Surely Paul was helped to communicate and share with this diversity of people because his upbringing was bicultural. On the one hand he was Jewish and received an impeccable education in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3). He knew Jewish law and religion as well as the Jerusalem homeboys did. On the other hand, he was also a Roman citizen born in Tarsus, an important city hundreds of miles and several borders to the north, worlds away from Jerusalem. This gave him eloquence in Greek and the rights of a citizen of Rome. These privileges proved to be crucial in his effectiveness as a missionary to the Gentiles.

Paul's Greek literary style was a critical tool for helping shape the life of the first churches; it also gives us our best records of church life and teaching in the time of those first apostles. Paul's Roman education and citizenship meant that he could defend himself before governor Felix in Caesarea (Acts 24:10) rather than having to use an attorney, as the Jewish high priest and his elders did (Acts 24:1). Paul was also able to appeal his case directly to the emperor, which earned him a trip to Rome with the opportunity to preach there (Acts 25:11-12; 28:23-30).

It was hard for some of the old school elders in Jerusalem to accept the new reality that Gentile converts could faithfully follow Jesus without becoming faithfully Jewish in all ritual practices, such as circumcision (Acts 15:1-5). But God prepared and called Paul to be an "apostle to the Gentiles" (Romans 11:13). Paul grew up surrounded by Gentiles, "outsiders" who did not know the Jewish religion. Paul knew what it was to be in the minority in Tarsus while being faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Jerusalem young Saul may have been a model student. But he was not a homeboy. He had grown up as a minority in Tarsus, and his minority experience had prepared him for his mission.

God gave Peter a dream (Acts 10) that opened him up to cross-cultural mission. But God gave Paul the gift deep in his bones and childhood experience. Paul was bicultural, bridging between two worlds.

Acts includes other fun stories about the implications of Paul's biculturalness (e.g., Acts 16:35-39). The Bible tells many stories of faithful bicultural people bridging between two worlds. As we saw in Moses several months ago, bicultural believers are key players in God's ever expanding mission to the world.

How much do you appreciate your own cultural complexities? How much do you treasure God's bicultural gifts to our churches?

Next month:
Xenophile hospitality: loving the alien