When you pour syrup on a breakfast waffle, the little ridges and squares in the waffle catch the syrup and keep it from spreading out evenly. So you end up putting lots of syrup on your waffle, and that may not be so good for your health. On a pancake the syrup spreads more easily.

The world is more like a waffle than a pancake. A map of Nigeria, for example, showing where the various ethnic groups live, would look like a waffle—except that the lines wouldn’t be straight. Now, we might think that when the good news of Jesus enters a country, it can easily spread all over. But barriers between the groups, like differences in language, culture, and history—and sometimes hostility—can make it difficult for the gospel to be shared with everyone.

In the early church there was a huge barrier between Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). The Spirit of God had to work hard in Jesus’ followers to get them to cross that barrier. As Ephesians 2 points out, Jesus destroyed that barrier through his death so that people of all groups can be reconciled to God and to one another. But putting that teaching into practice is not easy.

What are the barriers in your life that can tend to block friendships and the sharing of God’s love with other people?