Class and the Gospel

Good evening, everybody.

Thank you.

Let me start by reading a couple of these verses once more so we can focus our attention.

Galatians chapter 3, verses 26 to 28.

Galatians 3:26–28

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek.

There is neither slave nor free.

There is no male and female.

For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

In Paul's culture there were deeply distorted ideas about race and about class and about gender.

Some of you are familiar with the prayer that was sometimes prayed by Jewish men.

It went like this.

Blessed be God that he did not make me a Gentile.

Blessed be God that he did not make me ignorant or a slave.

Blessed be God that he did not make me a woman.

Blessed be God that he did not make me a woman.

When Paul wrote Galatians 3, verse 28, he was directly challenging the distorted ideas that are reflected in that prayer.

Galatians 3:28

What's more, in the letter he is offering something better.

He's showing us how the gospel redeems race and class and gender as a part of the redemption and renewal of us and God's world.

And we're reflecting on this over the next few weeks because we also have deeply distorted ideas in our culture about race and about class and about gender.

And so we're looking at this and we're looking specifically at this verse and we're asking how does the gospel challenge our distorted thinking and then how does the gospel offer us something better?

A vision of renewal.

And a couple of weeks ago we looked at race and we did as much as we could in the time that we had and I feel like we just barely scratched the surface.

But this week we're shifting our attention and we're going to look at class.

Social class.

Social class.

When you see someone sitting in Whole Foods wearing Lululemon, eating a quinoa and heirloom tomato salad with an NPR canvas tote bag, listening to the serial podcast on AirPod wireless headphones, that's not a coincidence.

You're seeing class markers.

You're seeing indicators that this person, and I'm describing anyone here, no offense intended, I'm simply being descriptive.

You're seeing markers that would indicate that that person is a member of a particular social class.

There's a sociologist named Elizabeth Curried Halkett who says that this is the aspirational class.

And this is how you tell.

In the aspirational class, we don't show status through our bank accounts or through driving nice cars.

Our status indicators are connected to a shared cultural knowledge.

It's not so much about conspicuous consumption as it is inconspicuous consumption or even conscientious consumption.

And these class markers are important because they indicate the boundaries.

If you walk into a room full of people who share some of these class markers, that will immediately tell you whether or not you have a shot at belonging.

Whether or not you will be welcome in that community.

And we are unconsciously reading these signals all of the time trying to figure out where we stack up next to this person or that person or within any given community.

And this isn't just specific to us.

Even though I do believe that class is a major factor in society in Washington, D.C.

Maybe the most divisive.

It's not unique to us.

And in fact, there are societies all throughout history.

Most every society has had some form of caste or class system, which is essentially a status hierarchy based on differences in birth, wealth, privilege, education, etc.

And so Paul is making a very bold claim here.

He's claiming that because of the gospel, the Christian community is one of profound social equality.

Now I use that term broadly.

But he's saying that the gospel makes possible a community where class no longer divides.

Where the hierarchy is collapsed.

Those with wealth and privilege and those without live together as equals.

And so the question tonight that we're asking is, how is such a thing possible?

So we're going to look at this in three parts.

The origins of social equality.

The limits of social equality.

And then we're going to draw out a couple of implications once we've looked at those points together.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

And we thank you for the power that your word has.

Unlike our words and unlike our wisdom, your words have power.

They formed and shaped the heavens and the earth.

And so we pray that they would now reform and reshape us.

That you would speak words of recreation.

That would renew our imaginations.

That would renew our hearts.

That would renew our relationships.

With the hope that is only to be found in the gospel.

We pray this in your son's holy name.

Amen.

So the origins of social equality.

Some of you may be wondering, well, why are we talking about social class when the passage is very clearly about slavery?

Right?

There's no longer slave or free.

And the reason is most people don't realize that in the ancient world, slavery was universal.

In all the great ancient civilizations, slavery existed.

Any society that could afford to have slaves had slaves.

And so it was virtually everywhere.

In Rome, you know, Greece and Rome were two of the first slave societies.

Meaning they were economically dependent on slaves.

And in Rome, around the time that Paul wrote Galatians, it is assumed that slaves made up around a third of the population.

