found Jesus – the same Jesus you know, love, and serve. And in the same way that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever, I am the same savior to people from the United States as I am to people from Morocco, France, Australia, Nigeria…”
Even though we come from different countries, our love for Jesus and what He’s done in us often looks the same. The way Rahim talked about Jesus, His role and power in his life, and the things He had done for him sounded a lot like what He’s done for me.
Unity is not something that “just happens”. We live in a divided world. Conflicting opinions exist everywhere. Even among the body of believers, sometimes we’re so different that it stresses me out. But one thing that encourages me is the people I’ve met who come from vastly different countries but have been loved by the same Jesus I’ve been loved by.
The beauty and otherworldly unity of the Church speaks to the beauty of God Himself. His love is powerful enough to transcend our distinct countries, languages, cultures, upbringings, and not to mention, personal struggles. This one God brings us together, gives us new life, adopts us into the family of Christ, and somehow makes us one.
*Names changed for security reasons