Discrimination
in New
Testament churches (b)
In Meditation 97 we started to reflect on the problem of
discrimination among church members in local churches and how that inhibits
God’s Spirit to empower our churches to Christlike love for our triune God. We
closed that meditation with Paul addressing the problem of discriminating poor
Christians at the Lord’s Supper in the Corinthian church.
The apostle James also harangues the church with accusations
of discriminating poor Christians, saying: “My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim
that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people
more than others?
For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy
clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in
shabby clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich
person, but you say to the poor one, ‘You can stand over there, or else sit on
the floor’ -- well, doesn't this discrimination show that you are guided by
wrong motives?
Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in
this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the
Kingdom he promised to those who love him? And yet, you insult the poor man!
Isn't it the rich
who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren't they the ones who slander Jesus
Christ, whose noble name you bear? Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey
our Lord's royal command found in the Scriptures: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself. But if you pay special attention to the rich, you are committing a
sin, for you are guilty of breaking that Law.’” (James 2:1-9*)
In
the Mosaic Law, God warned His people often not to discriminate the poor. In
Exodus 23:6* God commanded: “Do not twist justice against people simply because they are poor.”
The book of Proverbs shows the ‘inner link’ between deriding
the poor and offending God:
-- “Those who mock the poor insult their Maker...” (Proverbs 17:5*)
-- “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who help
the poor honor him.” (Proverbs 14:31*).
- Discrimination because of gender, nationality, social rank, level of education, or professional position
The
apostle Paul makes it perfectly clear that in Christ’s body, the church, there
should not be any discrimination or favouritism because of national origin, social
or professional status and the level of education. He reminds the followers of
Jesus in Corinth: “... you
have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being
renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature
within you. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile,
circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is
all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” (Colossians 3:10-11*)
To the churches in Galatia (a region
in modern Turkey) Paul explains why discrimination in the church should not exist:
-- “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,
male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28**)
-- “Neither circumcision (being Jewish) nor uncircumcision (not being Jewish) means anything; what counts is a new creation.” (Galatians
6:15**)
So, what makes me a new creation? How does Christ live in me? How can
Jesus’ followers be one in Christ in spite of the differences in gender, national origin, education, status and class?
The apostle Paul answers
these questions in his first letter to the Corinthian church: “The human
body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with
the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves,
and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ's body by one
Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit.” (1
Corinthians 12:12-13*)
Here we find the final answer to what makes Christians one in Christ: it
is nothing less than the gift of God’s Spirit! It is He who fills the church
and each of its members with the presence of Christ, as Paul writes to the church
in Ephesus: “The church is his (Christ’s) body; it is filled by Christ, who
fills everything everywhere with his presence.” (NLT Ephesians
1:23*)
In these last two meditations we have seen that any kind of
discrimination between churches and between members of local churches hinders
God’s Spirit to empower our churches to Christlike love for our triune God.
Let us reflect for a moment on the question of
discrimination in our churches:
-- Are foreign Christians (immigrants, expatriates, international
students, migrant workers, refugees) seen as equal members in my church,
because of the presence of God’s Spirit in them?
-- Or do they actually remain ‘outsiders’ because
of customs, behaviour, language, lack of social or professional status, etc.?
-- In my church is there an unspoken hierarchy of church
members according to their ‘spiritual status’?
-- Does my church value rich and poor church members
differently?
-- Does my church value educated and less educated church
members differently?
-- Does my church value Christian professionals with high
social status, regard and esteem more than a church member who does unskilled
manual labour?
-- Is male chauvinism (the belief that men are superior to
women) a problem in my church?
-- Is my church aware of the fact that all these kinds of
discrimination would impede God’s Spirit to fill my church with Christ’s
presence and Christlike love for our triune God?
-- How does my church tackle any examples of this discrimination?
-- Does my church rejoice in the unity of the Spirit amongst all church members whatever their nationality, education, social and political
status, etc.?
Translations: * New Living Translation; ** New
International Version.
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