So a lot of slaves.

All of the glory and all of the splendor of Rome.

None of that would have been possible had there not been slaves to make it possible.

But unlike the North African slave trade, which is what most of us associate this with,

most slavery in history, in the ancient world, was not race-based.

Some people were born into slavery.

Some people became slaves after military victories.

They were captured in war.

A bunch of people became slaves to improve their station in life.

It was a way to get an education and to make connections with other elites.

And maybe give yourself a chance at a better life.

Some people became slaves voluntarily to get out of debt.

And there were people who became slaves for a while.

And they made connections and built networks.

And then they bought their way into freedom.

So lots of different ways that people became slaves.

Some slaves were menial laborers.

But also some worked in business.

And some worked in politics.

Most all of the actors and musicians in the ancient world were slaves.

Little different than the Hollywood culture.

They were all slaves in that society, right?

The gladiators, the prostitutes, mostly slaves.

And so the point I'm trying to make is, in the ancient world, particularly in Rome,

a slave was a social class.

On the status hierarchy.

And so when Paul talks about a slave versus a free person,

these represent very different positions on the social ladder.

Now one of the reasons that slavery was so widespread

is that it makes the most economic sense.

There's simply no better way to build a society.

If you're purely utilitarian, purely Darwinian, right?

Then you have this massive free labor force.

And so they're able to produce far more than it requires to feed and clothe them.

And so it makes a lot of economic sense.

But there's another deeper reason why slavery was so universal.

And this is the reason.

In the ancient world, notions such as equality, universal human rights,

simply did not exist.

It didn't exist.

It didn't occur to anybody.

And if you talked about it, people might have thought you were crazy.

These were honor-shame societies.

The values that these societies were built around were values such as personal strength,

and power, and glory, and honor.

And so, of course, in such a world, the strong trample the weak.

Why wouldn't you?

It's a demonstration of your power.

Why wouldn't you?

Why wouldn't you?

And so when it comes to slaves, people like Plato and Aristotle believed that slaves were,

by nature, subhuman.

They either had incomplete souls or no souls at all.

And so they didn't have rights.

They could be owned like livestock.

And in fact, the argument was made very often that slaves benefited from having masters,

that a soulless, subhuman slave without a master would be aimless,

and that a master gave a slave purpose.

And so, you know, some masters would say,

well, I'm actually doing my slaves a favor.

Aristotle at one point writes,

from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule.

So this is the common thinking in that society.

And this is the society that Paul is writing into, right?

And so the question becomes, why did things change?

If this is basically the way most societies operated, why did things ever change?

Rodney Stark, who's a historical sociologist, says this in one of his books,

of all the world's religions, including the three great monotheisms,

only in Christianity did the idea develop that slavery was sinful and must be abolished.

And this is because of a couple of things.

Not only did Christians believe, along with the Jews,

that every human being was created in the image of God,

which gave them a certain amount of dignity and worth,

but Paul goes on to write on top of that in Galatians 3.26,

that in Christ Jesus, both slaves and free people are all sons of God through faith.

In other words, he's saying that slaves and free people alike,

when they put their faith in Jesus Christ, they gain the ultimate status, the ultimate place in society.

They are firstborn sons of the living God.

And this was a radical, massive, sort of tectonic shift of a thing to say.

And so over the centuries, these ideas began to take root,

and then they began to flower, and then they began to produce fruit.

So the first person to articulate that slavery as an institution is wrong was Gregory of Nyssa in the late 300s.

So you began to see Paul looking, or these leaders looking at Scripture,

looking at the writings of the apostles, beginning to put these pieces together.

He says we can't abide this institution.

And then by the Middle Ages, we began to see the idea that human beings do have certain inalienable human rights.

The concept of universal human rights begins to emerge.

And then later on in history, Galatians 3.28 becomes one of the primary inspirations for the abolitionist movement.

And so we see this kind of movement through history, a shift in the way people think about what it means to be human.

Now, these days, it's fashionable to point out, and we have to recognize,

that there have been many churches, many religious leaders in ancient and modern times,

who have supported and upheld slavery, supported and upheld racism.

It continues into today.

We have to acknowledge that.

