“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This is the opening sentence to the Declaration of Independence. This document proclaimed the independence of the United States from the British Empire. There are a lot of things that we can see in this document about why the people wanted their freedom and what the King had done to the people of the newly formed nation. When we look at this, we should notice this interesting statement that has caused a stir among people, “all men are created equal.” This is not a unique statement, but it was one that was uncommon for a political document. There is a place that we can see something similar in the Bible.
In Galatians 3:28 we can read “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In our current social and political climate, we see so much division over different things that describe us. We see people putting emphasis on what skin color certain people have, what political party they are affiliated with, or what social class they belong to. There is more division in the US today than there should be. In Galatia, the people would have divided themselves over what their religious background was, what their social class was, or what their gender was. The issue is not just with society, but the issue that we should focus on is how the people of God view different people and their issues.
If we genuinely believe that there is no difference between us if we are in Christ, we must care for one another as much as we care for ourselves. The reason that Paul wrote this was to encourage the church to grow together and not to divide itself based on these differences. When we look at history, society has always found a way to divide itself whether by race, gender, or birth rites.
When we look at the Lord’s Church however, it is always to hold the people higher than they may have been viewed by society. We can also see historical examples of people who lived this out. Paul preached to the Gentiles in every city that he traveled to even though the Jews did not associate with them. Peter was sent to preach to Cornelius who was a Gentile man. Another example would be David Lipscomb, who would visit cities and would go to the white congregation in town and take the Lord’s Supper with them and then would go to the black congregation and take the Lord’s Supper with them. He did this so that they would know that they were together in Christ. One more example would be Thomas Campbell who at one point traveled into Eastern Kentucky and was there to preach to the people of that city. He preached that morning and during the afternoon, he started to preach to some of the black people in town. He was approached by some white people who heard him earlier, and they told him that he cannot preach to them. Thomas then packed up his bag and went back to Virginia.
As the people of God, we must be united, and we must remember that none of the things that people tell us should separate us actually separate us This is not trying to say that their cares and concerns don’t matter, but it is saying that they matter as souls who need Christ and need the support that comes with being in the body of Christ.
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