Beautiful Distractions

Tuesday December 22, 2020

Galatians 3:26-28
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Dear Friends,

There was an ancient Jewish prayer, found in the Babylonian Talmud, where Jewish men would praise God that they were not created gentile (non-Jew), slave, or female. Whether the Apostle Paul’s writing to the church in Galatia came before or after these prayers, we are not sure. But regardless, these distinctions ran deep in Paul’s culture and Christ’s Church. I’m just so glad this isn’t something we struggle with today, aren’t you? It’s so good that the church is where everyone equally belongs and distinctions aren’t made between genders, socio-economics, political leanings, sexual orientation, ethnicity or race (read with sarcasm, please). 

This was a world where distinctions divided people and placed them in categories of belonging or exclusion. It wasn’t limited to empires or palaces housing the powerful and elite but was also found in rural communities and impoverished places. Hierarchy—whether religious, educational, economical, etc.—is found in every corner of the world. Perhaps this is why God wanted to draw near in a garden, in the dirt wrestling with Jacob, in a pillar of fire or cloud, in a still small voice, in a tent-tabernacle, in the womb of a poor teenage girl. 

God has forever drawn near to the bottom, closest to the need, adjoined to the hardest parts of life. 

In a world where our distinctions become identity markers and we’re known more for our accomplishments, or lack there of, Christ offers a paradigm shift and new identity markers. Paul’s words began to radically disassemble commonly held oppressive structures. Our baptism into Christ has undone every ranking identification that demands we fight for position and power.

Friends, our individual differences and unique personhoods are not wrong and they certainly don’t vanish with our baptism. The way God created you, with all your specific quirks, flair, abilities, and background is so beautifully and wonderfully needed. You’ve been created for community and without you and all your diverse distinctions, your community would suffer. But, baptized friend, you are not only your gender, career, or ethnicity. You are the beloved child of God, equally loved and cherished by God and by the church (God, I pray so with the church). And while your distinctions may give description about who you are, they are not who you are. They don’t define you. 

Your primary identity is beloved friend of Jesus. Everything else about you is tinsel on the tree, sprinkles on the cake, just more good on what’s already so good about you. So friend, may you be known by your belovedness first, clothed in Christ Jesus who gave his whole self to be near to you. May no one diminish your distinctiveness. And may you work towards unity, freedom, and belonging in Christ Jesus for the love of your neighbor, the good of His Church, and the glory of the God who has drawn near.

With (love),
Bethany