An old saying has it that "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Even though I've reflected on the theme of this post for quite awhile, I probably still fit into the fool category, but here goes. As I have sought God over the consequences and impact of the genuine believer's brotherhood with Christ, one thing that seems inescapable is the reality of race. Ironically the Bible has virtually nothing to say about this. It does not tell us how humanity came to have different races or why. This is the first clue to me that our racial heritage may not be as significant as we often make it. The major division that the Bible makes is between the people of God (Israel in the OT) and those not of God (everyone else.) In the NT the terms used are Jews and Gentiles, or Greeks. Jews are told not to fellowship with Gentiles, not even to eat with them. But the proclamation of the kingdom of God by Jesus begins to change this. A Roman centurion and a Syro-Phoenician woman, both non-Jews, receive the highest accolades about their faith from Jesus. (Cf. Matt. 8:10-11,15:28)
Then the Holy Spirit uses Paul to reveal that "he (Jesus) himself is our peace, who has made us both one (Jews & Gentiles) and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility... and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.. He goes on to say that the mystery not made known in prior generations..."is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." (See Ephesians 2:11 to 3:6 for the fuller context. Colossians 3:11 states "there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free (all divisions between mankind in the 1st Century Roman world)but Christ is all, and in all." So from a factual standpoint we are Asian, or African, or Caucasian or whatever but our true identity is that we are brothers in Christ.
When even Barnabas joined Peter and other Jewish Christians in not dining with their Gentile brothers Paul opposed Peter to his face (Galatians 2:11) when Paul saw
"that their conduct was not in line with truth of the gospel." (Gal. 2:14) That is how crucial it is to have unity and identify as brothers (or sisters) of Christ.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Great thoughts! One professor I had once said that Christians (for reasons much like what you described) can be considered a new race of its own, thus overwriting our old geographical-physical concepts of race.
ReplyDelete