25And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.26For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. Galatians 3:25-29

One of my kids was bullied, shamed, yelled at, and banished by a teacher for not colouring in the lines. It was awful. If I could have, I would have erased the lines on the paper and used them to draw a new vision of education all the way from the office to the classroom.

Now, I know we like our lines. They bring us some measure of comfort and normalcy. We feel threatened when someone colours outside the lines.

And here’s a truth, the Gospel has erased some lines we like.

Do you claim Jesus as Lord? If yes, get your social eraser out.

Paul is inviting the Galatians to a Gospel Orientation. The lines have been redrawn. Who’s in and who’s out? Who’s up and who’s down? In Christ Jesus we are in the family as equal partners no matter our race, status, or gender. The implications are dramatic. A new social code has been written through His blood. When we resist the pull of the Gospel against our social and cultural conventions that oppress and limit people based on race, status, or gender, we are fighting Jesus. We are neglecting the common ground at the foot of the Cross bought through His blood.

So what to do? Raise the bar of the conversation. The Apostle Paul keeps pointing to the dramatic realities of the Gospel and acting accordingly. Let’s do the same!