Jesus' first disciples were Jews, though at least two of the Apostles had Greek names (Andrew and Philip). However, very quickly non-Jews or Jews who had grown up in a foreign environment, like Stephen and Paul, also became disciples. In today's reading from the Acts of the Apostles we see that the community was already quite an international group, requiring some community adjustments, so that the Apostles led the community in a discerning process to identify "seven men acknowledged to be deeply spiritual and prudent".

This fairly rapid change from a group of Jewish disciples to an international community brought with it the administrative tensions we read of today, but later on it brought doctrinal tensions, especially over the question of circumcision. From the very beginning we see how the Church had to adapt to different cultural environments and religious backgrounds. Inculturation has always been a part of the Church's evangelizing ministry, and will in reality always be a part of it as long as the Church reaches out to new potential believers in Jesus. Nowadays we are aware that the ways we preach the Gospel to young people will be quite different from those we used in the past.