Contemporary application of Matthew's gospel

The following is a topical question posed by a class that I am taking, and thought it would be worth sharing...

The question: "How might Matthew's Gospel apply to contemporary questions of multi-culturalism in the church?", is the question which I have decided to work with for this week's forum. In doing so, it is more because of it being untouched so far. This may be a two-part post as I am thinking this through a little at a time, but just the same, while reading through the Gospel of Matthew, and with it specifically being written with a target audience of the Jewish people (from whom Matthew/Levi came), it is interesting to note the times that Jesus sends out his disciples to evangelize first the Jewish people to the stated exclusion of the Gentiles (including the Samaritans.) And then of course the various times that when describing how they are to evangelize, the door is left open on how the future church is to evangelize.

But very interestingly, if this is a gospel written to the Jews to be more revealing to the Jews who Jesus truly was and how He fit the prophetic description of Messiah, this gospel also in chapter 12 quotes again the prophet Isaiah who says that the Messiah would proclaim justice to the Gentiles, and that the Gentiles would place their hope in Him.

Contextually, and in light of the question to be answered, the Jews were being told explicitly that this Messiah who had come was not only their Savior, but the Savior of the world. This would mean that the Gentiles, and the Samaritans, were to be included in this plan of salvation. In the concluding pages of this gospel, Matthew records Jesus' words of the Great Commission which were to go unto ALL nations making disciples, and baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

How does this apply to the contemporary church and multi-culturalism? It would seem to speak as though we as Christians sometimes lock ourselves into a ghetto-like setting. We tend to become very introspective and discuss the minutiae of theology (which is important, but often of late has become the focus and not the mission). We become as the Jews had become in the days of Christ, which was seemingly a product of their own making after the days of the Restoration of the land when Nehemiah and Ezra led the people to rebuild Jerusalem. The Jews became very self-focused on their own salvation and agenda, rather than being the message bearers that God had intended for them to be. This point never seemed to be learned beyond a certain point which led to the exiles and other woes that befell them.

As 21st century Christians it seems as though we are dangerously close to the same peril in that we are so often self-focused on ourselves to the exclusion of those around us, our "Gentiles" and "Samaritans". How we react seems to be a product of the way the "culture wars" have been fought for these last twenty-five or thirty years, between ourselves over Scripture and between forces of secular and religious movements over issues such as abortion, homosexual marriage, and other items of public policy, all the while the message of salvation seems to slip further and further down the list of priorities we pursue with excellence and with passion.

While Matthew was trying to proclaim the Messiah to the Jews based on His Jewishness and the fulfillment of prophecies, we as Christians in the West in the 21st century can read Matthew's gospel and learn a lesson that we too need to remember again Who our Messiah is based upon His fulfillment of prophecy and His own proclamations; and how we are charged with bringing in the kingdom, not by force by proclaiming the message of the Gospel. We must not slacken our resolve for righteousness, but at the same time we must not get calloused hearts towards those that we engage in "cultural" discussions which then shuts the door of gaining a hearing for the gospel.

This seems to me the right application to the question being asked for further discussion. Not sure if my point is well made, or not. I am, and was, and will be passionate about God's truth as it affects our culture, and that a stand for righteousness must be made, BUT I pray that as I grow older that I grow more wiser in respect on how to engage the debate in such a way that I leave room for the gospel, or else we have fought the good fight for nothing if we win the battle for "culture" but lose the war to win the "soul".

Peace to all. Jon