Galatians 3
One of the signs of our generation is the inability to distinguish or rejection of distinction. Although this generation built its civilization upon the binary code of “0” and “1” – i.e. a digital one, people hate the dichotomy or binary logic of true or false/right or wrong. Instead, people want to define or determine things in their ways. Gender will be an example of this trend in our times.
This trend doesn’t detour around Christianity. In this atmosphere, a passage like today’s first reading receives highlight: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female.” Wow, St Paul was way ahead of us! Already St Paul removed the distinction of gender. As long as we are Christian, nothing else matters, and everyone is equal!
I don’t believe that St Paul meant to destroy distinctions. He certainly believed in the equality of people. And the Church has taught this from the beginning. However, equality doesn’t come from a lack of distinction. This equality is the equality of human dignity. And every person enjoys this dignity, not because all people share the same material, but because God created each soul. Human dignity exists, not because great speech writers successfully persuade us into it, but because the man is God’s creation. Although we are different in physical makeup, sex, race, socioeconomic status, etc., we enjoy the same human dignity before God. Distinction and equality don’t cancel each other.
What St Paul meant was the unity of Christians in Christ. St Paul continues, “for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Anyone having faith in God is Abraham’s offspring. What St Paul wanted to remove among Christians was unjust, unreasonable, arbitrary, or hateful discrimination and mistreatment based on distinctions and differences.
Unity is meaningful only when there are differences and varieties. Denying distinction and oppressing diversity ends up with totalitarianism. The Lord created us all different. But he adopted us as brothers and sisters.
