The Wellspring. No.24
“Understanding
is a Wellspring of Life to him that has it.”
(Proverbs.
16:22)
Occasional papers by Arthur & Rosalind Eedle
Equality
Recent readings in C.S.Lewis have been on the subject
of equality, and his thesis is worth pondering. This is what he had to say
–
“It is idle to say that men are of equal
value. If value is taken in a worldly sense – if we mean that all men are
equally useful or beautiful or good or entertaining – then it is
nonsense. If it means that all are of equal value as immortal souls then I
think it conceals a dangerous error. The infinite value of each human soul is
not a Christian doctrine. God did not die for man because of some value He
perceived in him. The value of each human soul considered simply in itself, out
of relation to God, is zero. As
I am a democrat because I believe in the Fall
of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal
of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who
believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that
everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy
on those grounds is that they are not true. And whenever their weakness is
exposed, the people who prefer tyranny make capital out of the exposure. I find
that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t
deserve a share in governing a hen roost, much less a nation. Nor do most
people – all the people who believe advertisements, and think in
catchwords and spread rumours. The real reason for democracy is just the
reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power
over his fellows.
This introduces a view of equality rather
different from that in which we have been trained. I do not think that equality
is one of those things (like wisdom or happiness) which are good simply in
themselves and for their own sakes. I think it is in the same class as
medicine, which is good because we are ill, or clothes, which are good because
we are no longer innocent. When equality
is treated not as a medicine or a safety-gadget but as an ideal, we begin to
breed that stunted and envious sort of mind which hates all superiority.”
[End quote]
Before embarking on a search in the Bible, let
us remember that the political system called Communism had much to say about
equality, but in practice it never worked out according to the sayings of its
exponents. When George Orwell wrote “Animal Farm” in 1945, he
penned those oft-repeated lines, “All animals are equal, but some are
more equal than others.” Such an evaluation of Communism in its worst form,
under Stalin, made Orwell famous.
Our enquiry must now be Bible-centred. Are we
to understand that all men are equal in the sight of God? If so, then under
what parameter? When
This is so important that it must dominate
everything else we find on this subject. God is not only Creator of us all, but
a Loving Father who sees His creation in a pit from which they cannot climb
out. His love for ALL His creatures was demonstrated at
The manner in which God has dealt with the
fallen human race should now become the example by which parents look upon
their children. God has no favourites. Neither should we have favourites
amongst the children God gives to us. Favouritism is an evil seed that produces
some of the worst fruit in human history. A few examples from the Bible will exemplify
this.
First of all, we must go back to the beginning,
and see how Adam and Eve failed in this respect. Shortly after the fiasco in
the Garden of Eden, Eve gives birth to a man-child. She remembered the word of
the Lord that “the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s
head,” and straight way interpreted it to mean her own son. Hence she
said, “I have gotten a man, the Lord.” She then treated him as a
hero from his birth, believing that he would become the Messiah, the Anointed
of God to undo the calamity they had brought upon themselves in the Garden. And
so she fostered his growth from childhood to manhood with this in mind.
But she soon had a second son, and saw nothing
in him that would warrant special treatment, and therefore she named him Abel,
meaning “transitoriness”, “ephemeral”, one who would
not last. Such was the contrast she saw between her two sons.
This disastrous inequality of parental
behaviour was the cause of the murder that followed. The second son acted in
faith, but the first son acted according to his pride of place, fostered by his
parents. The Lord spoke to him, saying, “Why are you angry? Why has your
face fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? But if not, then know
that Sin is crouching at the door, and his desire is to get you. But you must
master him.” (Gen.4:7)
This was too difficult for Cain. The die had
been set for many a year, and he allowed Sin (in other words, the Devil) into
his heart and was overpowered. He murdered his brother. “The earth opened
her mouth to receive his brother’s blood.” (Gen.4:11) His action
was blameworthy, but the root of his problem lay with his parents. Their
favouritism, and the inequality of the boys’ upbringing, led to this
disastrous end.
