Today people are trying to keep other people from expressing their true selves and be who they know they are created to be. And to quote the great theologian Jon Bon Jovi “Remember that you’re perfect, God makes no mistakes”[1] So if God makes no mistakes how are people not the gender they were born? It seems like there is a disconnect somewhere. So, what do we do as followers of Jesus supposed to do. I go to Galatians and the explanation that Paul gives us. Galatians 3:28 says “There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”[2] All of us are one, we are not separated by ethnicity, class, or gender. But a deeper look at this text shows a difference of language. Why did Paul say οὐδὲ or nor for a separator between Greek/Jew and slave/free but chose καὶ or and for the separator between male/female. The easy answer to this question is that the “male and female” is a quote from Genesis, but does it mean that there is something deeper to the way Paul and his contemporaries saw gender. Is there really a binary setup here (and in Genesis) by “male and female” or is there a wider inclusivity at work. I believe that Paul is way more radically inclusive than most of us want to admit and is quoting Genesis to show that all of us are made in God’s image and the binaries of society are not at play in who is accepted as they know they are created and who is not. Paul is seeing God’s inclusivity and making it known to all humanity. I believe that Galatians and shows us that God loves us as we know we are created and this understanding will help us as the body of Christ be more accepting of those who are different from us and more accepting of those we have previously excommunicated because they did not fit the box we had for them. This understanding will help campus ministries be more as the body of Christ and welcoming of all as beloved children of God. This understanding will help us all be more accepting and open to what God is calling us to be as the body of Christ here in this place. By looking into what Paul intended by using the language he did in this passage we can see the radical inclusivity of God and how scripture has been used to keep people out, when all the time it has been inviting everyone in.
[1] “Welcome to Wherever You Are,” Apple Music, track 3 on Bon Jovi, Have a Nice Day, 2005
[2] “Bible Gateway Passage: Galatians 3:28 – New International Version.” Bible Gateway, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+3%3A28. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.
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