URC Daily Devotion 12 August 2025

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
 
Reflection

It’s not controversial to say that discrimination isn’t part of God’s hope for the world and its people. Saying that we should, therefore, do all we can to bring it to an end often is!  Dismantling discrimination is a core part of Church Related Community Work and something CRCWs seek to build into everything we do.
 
Since coming into office, the Trump administration has been making a big show of removing Disability, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programmes from public life in the United States.  In the UK sentencing guidelines, and the rights of trans people, have been loudly and angrily debated.  Some people feel strongly that attempts to tackle discrimination have gone too far. I suspect that this is because dismantling discrimination is painful for those of us who benefit from the status quo. 
 
When Paul wrote to chastise the Galatians for their behaviour, I suspect that his words were warmly received by slaves, women, and Gentile church members.  Those who were free, male, or Jewish (and in particular anyone who combined all three of these characteristics) would have found them more challenging – threatening even. Their status in the church, and power over others within it, were called into question.  These were people, after all, who their culture held were better than others.  Now, at least in the Church, they were to be treated as equals with those of lower social ranks. 
 
Unfortunately, the Church’s history of discrimination did not end with a rebuke from Paul. The Church has continued to echo society in discriminating against people on the grounds of skin colour, gender, sexuality, mental and physical health, place of birth, economic status, religion, and more. Paul’s words travel down the centuries and challenge us. 
 
We follow a saviour who sided with the powerless and the excluded of his time, do we do the same? Or do we uphold systems and structures that confer power and status on some people to the cost of others?
 
Prayer
 
Lord, we live in a divided and unfair society,
we know the world is not as you would want it to be.
We ask forgiveness for those times 
we have benefited from discrimination
and for the insight to see 
the systems and structures that perpetuate it.
Help us, Lord, to be part of the solution,
in the Church and in the world
Amen