Man tries to hide sin, gloss it over, find
extenuating circumstances that will exonerate him from blame, but the Bible
rips away all such human devices, and exposes the real causes behind human
behaviour. The depravity of the human heart has not changed since Adam.
Let us now consider the case of Abraham. God
promised him a son, but Sarah did not conceive. So he tried to bring about the
word of the Lord by a device put into his mind by his wife. “Sarai said
to Abram, ‘the Lord has restrained me from bearing. I pray you, go in
unto my maid, it may be that I obtain children by her.’ And Abram
hearkened to the voice of Sarai.” (Gen.16:2)
Just as Adam had listened to the voice of his
wife, and they had transgressed the commandment of the Lord, so Abram listened
to the voice of his wife and the result was a child named Ishmael, “a
wild man, whose hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand will
be against him.” (Gen.16:12) Over the last 4,000 years history has
recorded a continual battle between the Israelites and Arabs as a result. Today
it is very marked, and looks to become the source of a world-wide conflict.
In both of the above examples, we see the
wrongful interpretation of prophecy producing long-lasting results.
Isaac grows up and marries Rebekah. She
conceives and is troubled by the “battle” that rages in her belly.
On enquiring about this, she learns that she has twins. “Two nations are
in your womb . . . and the elder shall serve the younger,” the Lord said.
The two sons grew up with vastly different personalities. Then we are told that
“Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed his venison, but Rebekah loved
Jacob.” (Gen.25:28) Straightway we are shown the causative factor in the
ensuing saga. There was no equality of treatment shown to the two boys. Rebekah
fostered Jacob, and probably told him about the Lord’s word prior to his
birth. Isaac may have got wind of this and perhaps tried to even the score by
showing favour to Esau, even though his manner of life was somewhat abhorrent
to both parents.
Finally, Rebekah tries in her human way to
bring about the Lord’s word, and establish Jacob as God’s chosen
vessel. She invents a deceitful subterfuge, agreed to by Jacob, in order to
obtain the father’s blessing. The outcome was to be expected. Bitterness
and hatred was generated in Esau, who now determined to be another Cain and
dispose of his brother as soon as opportunity arose.
Jacob makes a quick exit and grows up in
Laban’s house. He has two wives and two concubines, and eventually a
family of twelve sons. However, there was no equality in his behaviour towards
Rachel and Leah. Everyone knew that Rachel was his favourite. As a result, the
Lord restrained her from bearing sons, in order to bring Jacob round to a
better mind. It was a repeat of the Lord’s word to Cain, “If you do
right, will you not be accepted?” If he were to show a better attitude
towards Leah, would not the Lord open Rachel’s womb?
Eventually Rachel conceived and Joseph was
born. Later on, she conceived again and Benjamin was born at
This is not the end of the tale. Jacob showed
undue favouritism towards Joseph and Benjamin. Hence the other brothers were
filled with anger and resentment. “They said, ‘Behold, this dreamer
comes,’ and they conspired against him to slay him.” (Gen.37:18-19)
The lack of equality in the parents’ treatment produced all the later
drama of Joseph’s journey to
Now we must look at Joseph. He went down into
Joseph was now reduced in stature and
self-opinion, but not in respect of God-centeredness. His behaviour in
Eventually there was a meeting with his
brothers, and this is where we see the reversal of the human problems. Joseph loved
his brothers, and his method of dealing with them showed all the elements
of true filial affection, combined with justice. In the end he broke down with
deep emotion and embraced them, and all the hatred, jealousy, and even the
guilt at what they had done, was leached out of their hearts. A true bond had
become established. Jacob’s family went to live in
These wonderful O.T. records have many things
to teach us, but seen from the point of view of parental failure there is an
obvious lesson to be learned. Parents have a duty before God to treat their
children with equal and identical love, even as the Father treated us all when
we were lost in sin.
Now we must look at this same question from the
angle of siblings and brethren in Christ. We have just seen the wonderful way
in which Joseph purged away the evils perpetrated by his father. He could never
have done so without first having to go through many painful years in
Turning now to the N.T. we must investigate the
nature of our relationships with each other, not just as siblings within a
family, as in the O.T. stories, but in the wider sphere of the working together
of brethren in Christ.
