I've been thinking about the Apostle Paul lately, how he'd been progressing down the road intending to persecute (kill) followers of Jesus Christ when he was blinded and -- according to him -- encountered the risen Christ. His thinking about Christians was transformed, but his worldview was not completely changed, because the world around him remained the same. And that world continued to influence him.
I see the ministry of Jesus Christ, preaching of those who are blessed, including the poor in spirit, the meek and those who are persecuted; I see Christ including women in those whom he encourages; I see Christ claiming that the very person whom you revile is your neighbor whom you are called to love; I see Christ continually explaining to his disciples that the kingdom of God is a place where the first are last and the last first; and I believe that God's message of salvation was not only the means through which humanity was reconciled to God but that the message of salvation was also about how God's kingdom on earth was supposed to look. At least that's what we affirm in the Apostles' Creed, so I don't think I'm too heretical on that point.
So here's the rub: Although Paul's blindness was healed physically, Paul remained blind to basic issues of injustice in his culture pertaining to slavery and women. Paul wasn't completely blind to Christ's vision, writing in Galatians 3:27-29 that, within the Kingdom of God "there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." But he couldn't see that if there was equality in God's kingdom, and we were called to live as kingdom-dwellers in this world, then there must be equality in this world.
Our nation is divided along political lines and ideologies, over issues pertaining to covid-19 -- such as whether masks should be mandated, whether testing needs to be expanded, and whether businesses, churches and schools should open up; over the Black Lives Matter movement and issues of structural racism; and more recently by the Supreme Court's decision that insurance coverage does not have to extend to contraception. And I see the Christian church in America as a contributor to the divisiveness. Christianity in America continues to subordinate the role of women and -- whether intentionally or not -- builds up male white privilege. Christianity as a whole has encouraged members to wear blinders to social injustice than the inclusive ministry of Jesus Christ.
I am deeply ashamed and appalled that it is Christ's church that is, in too many instances, an instrument encouraging injustice rather than justice. Jesus must weep for his bride, the church. Those of us who see injustice in our society and culture are called to challenge the church to look to Jesus' ministry of love and inclusion. Now we see as though through a lens dimly... when we are united in Christ we will see things as they are, face-to-face.
The Rev. Dr. Leslie Smith Belden is a minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), currently serving as the stated clerk of the Presbytery of Arkansas. Contact her at [email protected].