One of the great things about London is its ethnic and cultural diversity. It is estimated that a third of Londoners are born outside the UK. Everywhere you see people of different races speaking different languages, eating different food, wearing different clothes and practising different religions.
I find this very exciting. I love shopping at our local street market in Hackney on Ridley Road where something from almost everywhere in the world – African snails, Jewish bagels, Asian fruit, Turkish delicacies – seems to be present. But it is not only ethnic diversity that is striking in London. There is also an amazing social diversity, with rich and poor, young and old and everyone in between living often in close proximity.
From a biblical point of view this ethnic and cultural diversity is no accident and is, indeed, significant. For sure, you can find all sorts of social, economic and political reasons why people from all over the world end up in cities like London, Paris and New York. But, as Christians, we believe that God is the sovereign Lord of history. He is working out his purpose in history to bring his saving reign to every nation on earth. One of the ways he is doing that is by moving people from all nations to where they can hear and believe the gospel. When they believe, these new Christians are gathered in churches that should be living demonstrations of the reconciling power of the gospel. In turn, these churches send out people to take the gospel to other cities, peoples and nations.
