A multicultural church was a part of the teaching and experience of the church before the emergence of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine.
Early church historian Alan Kreider notes the importance of Jesus’ teaching to love our enemy in early church writings. He quotes Tertullian: "One state we know of which we are all citizens - the universe." He then goes on to say: "This vision of global peace, rooted in the peacemaking of Christ Jesus and the enemy loving of his disciples, underlay the Old Testament passage which was apparently quoted more frequently than any other by the early communities - the swords into ploughshares passage of Isaiah 2.2-4 and Micah 4.1-4. ... The sheer largeness of this vision was bracing. God was saving individuals to be sure, but as part of his grand design for the ‘reconciliation and restoration of the human race.’ [quoting Justin].
Kreider then comments: "Small wonder that these Christian communities which appeared to be so marginal had a self confidence that was attractive. They believed they were the instruments that God was using to construct a new world." He notes how this influenced the way they lived with one another. For example Justin’s testimony was that: "we who hated and killed one another and would not associate with people of different tribes because of [their different] customs, now ... live together and pray for our enemies..."
