"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." (Galatians 3:28 NRSV)
The verse listed above from Paul's letter to the Galatians is, to me anyway, one of the most powerful verses in the Bible. He's breaking the down the largest barriers of his age: Jew vs Gentile, slave vs free, male vs female. For Paul, when Christ comes into the picture, those walls are torn down so that the light of Christ shines on all in equal measure. "You are one in Christ Jesus."
This last week was tough on the world scene. It seems like every time I sit down to write one of these that there's some other horrible thing that's happened. Last week it was the terrorist attacks in Paris and subsequent hunt for the killers. That got all the news. Let's also not forget that in Nigeria, Boko Haram militants slaughtered over 2,000 innocent men, women, and children. That didn't get as much play here in the states.
But why? It's an easy question to answer. French journalists working in an office are "us." Poor people in the third world are "them." We're nowhere near as concerned with what happens to them as opposed to what happens to us. A massacre in a village in Africa seems a world away, while an attack on a French magazine office has us wondering if that kind of a thing could happen in our hometown.
The "us vs them" thinking comes even more into play when we look at Christians, or shall we say "western societies" vs Islam. It was appalling to see "Kill All Muslims" trend on twitter for several hours last week. Yesterday a certain American news outlet claimed that President Obama is going to alter the first amendment to fit Islamic law. The same outlet peddled an opinion that the City of Birmingham, in England, was now a Muslim enclave where non-Muslims are not welcome and will not go. They eventually apologized for that one, but it's clear that once again the fear machine has revved up to full volume as people seek to lay blame. It doesn't matter that a Muslim employee at the Jewish kosher market that was attacked hid people in the meat locker and then snuck out to give police valuable info about the building and the situation inside. That got little to no airplay.
The fear, and the "us vs them" thinking clearly goes against the Unity that Paul wishes for us to have in Christ, but it's not all bad news. Yesterday millions of people marched in a rally in France to say that they weren't afraid of terrorism, and the President of France clearly drew a line between regular Muslims and the fundamentalists who perpetrate these actions. It seems that despite the media hype and the raw rage of social media, most people still have their heads on straight about this.
My prayer for the upcoming week is that it stays that way, and that it improves. At some point, if humanity can come to conclusion that we're all in this together no matter gender, age, race, creed, social status or anything else, then we could really make some strides in this world. Is that a tall order? Absolutely. Is it worth advocating for anyway? Absolutely. Please join me in keeping the victims of these incidents in your thoughts or prayers this coming week, and our world as well, that we can continue to try to realize that what unites us is bigger than what divides us.
Dear Christ, Prince of Peace:
We find, once again, that our world has been scarred by the worst kind of violence.
We offer up those who have died, that they may be at peace.
We offer up friends and family who are left behind, that they somehow find healing.
We even offer up those who commit these acts, that their hearts might be turned from hate.
We offer up our world to you, as we seek to find the best way to end this violence and be together.
We offer up ourselves to you, that we may recognize and void our own prejudices.
May your Spirit of peace, justice, and unity prevail as we pray the prayer you taught us:
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Very true. Good blog.
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