Day 7 of 7
Building the Beloved Community
The church where the dividing wall is torn down
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Ephesians 2:11-22: "Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh... were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility... So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God."
Then read Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Reflection
We have spent six days examining what the Bible teaches about strangers, foreigners, and the obligations of God's people toward them. Today, we arrive at the New Testament's most radical vision: a community where the very category of "stranger" is abolished.
Ephesians 2 is one of the most revolutionary passages in all of Scripture, though familiarity has blunted its force. In the ancient world, the division between Jew and Gentile was absolute. The Jerusalem Temple contained a literal wall — the soreg — beyond which no Gentile could pass on pain of death. An inscription on that wall, discovered by archaeologists in 1871, warned: "No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death."
Paul says Christ demolished that wall. Not metaphorically. The death of Christ on the cross destroyed the enmity that separated insider from outsider, native from foreigner, chosen people from rejected people. Those who were "strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God" are now "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God."
The language shift is breathtaking. Xenoi (strangers) and paroikoi (aliens) become sympolitai (fellow citizens) and oikeioi (household members). In Christ, the stranger becomes family. The alien becomes a citizen. The outsider is brought inside — not by earning membership but by the blood of Christ.
N.T. Wright captured the radical social implications: "In Christ, the deepest divisions of the ancient world — Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female — are not merely bridged. They are abolished as markers of status and replaced by a new identity in which all are one." This is not a vision of sameness — as if differences between cultures and nations do not matter. It is a vision of unity that transcends difference without erasing it. The church is not a melting pot where everyone becomes identical. It is a family table where everyone is welcome precisely as they are.
Keller drew the contemporary application: "The church of Jesus Christ has no borders. It is the one place in all the world where nationality, race, and class are meant to disappear — not because they don't matter, but because something greater has arrived." If this is true, then the local church should be the most visibly counter-cultural community in any society. It should be the place where an immigrant from Guatemala and a native-born American, a Syrian refugee and a third-generation citizen, a documented professional and an undocumented laborer sit at the same table, sing the same songs, pray the same prayers, and call each other brother and sister.
The honest reality is that most churches fall far short of this vision. Sociological research consistently shows that Sunday morning remains one of the most segregated hours in American life. Churches tend to be ethnically homogeneous, culturally comfortable, and socially insular. This is not merely a failure of diversity programming. It is a failure to be the church that Ephesians 2 describes.
What would it look like to build the community Paul envisions? It would mean welcoming immigrants — not as a charity project but as brothers and sisters who enrich the body. It would mean learning other languages, sharing other foods, hearing other stories. It would mean sponsoring refugee families, not just with money but with friendship. It would mean advocating for just immigration policies not because it is politically fashionable but because the people affected are members of our household.
Over these seven days, we have traced a consistent biblical pattern: God loves the stranger, commands his people to love the stranger, identifies with the stranger, and has built a community in which the very concept of "stranger" is ultimately overcome. The question that remains is whether we will build that community or merely admire it from a distance.
Going Deeper
What is one concrete step you can take this week to build the Ephesians 2 community? It might be inviting an immigrant family to dinner. It might be volunteering with a refugee resettlement organization. It might be advocating for a just policy. It might be simply learning the name and story of someone from another country who attends your church. The vision of Ephesians 2 is not realized by reading about it. It is realized by living it — one relationship, one meal, one act of welcome at a time.
Key Quotes
“In Christ, the deepest divisions of the ancient world — Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female — are not merely bridged. They are abolished as markers of status and replaced by a new identity in which all are one.”
“The church of Jesus Christ has no borders. It is the one place in all the world where nationality, race, and class are meant to disappear — not because they don't matter, but because something greater has arrived.”
Prayer Focus
Ask God to make your church a living demonstration of Ephesians 2 — a community where every dividing wall is being dismantled and every stranger is being welcomed home.
Meditation
Paul says that Christ 'has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.' What walls of hostility — ethnic, cultural, national, political — still stand in your church and in your heart?
Question for Discussion
Ephesians 2 describes the church as a place where the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile has been destroyed. In practice, many churches remain ethnically and culturally homogeneous. What would it look like — concretely, not just theoretically — for your church to become the kind of community Paul envisions, and what obstacles stand in the way?