Everyone Loses at Diversity Bingo

We wrap up our Romans series by looking at the remarkable list of names Paul includes in his final chapter.Romans 16 is fascinating because the list of names enables us to reconstruct the ethnic make-up of the Roman church network.It is remarkably “diverse” in the modern sense of the term, even though Paul has a completely different way of thinking about diversity.In fact, the way the world is pursuing diversity is completely backwards from what the New Testament teaches.That’s the bad news. The good news is Jesus wants his church to be diverse, and when the church proclaims Jesus as Lord, unity and diversity are the result.And the proof is Romans 16:22—the slave who wrote the greatest letter in history.