But we also have to acknowledge this,

that when it comes to something like slavery,

our question from our vantage point,

when we look back on that,

we ask,

how could anyone ever think such a thing is possible?

When we look at the places where slavery still exists today,

all around the world,

how could anyone ever think that this was possible,

or something that we should be doing?

But the real question,

if you look at history, is the opposite.

The real question is,

why did anyone ever begin to think that it was not okay?

That's the real miracle.

Why did anyone begin to think that it was not okay?

And the answer is the Christian gospel.

The whole idea of social equality as a value,

the whole idea of universal human rights,

is rooted in the Christian gospel.

And you see, when Jesus Christ came,

he completely overturned the social hierarchy of the day.

And it becomes obvious from the start

that Jesus has come to institute,

to initiate an entirely new way

of being human together in the world.

So even though Jesus was a king,

he lived in a working class family,

and he worked a blue-collar job for most of his life.

Although Jesus was a great religious leader,

he preferred the company of prostitutes,

and known notorious sinners,

over the religious elites.

And although Jesus could have chosen anyone

to be his primary disciples,

by the end of his ministry,

people were lining up.

He could have had anyone he wanted.

But he picked uneducated people,

fishermen,

even a tax collector,

one of the most hated classes in his society.

And so it's clear when you look at Jesus,

his life,

his ministry,

his relationships,

his priorities,

that he is paving the way for a new humanity.

But there is a problem.

We talk about the origins of social equality,

but there's also,

when it comes to social equality,

there are limits that we need to recognize.

So now we'll focus a bit on the limits of social equality.

Since the Enlightenment,

social equality has become its own stand-alone goal.

More and more and more,

our society in the West has taken the fruit of social equality

and cut it off from the roots of the Christian gospel.

And so these days,

especially in a place like Washington, D.C.,

the pursuit of social equality,

the pursuit of social justice,

that has become its own religion.

And so there are many people I know who are not religious,

who don't believe in God,

for whom the pursuit of social justice has become its own religion.

It's become an identity,

with its own set of values,

its own community.

And there are many people who would hear that and say,

well,

what's the problem?

Social justice,

social equality,

that's going to benefit everybody.

See,

most everyone these days wants some form of social equality.

Here's one of the problems with that.

No one seems to be able to agree on what social equality is

or how to achieve it.

What is it?

Is it equality of opportunity?

Is it equality of outcome?

Is it something else entirely?

What role should the government play?

Should we have more regulation?

Should we have less regulation?

How much should we tax the rich?

How many advantages should we give the poor and those without privilege?

Should we pursue only free market solutions?

Or are there other options that we should be pursuing?

Right?

Should we try to abolish class altogether?

That's what Karl Marx set out to do,

a classless society.

Is it true that when the tide comes in,

all boats rise?

Or is it just the yachts?

Right?

These are the conversations that are happening in our society.

And these are important conversations.

These make massive differences

in how we construct and operate our society.

But ultimately,

it seems impossible to find a workable solution for everyone.

And the simple truth is that some people are not born like other people.

In other words,

Jefferson was wrong.

People are not born equal in the sense that many of us hope they might be.

People are not born into equal circumstances.

Some people are born with opportunities that other people don't have.

Some people are born wealthy.

Others are born into debt.

Even if you eradicate all of the racial and financial economic differences,

you still have the issue of IQ.

Some people are born with an IQ of 80.

Other people are born with an IQ of 145.

That's going to profoundly impact your ability to pursue and to have a good life in this society.

It makes a massive difference.

Right?

So figuring out how to level the playing field,

figuring out how to bring the right set of circumstances into place

so that everybody has a reasonable shot at a good life,

that's incredibly hard to do.

It's incredibly complicated.

Now, I don't have to tell you that.

In fact, I know that many of you here understand these things,

and you study them, and you write about them,

with a level of complexity that goes way beyond where I can go.

But here's the thing that we need to see.

Liberal, conservative, doesn't matter.

At the end of the day,

any pursuit of true social equality that is cut off from the roots of the gospel

will be limited.

It will be limited in what it can do.

Because true social equality,

the kind of social equality that Paul is talking about in Galatians 3.28,

is fruit.

