Ah yes a gentle little title there! How else can I get your attention?
And just to soften it a little, and only a little, how often am I a servant of the wrong ‘side’? In my infallible writings that I have started to go through with a few who hopefully will help me with feedback I have tracked how Peter withstood Jesus on the basis of revelation, only to be told to ‘get behind me Satan!’
I have been pushing a high view of humanity, because that is where God is invested. The spirit of antiChrist denies the humanity of Jesus, to sin is to fall short of the glory of God (as a human)… so I have been pushing to dehumanise is to act on behalf of the demonic world. Sadly I can do that in the name of Jesus, in attitude or action.
It is this high view of humanity that is restored in Christ so that ‘there is , neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor male and female’. A new humanity, where the bar is raised but the field is level. [Little side-note the text is actually ‘male and female’ not as is often translated ‘male nor female’. I think this is a deliberate quote from Genesis – thus creation is not the model…]
Now given that the human partnership with the demonic is on a sliding scale with none of us absolutely free, in reality or potentially, I have been thinking about the ‘elitist’ attitudes and behaviour that ‘rules apply to…, but not to me’. The effect is to set up a slave / free division and if I am one of the elite then I am above you. I am more human (???) and thus you are less so.
In my deep ponderings I decided ‘Not good.’ So good to have one conclusion a day I think.
This elitism is something becoming ever so more visible in society. If the body of Christ shapes society, I wonder what seeds have we been sowing so that there is a visible harvest like this now appearing.
Do you mean elitism as in ‘I am of a higher social class therefore more important and my life is worth more than yours’ or do you mean ‘I am a more mature, spiritual Christian than you (or have more faith) therefore I am a better’ or both? I see much talk about maturity as Christians/Sonship and different ‘levels’ etc. I tend to think that we can all perhaps do well in certain areas and miserably fail in others but maybe that’s just me! I’m sure there’s a lot more to what you are saying though which could well be above my head but just focusing on those 2 points. Thank you
Also I do think that some people are definitely more mature as Christians and perhaps on a higher for want of a better word, level. That must be a very hard in some ways as not to fall into pride must be difficult. I know I’d struggle with that if it ever happened to me. I guess it’s as Jesus said he who becomes master must be servant. So counter-intuitive in our culture.
Joanna, I think your two comments are very astute. All forms of elitism. We are not all ‘equal’ – some (maybe many in my case) are smarter and more spiritually mature than I am, but the manifestation of this as superiority over is not the gospel message. Anything that dehumanises the ‘other’ is where it goes wrong.
Thank you Martin. Absolutely agree and how easy it is to become superior especially when things seem to falling into place in our lives and then in turn to dehumanise others who aren’t doing so well. I fall into category of not doing so well right now. I guess real maturity just doesn’t do that and possibly one of the reasons why Jesus said ‘blessed are the poor in spirit’ we are perhaps safer there and less likely to partner inadvertently with the demonic.