I was sitting in the library tonight, quite unproductively, when God graced me with one of those precious moments when the greatness of eternity reveals itself slightly in the temporal experience, and I got "it". I was thinking about equality, and what that means in the world's standards in politics, economics, and society, and whether that holds ground in society and, especially, in Christianity. So, this is what I figured out; the argument isn't fluid, and there is so much more I want to add and consider, but this is the philosophical/theolgical garble that came out, for your enjoyment.
There is no equality in God's Kingdom--none at all.
There is only vast, ever-expanding inequality: first, starting with Christ, Who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, made Himself unequal with His bretheren, placing their needs and concerns before His own. You see, we are very much unequal with God, in all Glory and Wonder, understands inequality with far more depth than we can ever imagine, becoming its manifestation as Immanuel.
We are to respond by promoting inequality amongst our sisters and brothers: not considering eqaulity with their selves something to be grasped, we are to put ourselves in the most unequal positions before them as our Gracious God allows it, responding and acting to their needs and cares with so much more urgency and attentiveness than our own. Equality, in the sense that everyone is taken care of only occurs when we are all prioritizing the care of others before ourselves. We do not promote the rights of others in the Kingdom; we live out the rights of others, without demanding or giving a second thought to whether our own rights are being taken care of. The Kingdom of God is radically equal, for equality is only gained when all are made unequal with each other.
2 comments:
I tend to think of marriage in this way. The husband'ss first concern is for his wife, and the wife's first concern in for her husband. In this way, both are taken care of.
Of course, in an imperfect world such as this, the principle can only go so far. Sometimes there is no one to stand up for you except...you. I think of the case of the untouchables in India, or native South Africans, or African Americans. If they had not stood up for themselves who would have? Maybe someone would have risen up (God knows, not the United States) but it wouldn't have been as timely. Where would India, South Africa and the U.S. be without the likes of Ghandi, Mandela and King Jr.? Sadly, sometimes there is no one to speak up for the downtrodden, except the downtrodden themselves.
I absolutely agree with you. That's why these people are such heros in their own right: because they stood up for their own self-actualization and self-worth when no one else would. I think that takes courage, strength, and faith that I don't know if I'm capable of. My whole point is that in the Kingdom of God (perhaps the "yet to come" part of it), this would never need to happen. And the marriage analogy is perfect--but, yet again, we live in an imperfect world that sometimes (or oftentimes, depending on the circumstance) demands that the wife's first concern is for the husband, and...that's it.
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