Equality

I find it kind of strange when I come to look at the bible and especially the NT to find so much explicitly or implicitly within the teachings of Jesus, and his followers is about the radical nature of his message. I see his message being about the equality of all people and about tearing down the constructs we place around ourselves to include some and not others. To separate ourselves and make ourselves into the elite. In the honour-shame society into which Jesus was born there were things that were expected of you depending upon your social standing and things that you did not do for the same reasons. To do otherwise was to decrease your and your families honour. Into this society came Jesus who did the 'shameful' thing of associating with the poor, the sick, the prostitutes, the tax collectors and what is worse he taught others to do the same. His ministry and message were that no one was better than any other person, we are all equal. Paul continued this message in the early church (not saying that the other apostles did not) being captured most simply in his words 'There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female'.

In the parable of the landowner in Matthew 20:1-16 we read that the 'first will be last, and the last will be first'. Now in the context of the parable this doesn't actually make any sense. Because in the parable the people who arrived first don't get paid any less than those that arrived last which that conclusion implies that they did (excepting of course if we calculate out that they got a lower rate of pay, but that isn't the clear meaning of the parable). If however we understand 'the first will be last and the last will be first' to mean 'the first will be as the last and the last will be as the first' then appears to be closer to the situation described in the parable. In this world there is no elitism, no one is more special, better or worse, more likely to be favoured by G@d than any one else.

Christ came to the Jewish world were they had implicitly believed that they were better than the nations. The chruch has failed in this mission. By removing the elitism created by being the chosen people we have set up a new elitism of salvation. A way to exclude and keep the love of G@d to ourselves. This is not the message of Jesus, a message of hope and reconciliation to the whole world.

Finally,I was talking to one of my friends a while back discussing encountering other religions and what Christianity has to offer the world that other religions do not. The standard Christian answer is that, we have Christ to offer, and that he is our assurance from G@d of our salvation and redemption. However, in encountering other religions often they do not need this assurance or already have their own form of assurance. In my opinion, erroneous and ill informed as it is, I think this is a point that Christ offers to the world there is an equality that we do not give to one another that is at the heart of the gospel message. No longer are the poor, sick, and naked viewed as those cursed by G@d but as those who are loved by G@d.