“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28)
Sometimes, in our world today, we don’t really fully appreciate the radical nature of this passage. If Paul was writing today, he would have said there is neither Black nor White, rich or poor, male or female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. One of the effects of His ministry of reconciliation of man to God is the tearing down of the walls that divide us, to end oppression, and unite us in His name, to Himself. The only two “races” that eternity distinguishes between is Christian and Unbeliever. If Unbeliever sounds unkind, the actual appropriate term used on the lips of bible heroes is Child of Hell.
We are a diverse body, of many members with different gifts and functions, but we are all His. Let’s not fight against each other. We do not war with flesh and blood, but with the powers of darkness in heavenly places. We are to be known by our love for one another, an equal love that treats the rich Christian the same as the poor Christian, the black Christian the same as the white. And, as James tells us, the important the same as the unimportant.
Among us, we should not be waring for position and power and our own way. But the greatest should be the servant of all. If Christians would live the gospel we claim to believe, the world would take notice. We changed it once that way.