It might be hard for us to understand the importance St. Paul places on the outreach of the Jesus movement to the Gentiles. What’s the big deal, we might ask. And yet, we know in our own time the temptation to divide the world up into “us” and “them.” The political fear of the immigrant is an example of this fact. The chant of “USA, USA” during the Olympics demonstrates the human tendency to look on my tribe as better than yours. So the fact that from the very beginning Christianity was inclusive, invited all to the table is a new way of looking at reality. What divides us fades to insignificance to what unites us — that we are all children of God.
