All Things Being Equal

Here’s another Pride Month PSA from your friendly neighborhood extremist.

 

Equality is not the chief end of man or God.

 

Now, it’s lovely and good for sure. But it’s not on par with His glory. Or your growth. Or your eternal good.

 

Yet we have elevated it to supreme and idolatrous heights.

Is inequality unfair? Sure.

 

Sometimes.

But not always. Grown-ups can acknowledge this the same way grown-ups can acknowledge infants shouldn’t be allowed to pilot planes. Is it unfair to infants? Yeah probably…also best for infants. And other passengers.

 

Now, now…settle. I am not equating LGBTQ issues to infant pilots. I am highlighting the reality that blanket and universal equality on every realm is not always good and beneficial for society.  And we know this.

 

We pretend we don’t because context, conditionals, and qualifiers are less sexy to talk about and looks tacky on a picket sign.

 

We are a world of shouted slogans that we dare not question or clarify. Love is love? Love wins? Believe women? We act like these are sacred sayings…until a woman says competing against men in a sport is unfair, or until a young girl says they felt uncomfortable having a man expose himself in a high school locker room.  And then “Believe Women!” goes right out the wisdom window.

 

But, I know this may be new information, so I’ll be generous and even concede that inequality is often an unfair byproduct of sin.

 

However, God does not need to rid the world of sin before He can save and sanctify those in it.

 

In fact, it is often through the unfairness and fallenness of the world that His love and mercy is most richly displayed.

 

He carries out His will and work IN SPITE of sin…nay, even using sin!! In spite of and using…inequality, adversity, and disability. How bout that?

 

We do not have to present God a diverse, equitable, and inclusive world in order for Him to work in and through it. He is bound by none of it. What will do we when the fights for equality end–with equality–and we realize we are still broken? What will be the banner we fly next? Perfection? Beauty? Happiness? By what standard?

 

We do not have to sanitize the world of “imperfection” or “less than” ideals for the world to be better.

 

He is so good and glorious He can make us better through trials, unfairness, persecution, and “imperfections.” (Yes, I’m looking at you eugenicists, trying to free the world of children.)

 

Equality is not righteousness.

Autonomy is not righteousness.

Righteousness is righteousness.

 

Equality is not His Glory.

Autonomy is not His Glory.

His Glory is His Glory.

 

Seek justice. Absolutely. God demands it.

 

But don’t mistake social justice for seeking His glory. Justice has limits, Equality has limits. God’s power does not.

But we treat “equality” as the cure of all ills, though it has become just a common idolatry–a good, though lesser, thing we have given greater power in hopes it will be a good god, meeting our needs, satisfying our expectations, soothing our hurts, and removing our sin.

 

How prideful we are. We have taken equality, a good and Godly concept, and used it to allow greater sin under a once righteous banner. Who’s going to seek justice on God’s behalf?

 

If the world was filled with “SGW’s” Seeking Glory Warriors… the social justicing wouldn’t require so many wars.