One of the biggest problems that the New Testament book of Galatians lays bare is the tendency for all of us to associate our Christian faith with a specific cultural identity. If you’ve been following my podcasts and posts, then you know that I differ from those who identify the Jewish teachers in Galatia as false Christians. Paul never refers to them in this way. He calls them false brothers. Their insistence on Gentiles adopting Jewish customs and laws in order to belong to God’s family demonstrates how clueless they were about those who God considers his children.
That is why throughout his letter to the Galatians, Paul makes it clear that the true children of Abraham are not those of physical descent, born of the flesh, but rather those born of the Spirit by faith in Abraham’s “seed,” Jesus Christ. And Paul refers to these spiritual descendants as the “Jerusalem that is above,” as opposed to the earthly Jerusalem, which he says is in slavery.
You may be saying to yourself, “So what?” What does this have to do with Christianity in the twenty-first century? And the answer is everything.
Like those false teachers in Galatia, many followers of Jesus today confuse God’s kingdom with worldly kingdoms. They can’t seem to see Christianity beyond the borders of their own nations or distinctive cultural identities within those nations.
This was precisely the problem with Israel when it came to receiving God’s promised messiah. They expected a national political and military leader who would establish a worldly kingdom, building a great Israeli empire. But as Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
What then does it mean to belong to this other worldly kingdom, and how are we as citizens of this kingdom to see our world and those in it?
In the fifth chapter of 2 Corinthians, Paul describes what he refers to as the “ministry of reconciliation.” He refers to himself and all Christians as “ambassadors for Christ.” And he says this about our calling as ambassadors -
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17, my emphasis in bold.”
This was exactly why Israel rejected their promised messiah; they regarded him from a worldly viewpoint. It seems pretty clear to me that Paul is speaking of himself and his people, Israel, when he says, “though we once regarded Christ in this way.” And by his language, it is clear he is making the point that as citizens of God’s Kingdom, we don’t distinguish others by worldly standards and cultural perspectives.
Sadly, we place so many cultural barriers between others and God’s Kingdom in Christ that we are guilty of doing exactly what Jesus accused the Pharisees in his day of doing - “You shut the door of the kingdom in people’s faces.” (Matthew 23:13)
The Jewish teachers in Galatia were guilty of the same thing as the Pharisees; only they were redefining God’s kingdom through worldly and cultural standards, causing these new Gentile converts to adopt thinking and ways that in fact, were opposed to God’s ways as seen through Jesus.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe these Jewish teachers were false believers. But when I hear the teaching of many in the church today reflecting this same kind of misplaced zeal and understanding, I don’t assume they’re not Christians. No, I just think they have fallen into the trap of seeing Jesus and his kingdom from a worldly point of view. And I have no doubt that much of my own thinking and perspectives are contrary to the ways of my Lord. But one thing I’ve grown to know - God’s grace covers me and us all in our failures and weaknesses.
In Christ,
Dan
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Dan, you used a picture of a galactic nebula, I guess the intent was to emphasize the infinite space and complexity of our world. I completely agree with you, from a worldly point of view it becomes very difficult to box in God's spirit into our little brain. And we think, with what we can comprehend, it is sufficient to define our identity. So the real leap of faith is to let go on what we think defines our identity (e.g. religious rituals, extreme nationalism) and rely completely on the new identity He provides. A real challenge, even the disciples initially failed on that. Thanks for provoking these thoughts.