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"I'm Batman"

             There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. (I Corinthians 14:34) (See also I Corinthians 11:2-16)

In 57 AD, Paul wrote I & II Corinthians, then Galatians. As we come to these verses two thousand years later, Paul seems to be flip flopping. But the letters were written to specific groups of people in response to specific circumstances. In Corinth, the problem was with people being out of control, or licentiousness. In Galatia, the problem seems to have been legalism. Paul made it clear that neither option was acceptable. That is the first lesson from these verses.

The second lesson is one with which our society struggles. Sadly, the church joins in and plays by society’s rules. We’re told that whether we’re white, black, brown, yellow, or chartreuse is a key point of identity. We’re told that whether we’re male, female, or something else is vital to our identity. Neither of those truly defines us. Sometimes, our socio-economic bracket or education is taken as a key. Or our heritage. Or our nationality.

But for those who are in the Church, the only identity that is supposed to matter is our identity as a Christian. When we introduce ourselves, instead of “My name is Karen, and my pronouns are she, her, and hers,” it should be, “My name is Karen, and I am a Christian.” I can’t imagine introducing myself either way. It’s not that people don’t figure out quickly that I’m a Christian, but I tend to see myself as an embarrassment to any positive identity I can claim.

There’s a scene in the Michael Keaton Batman movie (if I remember correctly,) in which Bruce Wayne tries to tell the woman to whom he’s attracted who he is, and he just can’t. I think sometimes, we’re like that.

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