It's a byproduct of the renewing power of the gospel in the human heart.

In other words,

social equality is the fruit of spiritual equality.

So what do I mean by spiritual equality?

Well, I mean three things.

The gospel says first,

that every single human being is equal

in that we all bear God's image.

What I said before.

God has imprinted himself on every human being.

Which means there is no such thing as a subhuman.

Every human being deserves dignity.

Every human being is infinitely valuable.

Every human being deserves certain rights

simply by virtue of the fact that they are a human being.

Right?

So that's the first way the gospel declares that we are equal.

The second way the gospel declares that we're equal is this.

Every single human being is born sinful.

We're all born guilty.

We're all born broken by sin.

Now, you might hear that and say,

well, that's not very uplifting

and I wouldn't prefer to really focus on that.

And that may be true for us.

But for most of history,

if you were a person who was oppressed

or poor or powerless,

you were at the bottom of the social ladder,

it was assumed that when you looked up that ladder

at the wealthy, the elites, the kings, the rulers,

that they were up there because they had divine favor.

Right?

The king is the king because the gods chose him to be king.

The wealthy are the wealthy.

The elites are in power because that's the divine will.

They're up there because someone in heaven has looked down on them

and given them a special blessing.

And if I'm down here, it means that I must have screwed up

or my family ancestors screwed up.

And God doesn't think very highly of me.

Most of history, most societies, that's how you would think.

And the gospel says that's absolutely false.

The gospel says no one is born,

no one can earn divine favor.

There's no such thing as divine favor.

The gospel says at the end of the day

that no matter where you are on the social hierarchy,

if you're up here or down here,

that you're all equal.

No one deserves grace.

No one deserves favor.

And then the gospel says that your only hope,

your only hope is the free gift of grace.

It doesn't matter who you are.

It doesn't matter what your resume says.

That's your only hope.

Which leads us to the third form of spiritual equality.

The gospel says that this grace is available to all people.

Everybody.

Right?

It says that Jesus, who had all the power,

who had all the privilege,

who had all of the status,

gave all of that away,

sacrificed himself to deal with sin,

to offer this opportunity of free grace

to anyone who asks.

Anyone at all.

Right?

And so you hear this and you realize

how profoundly equalizing this is.

It doesn't matter if you're a king or a commoner.

It doesn't matter if you wear royal finery or rags.

Everyone has to go down on their knees.

And you have the commoner and the king next to each other on their knees,

both crying out for mercy.

And Jesus gives it to them both.

Rich or poor,

well-educated or uneducated,

morally upright or morally bankrupt,

anyone can come and receive grace

on the same terms.

It doesn't get more equal than that.

Paul says in verse 27,

for as many of you as were baptized into Christ

have put on Christ.

There's neither slave nor free

for you're all one in Christ Jesus.

That's what I mean by spiritual equality.

Christianity is the great equalizer.

So the origin of social equality

is the Christian gospel.

This is where those ideas were planted in history.

But as we talk about social equality today,

it has limits.

If we try to pursue it apart from the gospel,

it will always be limited.

Now this does not mean that the work that we do,

the work that many of you do,

is not important.

As I said before,

it makes a major difference

in the quality of life.

And some ideas are better than others.

Some policies are better than others.

But at the end of the day,

all of those efforts apart from the gospel

will be limited.

So now we want to ask,

well, what does this mean for us,

practically speaking, as the church?

And I want to offer a couple of applications

that come out of this

that hopefully will counterbalance each other.

The first is this.

The primary focus of the church

should not be social equality.

It should be gospel ministry.

The primary focus of the church

should not be social equality.

It should be gospel ministry.

It is very tempting to look at verses

like Galatians 3.28,

extract a principle,

social equality,

and then to pursue that principle.

And there are a lot of churches

that have done that,

that say,

well,

this is what we're about,

and we're going to pursue this

no matter what,

and this is what Jesus

really would have wanted.

But what we need to understand is

there's a reason

why this verse

shows up at the end of chapter 3

as opposed to the beginning of chapter 1.

Right?

Paul knew

that the major issues in Galatia

were issues of racism

and classism

and gender discrimination.

