We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.

Tribalism stops where belief begins

There's something refreshing about this idea precisely because we live in an age of endless connection yet stubborn tribalism. We can video call someone across the world, yet we often shrink our concerns down to what's immediately around us—our neighborhood, our country, our people. Stott's point cuts through that: if you actually believe in something universal and transcendent, your circle of care shouldn't stop at convenient borders.

The practical tension here is real. It's easy to care deeply about problems we can see and touch, harder to extend that same energy to suffering we read about online. But the quote suggests something counterintuitive: that limiting your vision doesn't make you more faithful or more effective. It actually makes you smaller. A "global vision" doesn't mean abandoning local responsibility—it means recognizing that someone's struggles in another country matter with the same weight as someone's struggles next door.

What lingers is the challenge embedded in "must be." Not "should consider" or "might think about," but must be. That's not guilt-tripping; it's clarity about what consistency actually looks like. If your beliefs mean anything beyond convenience, they're calling you toward a wider table than the one you naturally sit at.