“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)

There has been a lot of talk about bringing the nation together in the media lately, but today’s verse provides the best definition of unity ever written. We, the body of believers, are all one nation under God. The Apostle Paul clearly defines Christian unity by the fact that faithful believers “are all one in Christ Jesus.” And we note, that the Apostle gave no exceptions or caveats. C.S. Lewis wrote on this topic indicating that we are all to be merely Christians. Stating that there is no value added by annexing other titles next to our statement of faith. Lewis also argued that when we do add titles to Christianity, the secondary titles will ultimately start to take over. As a hypothetical example, let’s say a group called “Christians for puppies” is holding an event. You would hope to find Christ Jesus weaved into this event, but you could be certain that you will find puppies. In this made up example the add-on portion to the name (i.e. having puppies) was guaranteed. We are called to be merely Christians. Not Christians for this politician or that one; not Christians for the forest; and not Christians for anything other than merely Christians for Christ Jesus. And as today’s scripture tells us, when we make our complete identity in Jesus, we lose the connection to all the other social norms associated with being in a group. To the extent that Paul even said it didn’t matter if you were a free self-made man, or someone indentured (bound by contract) to work for someone else. We are all just Christians. So today, I urge you to do a little introspection and see how you identify yourself. And the prayer is that we all see ourselves as merely Christians.