He knew that there was

all kinds of division,

but when Paul set out

to write this letter,

he didn't write,

like Galatians chapter 1,

Galatians 1:1

verse 1,

stop being racist.

Stop being classist.

Stop discriminating.

Be one.

Right?

He didn't take that approach.

In fact,

he takes three full chapters

to explain

and to clarify

exactly what the gospel is.

Let me remind you

what the gospel is.

Let me make sure

you're clear on that.

And then once you're clear on that,

and once that seeps

into your blood

and your marrow

and your bones,

then Galatians 3.28

begins to emerge

once you are centered

on the equalizing power

of the gospel

for all human beings

before God.

Then you will begin

to rethink your relationships

with those people around you.

It's the only way

it works.

So we can't make the mistake

of offering political solutions

to spiritual problems.

Right?

If we aim at social equality

without the gospel,

we're not going to get the gospel,

and we're not going to get

social equality.

I think this is one of the reasons

why Marxism failed

so spectacularly.

It was an attempt

to compel

a way of life

that is only able

to be found

as fruit.

Right?

The fruit of a heart

that has been utterly transformed.

You can't compel

that kind of thing.

And any subsequent attempt

to compel that

in people

has been met

with disaster.

This is fruit.

We can't legislate it.

We can't force it.

It has to come

from a heart

that has been renewed

by the equalizing power

of the gospel.

Right?

So, you know,

the last thing

I'll say about this

is remember

the striking words

from Jesus

in John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

where Jesus says,

the poor

you always have

with you

but you do not

always have me.

Right?

You read that

and you say,

well, what in the world

does he mean by that?

He doesn't mean

the poor don't matter.

In fact,

on every page

of the gospel

you see Jesus'

profound concern

for the poor

and the marginalized

and the oppressed

and the vulnerable.

What he does mean

is get your priorities

in order.

What he does mean

is

get your own

oxygen mask on

before you help

the person next to you.

Right?

What he does mean

is the only way

you're going to have

anything to offer

a world full of

brokenness and poverty

and injustice

is if you're

one with me.

If you have

the spiritual power

that I impart.

If you have

the changed heart

that I can offer you.

That's the only way

you'll have anything

to offer.

Right?

So the first thing,

the first point,

our church

cannot primarily

focus on social equality.

We have to focus

on gospel ministry.

Second point

counterbalances that though.

If we are a church

that is focused

on gospel ministry

then we should be

a place of social equality.

Right?

In other words,

if we're actually serious

about gospel centered ministry

then one of the qualities

that should emerge

in our community

is that we would be

a place of profound

social equality.

You know,

Jesus tells this parable

in Luke chapter 14

Luke 14 · chapter mention

about the wedding feast

and about people

jockeying for places

of honor at the table

and at the end

he says in verse 11

for everyone

who exalts himself

will be humbled

and he who humbles himself

will be exalted.

And essentially

what he's saying

is this,

to all those people

at the wedding

who are climbing

the social ladder

he says for Christians

for my followers

you no longer live life

on the social ladder.

You come off the ladder.

that for us

life is lived

at the foot of the cross.

That's a very different

way to live.

The gospel calls

each of us

to see our place

in society

in light of the cross.

Right?

If you're on the lower rungs

of the social ladder

then you look at the cross

and you glory

in your exaltation.

Right?

You glory in the fact

that society

may look down on you

society make you feel

like nothing

make you feel like

you're worthless

and have nothing

to offer

but look what the God

of the universe

did for me.

And now I've been

lifted up

I've been exalted

I've been given

a place

at the head of the table

in the kingdom of God.

And guess what?

This life is a blip.

That reality

is the only one

that matters.

Right?

So if you're

at the bottom

of the ladder

you will be lifted up

you can glory in that.

If you're high up

on the ladder

then glory in

revel in

your humiliation.

And what I mean

is this

is that

out there

people may think

that you're

a pretty big deal.

You know

you have the education

you have the credentials

you have the network

people are impressed

and they want to be

your friend

and they want to hang out

with you

and your social calendar

is full

for months.

Right?

Everybody wants you

to come work for them.

But the truth about you

is that

you were so wretched

so hopeless

such a lost cause

that it took nothing

less than the death

of the Son of God

to give you any hope.

