25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Reflection
I was re-reading Galatians during my devotional time last week, and I had to laugh. Paul really comes out swinging. He skips the warm greeting we are so accustomed to in his other letters because Paul is exasperated. I imagine him typing in all CAPS to the people that he loves before he even has a chance to sensor himself.
Most of us can understand this temptation. Aren’t there times when someone we love says or does something that feels so contrary to our understanding of how things “should be,” that we can feel ourselves want to jump out of our own skin at them – maybe even before we know what exactly is bothering us?
We are in good company. While I would say that self-control is absolutely a non-negotiable fruit of the Spirit, frustration can be what love sometimes sounds like initially when we are afraid of losing or losing sight of something that we believe matters.
By the time we get to Galatians 3, Paul has steadied himself enough to clearly articulate the thing that seems to be burning inside of him:
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slavenor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Paul is not arguing abstract theology here. He is trying to address what he perceives is a crisis of belonging. Paul is watching people draw lines around who is “in” and who is “out” of Christ’s community. He is watching them alienate, judge, and condemn one another based on those lines. And he cannot bear it any longer.
Make no mistake — Paul is not arguing for sameness.
He is, however, arguing that they have a shared identity whether they like it or not.
He says, “You are already clothed in Christ.” You all already belong.
Then he stretches them further: We are not the ones to determine who else belongs.
Baptism does. Christ does. Grace does.
We don’t all look the same. We love different things. We think differently about politics. We have different experiences – vocational, cultural, and racial.
And yet, we are called to see beyond all of the categories, because God in Jesus Christ sees beyond all of the categories.
Paul says that in Christ, the divisions of his day (and ours) collapse – not because differences disappear, but because they are not God’s basis for belonging.
Believe it or not – God’s beloved community is not actually built on agreement; it is built on proximity.
When we choose to live like Christ, it’s Christ who decides who belongs – when we lean into relationships built on awareness of the other, curiosity, and mutual respect.
We don’t get to decide who belongs in the family of God. We do get to determine if we will let a former Pharisee who made his living off gatekeeping for God’s community before he became a Jesus-follower be a guide for us, as we build the Beloved community in our midst.
And perhaps Paul’s passionate, slightly exasperated opening is good for one thing: It reminds us that belonging is worth fighting for. It is worth fighting against every impulse — in ourselves and in our systems — that narrows the wideness of God’s embrace.
“For all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
May we move toward one another as if that is already true. Amen.
by Kate Monahan
For Pondering and Prayer
- Who am I having trouble seeing as part of MY community right now?
- What’s ONE thing I could to do take a step closer to them?
Prayer: God of all people, you have made us each different, uniquely made for unique purposes – and yet your Son unites us as the one Savior of your one Church. Help us to understand our differences as a testimony to your love rather than as a threat to your order. Give us grace to appreciate one another, learn from one another, and serve one another, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
