Today's Scripture Reading (August 17, 2022): Psalms 66 & 67
Renowned American feminist
journalist and social political activist Gloria Steinem argued, "A
feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and
men." By that definition, I am a feminist, but don't expect me to use "people-kind"
or "she-cession" following in the footsteps of Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. And sometimes, I slip up and use mankind or some other
male-dominated word. However, I would argue that we are the ones who have
distorted the meaning of man. Genesis 1 clearly states that God created man
(literally Adam) male and female (Genesis 1:27). Women have as much right to
the words "man" and "Adam" as the male examples of the
species. The words originally seem to have meant human rather than male.
Paul seems to have also been a
feminist, although he gave space for his male-dominated society. I believe what
we see in Paul's writings as support for the idea that women are to follow
their male counterparts is actually a concession to cultural understanding. Any
other statement would have been ridiculed in first-century society. But it was
not what Paul believed in his inner being. Paul states what he clearly believes
in his letter to the Galatians. "There
is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). His
words seem to support the poetic ideal of Genesis 1 when God declares that he
has made man (Adam) male and female.
The Psalmist asserts that kind of radical
equality of people in his Psalm. No, he was probably not talking about equality
of the sexes, but rather an equality between all people, which might have been
an even more radical thought; that the Jew and Gentile were equal. The Jews
refused to even eat with people not of their religion, yet the Psalmist insists
that there is equity in how God views us. No one has an advantage over the
other. And that is an extreme thought.
If you read this verse in the Jing
James Version, you might notice that the word translated equity here is
translated righteously there, but the underlying thought is that God judges us
on a level plain. No one, regardless of their nationality or gender or any
other way that we like to separate people, has an advantage. No one has the
higher ground in any way. Everyone you meet today, in the eyes of God, is your
equal.
Unfortunately, that is not a truth
that we readily believe. Too often, we think that God follows some kind of
hierarchy. But if that hierarchy exists, it is based on the concept that God
expects more from his children than those estranged from him, not less.
In God and Jesus, people have radical
equality: we all live on the same level plain, and everyone benefits from God's
mercy and judgments.
Today's Scripture Reading: Psalm 71
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