Right?

And so the cross

brings those

who are high up

on the ladder

down.

The cross lifts

those who are low

down on the ladder

up.

This is the equalizing

power of the cross.

And so this transforms

the way we see ourselves

it transforms

the way we see

people around us

and as a church

I believe that we are

meant to be salt

and light

in the world.

Many of you work

on these issues

and there are times

when political battles

need to be fought.

Right?

Like slavery.

Right?

There are times

when Christians

need to step out

we need to make a stand

we need to fight the fight

these are

and all through history

you see those times.

But the primary calling

of the church

is to be salt and light.

In other words

to be spread around the world

communities

within communities

where people

from the outside culture

come in

and experience

a completely different

way of life.

Because out there

especially in this city

is a meritocracy.

It is a meritocracy.

If you have

the right education

if you have

the right parents

the right family

if you have

the right connections

and credentials

if you have

the wealth

if you have

the right color skin

you're going to be okay.

You have a good shot

at a good life.

But if you don't have wealth

if you don't have

the education

if you don't have

the status markers

if you don't have

the right color skin

it's going to be

a very different story.

And for many people

you're told

every single day

every single day

in a thousand

different subconscious ways

that you don't matter.

That you haven't achieved

anything worth valuing.

And so you're not worth

valuing.

But when you enter

the church

who you are

out there

ceases to matter.

All of those

status markers

whatever we wear

and whoever we go to

for our news

it all just drops away.

Where we buy our food

none of it matters.

Right?

Because in the church

the church is a place

where a slave

may very well be

in spiritual authority

over his master.

The church is a place

where you may

very well see

a former prostitute

serving the chalice

to a priest.

You know

the church is a place

where the rich

wash the feet

of the poor.

The church is a

completely different society.

Because in the church

you're not defined

by your achievements

you're defined

by Christ's

achievement

alone.

Everybody's equal.

We all have

the same resume.

Jesus Christ.

It's his name

at the top.

So you're told

in the church

again and again

not that you don't matter

but that you're loved

unconditionally

and infinitely

irrespective of anything

that you've achieved

or failed to achieve.

So church

I think this is our calling.

I think this is who

we are called to be

in this city.

And I think people

out there are longing

for they're starving

for a refuge

from the meritocracy

where it's never enough

where you're always

having to strive

where you're only as good

as your latest

great achievement

where you're always

having to prove yourself

where you're never

feeling good enough.

The church is a refuge

from that place.

The church reminds us

that this earthly life

like I said before

is just a dash

between two dates.

And in the eternal reality

of the kingdom of God

we all have an opportunity

to have the place of honor

alongside Jesus Christ.

And you know

in my preparation for this

I've become painfully aware

of my own status markers

and my own class indicators

and the fact that

every time I'm up here

I am doing things

that are communicating to people

either you could belong here

or you probably won't belong here.

And I'm very conscious

of the fact

that my limitations

could very easily become

the church's limitations.

Right?

That who feels welcome here

could be limited by me.

And so if you leave it up to me

it's going to get worse.

Right?

The only way we become

the kind of church

where anybody can feel welcome

regardless of education

regardless of skin color

regardless of achievement

is if every single person here

is willing to proactively

cross those barriers

and to proactively love

in self-sacrificing ways.

And the way I know

that strategy works

is because that's what

Jesus did with us.

And so I think that

that's what we're called to do.

It's going to take

every one of us.

And of course it will take

the powerful working

of the Holy Spirit in us

because ultimately

this is not about our glory

but it's about God's glory.

So Lord we pray

that this would be

a reality

not that we bring about

or impose on ourselves

or strategize into being

but rather that this would be

a fruit

of the work

of your Holy Spirit

in our hearts and lives.

that the gospel

would saturate this community

and impact us so deeply

and so profoundly

that it would transform

how we see ourselves

and how we measure ourselves.

And it would transform

how we see those people

around us

in a city that is riven

by class division

and race division.

Lord,

I pray that we would be

an instrument of unity

and reconciliation.

Lord,

a refuge from the meritocracy.

We pray this,

Lord,

in the name of your Son,

Jesus Christ.

Amen.