One of my favorite stories in the Gospels is from John 4. Jesus is sitting at a well in a part of Samaria when He comes in contact with a woman getting water. It was noon, which is pretty late to draw and carry water, and they are both alone. Instead of keeping their distance, they engage in a conversation initiated by Jesus. The woman points this out, as well as the fact that Jews and Samaritans did not share anything in common (religious differences) and Jesus didn’t care. He then tells her about His being living water, and He shows her that He knows all about her life. She had been married five times – which was a lot – and was with a man now who she was not married to. In other words, she was living in sin (what?). The text does not show Jesus being upset about any of this, and she then goes to her hometown and becomes His first evangelist in this Gospel (Equity)! And, by the way, we know that this whole scenario is pretty funky because when the disciples show up, they are completely befuddled by what Jesus is doing.
So – Jesus spoke with a strange, foreign woman (Diversity) who seemed to have purposely gone to the well when nobody would be there. She is alone. She has, for a reason we don’t know, been married many times, and she is living outside of the law with another guy. And she talks back, asking questions and gathering information. And Jesus interacted with her in a way that was scandalous. Jesus treated her in the same way He would have treated a man – as an equal (Inclusion). Seems pretty woke to me. Think about how women are treated in most Christian denominations and churches now. They can’t be ordained. They are told to be silent in church. They are reminded that women are saved through bearing children (1 Tim. 2:15). In this country, many “christian” men won’t vote for a woman for president because they believe that women cannot have authority over men (1 Tim. 2: 12).
When it came to the equality of all people, Jesus was woke. And it didn’t take long for the men in the Christian movement to start taking rights away from women. They only listed male disciples in His inner circle. They removed women from positions as apostles (the Apostle Paul wrote about women as his “co-workers” in the faith). Jesus used Equity to make right what men had made wrong; He disregarded the misogyny of His time and included women in His movement. Once Jesus was gone, men undid what Jesus had fixed. Just like men are trying to do now. Which is an important reminder that if you are a Christian who doesn’t believe in the equality of all people, you are defying Jesus. Which seems unwise.
Prayer – Holy God, You have made us all able to almost anything – may we open our minds to You. Amen.
Today’s art is part of a series called “Prophetic Art” by Fred Baumbach.