Mystery and multiculturalism: Should the musterion of Ephesians 3 encourage multiculturalism in South African churches?

The objective was the examination of the musterion of Ephesians 3, whether it encouraged multiculturalism in South African churches. The knowledge gap was to find further biblical direction for churches experiencing cultural transitions and demographic changes. The research method was a qualitative analysis of biblical texts, as applied specifically in a South African setting, with global implications. The significance would be the cultural transitions of churches from homogeneous, local churches into culturally heterogeneous, local churches. Further questioning the homogeneous unit principle (HUP) in the light of Scripture, especially Ephesians. The results found that the musterion in Ephesians 3 pointed to the Holy Spirit’s original intension for multicultural local churches. This mystery was found to be the witness of the church in this world and cosmically, to allay fear and prejudice. Further research is recommended into addressing the fears of globalisation in local churches. The contextual context affected local churches in post-Apartheid South Africa and many local churches around the world experiencing globalisation. These findings affect possible blind spots in theological studies in the New Testament, cross-cultural care in Practical Theology, Missiological findings for church growth and church planting, along with sociological findings in multiculturalism.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article deals with concerns for New Testament, missiology and practical theology. It challenges the homogenous unit principle in the light of Pauline discourse and synthesises research to form a contextual response to the need for multiculturalism in South African churches.

Ending Racial Profiling in the Church: Revisiting the Homogenous Unit Principle

The “homogeneous unit principle” (HUP) has informed evangelical mission praxis in the United States for decades. While many see this as a pragmatic approach to spreading the gospel more expediently, others argue that it mirrors processes of racialization in the society at large, while reinforcing hyper-segregation in the church. In this paper, I suggest that the American evangelical church needs to re-examine, and ultimately, shed the exclusionary mission practices informed by the HUP if it is to faithfully embody the unity and reconciliation achieved through Christ’s work on the cross in its racialized mission context (Eph 2:11–22).

Mission-Shaped or Paul-Shaped? Apostolic Challenges to theMission-Shaped Church

John M. Hull has raised a number of criticisms about the understanding of worship found inMission-Shaped Church: Church Planting and Fresh Expressions of Church in a Changing Context. In this article, some of these criticisms are explored further. Analysis of Paul’s proposed reforms to the Lord’s Supper in Corinth show that worship must address social concerns and not focus exclusively on a God-ward aspect. Paul does this by describing the Lord’s Supper as a paradigm for behaviour and world-view using the Greek symposium tradition. Paul’s response to the Corinthian situation raises questions about the suitability of the Homogeneous Unit Principle and its role in mission, as do aspects of the controversy with Peter documented in Galatians 2. His wider exploration of the sacramental dimension of ritual meals (1 Cor. 10–11) further shows that worship cannot be divorced from ethics and behaviour if it is to be truly effective and based on Pauline principles