Am I Allowed To Have A Burden For Indians?

Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations, and in his providence, God has brought the nations to the United States. Our neighborhoods and cities are full of diverse people who are separated from God and apart from faith in Jesus. In recent years, there has been a proper push for multicultural and multi-ethnic churches to reflect the demographics of most neighborhoods and cities. We have opportunities to have congregations that reflect the glorious, diverse picture of Revelation 7:

“After this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb….Crying out with a loud voice,‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10)

We know we’re called to reach all people, but is it improper to have a specific desire for one’s own people group, especially in a context where my people aren’t the only people? Specifically, am I allowed to intentionally engage Indian Americans while pursuing everyone with the gospel?

The answer would seem to be an obvious yes; everyone needs the gospel, including Indians. But how can we go about having a proper view of this?

A surprising place to see this lived out is in the apostle Paul. Known for bringing the good news to Gentiles (non-Jews), Paul was an ethnic minority in almost all the places he traveled to and yet was able to reach even other Jewish men and women with the gospel. In a context where his people certainly weren’t the only people, and with a commission to reach a broader audience than just his people, Paul’s life can provide some instruction in how we view and engage fellow Indian Americans.

Paul’s Heart For Jewish People

In Romans 9, on the heels of marveling at the eternal, saving love of God, Paul proceeds to lament the unbelief of his own people:

“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” (Romans 9:2b-3)

Paul possessed a special love for his own Jewish people. If he could buy their salvation at the cost of his own, he would willingly pay the price – willingly be “accursed and cut off from Christ” for their sake. Paul had a burning, genuine love for his own people throughout the length of his ministry that desired their salvation.

This begs the question, do we possess a deep love and longing for our own “kinsmen according to the flesh” to know the Lord? We are certainly called to love all people and desire all to be saved,  however, Paul shows us that we can have a specific burden for our own people. Good evangelism is near impossible without a love for people, so to effectively begin reaching Indians, we must have a genuine love for them and desire that God would save them.

Paul Relates With Jewish People

The apostle Paul’s ethnic identity was Jewish by the sovereignty of God. Sometimes, his Jewish identity is relegated to a thing of the past, his life before Christ, as if he stopped being Jewish when he became a follower of Jesus. But Paul himself claims to be a Jew in his letters:

“…for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.” (Romans 11:1)

Paul doesn’t do away with his Jewishness, but it is a part of him and his testimony. He doesn’t leave his Jewish cultural heritage behind, but appeals to it:

“circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee.” (Philippians 3:5)

Though Paul’s Jewish identity is important, it is no longer his primary identity. In just a couple verses, he identifies where his primary identity is found: in Christ. Nonetheless, he is now relatable to his Jewish audience. Who else can feel the tension of being children of the promise, living under the law, and waiting for the Messiah to show up? This isn’t a foreigner telling them about some new religion, but one of their own. Because of his relatability, his Jewish readers can trust him.

Do we recognize our unique ability to relate and reach other Indians in our context? Mission should occur among all peoples, but we possess a unique advantage in reaching Indian-Americans with the gospel. We were born and raised in Indian families, not by chance, but by the sovereign will of God. This means that even our cultural upbringing has purpose, like being able to relate to others who have had similar ethnic and cultural experiences. Reaching our own people means that we then must intentionally identify what the cultural artifacts and common experiences we share with other Indian Americans are.

Paul’s Approach to Jewish People

Finally, Paul’s own ministry model in the book of Acts is helpful to examine. In every city he enters, Paul first enters the synagogue before proclaiming the good news to any other cultural center in the area. He goes to the synagogue, meets his people where they’re at, and displays his relatability.

Acts 13:16-41 show us a glimpse of what he may have said each time he taught in the synagogue, tracing the cultural and salvific history of Israel.  He possesses a profound grasp of their history (the cultural history of his own people) and can teach them because he is familiar with their ideas, customs, and expectations. He is, after all, one of them.

How do we approach evangelism to Indian Americans? In our Christian church culture where, “come and hear” is often the preferred evangelistic approach for many church-goers, Paul provides us a model of “go and tell” where we meet people on their own turf, humbly and yet boldly. Whether it be homes, neighborhoods, restaurants, cultural festivals; we have opportunities to go where other Indian Americans already are, humbly and boldly, instead of waiting for them to come to us. It is in these situations that we can also display our relatability, connecting with ideas and cultural practices.

We must not abandon the call to all people, but we don’t have to ignore our Indian American brothers and sisters as we proclaim good news. By developing a love for our own people, identifying what connects us to our own people, and humbly approaching them, we may, like Paul, be able to engage our own people with the gospel in an environment that is larger than our own. Would we pray that our kinsmen according to the flesh might become kinsmen according to the cross!