Faith in a multicultural world

By Rev Dr Daniel Sihombing

We are called to live out our faith, not in isolation, but in the world.

And the world where we live in is a multicultural world.

I spent most of my life in Java, Indonesia.

It’s the most populous island in the whole world, and life is very different there.

I am sure life is very different too in other parts of the world.

The culture is different, the food is different, the rhythm is different, the language is different, the accent is different.

This is the reality. We live in a multicultural world.

In Romans 12:2, we see the encouragement to be transformed and not to be conformed.

Interestingly, when the Bible talks about being transformed in this passage, the word that is used, not in our English Bible, but in its original Greek, is something that would remind us of the word that we learned in our biology class, “metamorphosis”.

Remember what that means? Transformation of form, from egg, to larva, pupa, and then butterfly.

Interestingly, the transformation here is not from butterfly eggs to cat or dog, but from butterfly eggs to butterfly.

There is a core identity to be maintained, not a transformation into something we aren’t.

It’s also not just any kind of change, because that could mean anything, but change towards something good.

The renewing of mind so that we may discern God’s will, what is good, what is acceptable and perfect.

This is why gathering like this is so important, where we can meet fellow youth leaders, and together we discern how to be transformed, to renew our mind, what is good, what is acceptable and what is perfect.

Rev Dr Daniel Sihombing is Systematic Theology Lecturer at Pilgrim Theological College and this address is from his Bible study at the recent Feast of Faith event