In what sense are we all equal? It goes without saying that as sinners saved
by grace we are all equal. But in respect of duties towards our brethren
certain inequalities automatically appear. We are told by Paul that concerning equalities,
“There is one body, one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of
your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is above all, through all, and in you all.” (Eph.4:4)
But then he goes on to say, “But to every
one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”
(Eph.4:7) Elsewhere he says, “Having then gifts differing according to
the grace that is given to us . . .” (Rom.12:6) These represent the inequalities
that must inevitably be found in any group of believers. The manner in
which we deal with each other in respect of these differing gifts and
abilities, is a subject that was very much on our Lord’s heart as He
trained His disciples.
On one occasion He found that two of them were
anxious to be seated on either side of Him in His kingdom. This infuriated the
others, who at that particular juncture firmly believed in equality, but
probably for the wrong reasons. The Lord didn’t reprimand James and John,
(who were egged on by their mother) for asking such high and mighty privilege,
but just asked them whether they would be able to go the way He would go, drinking
of the same cup of suffering. They said they would, and He accepted their word,
but could offer them no guarantee concerning heavenly positions in His
Father’s Kingdom. (Matt.20:20-23)
The Lord then had a lesson for them all to
learn. “When the ten heard about this they were moved with indignation
against the two brethren. But Jesus called them and said, ‘You know that
the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them, and oppress them. But it shall
not be so among you, but whosoever desires to be great among you, let him be
your minister, and whosoever desires to be chief among you, let him be your
servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister,
and to give His life a ransom for many.’” (Matt.20:24-28)
The Apostle Paul found that he was an offence
to many, simply because he referred to himself as an apostle, a title given him
by the Lord, whereas they saw him as outside the twelve, and therefore
could not accept his authority. Listen to his gentle reprimand, as spelled out
rather well by Eugene Peterson from 2 Cor.10. “And now a personal but
most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but firm spirit of Christ. I hear
that I’m being painted as cringing and wishy-washy when I’m with
you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please
don’t force me to take a hard line when I’m present with you.
Don’t think that I’ll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those
who say I’m an unprincipled opportunist. Then they’ll have to eat
their words. . . . Believe me, I’m quite sure of my standing with Christ.
You may think I overstate the authority He gave me, but I’m not backing
off. Every bit of my commitment is for the purpose of building you up, not
tearing you down. . . . We’re not putting ourselves in a league with
those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do
that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the
point. . . . Will you please put up with a little foolish aside from me? If
someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached, you put up
with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot apostles, why
can’t you put up with simple me? . . I know what I’m talking about.
We haven’t kept anything back. We let you in on everything.”
The early church was full of squabbling,
divisiveness, and inability to work together, in other words full of human
faults. But as we have seen from the O.T. patriarchal stories, God rides over
all these things and smiles at our weaknesses whilst He continues to work out
His purposes. This should cause us to smile with Him, turn our thoughts away
from each other’s faults, and look upwards and forwards, trying to catch
every glimpse of the early eastern light that heralds the Millennial Dawn.
Having said that, it would be incorrect to
conclude this study without a mention of a more serious note. Although God
overlooks human weakness, and even uses it as part of His training programme,
we must not think the Master is untouched by attitudes of jealousy, injustice,
and evil comparisons with our brethren. One is reminded of the situation that
obtained in the wilderness, when Moses was accosted by his brother Aaron and
his sister Miriam. (Numbers 12:1-3)
“And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, . . . and they said,
‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not also spoken by
us?’ And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all
men that were on the face of the earth.)”
Hebrew commentaries say that Miriam was
mentioned first because she was the chief perpetrator of this mischief. Hence
she found herself a leper. Such was the anger of the Lord at this monstrous
assertion against her brother. And she had to stay outside the camp for seven
days before being readmitted, and being healed. One is reminded of Paul’s
words to Timothy. “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of
double honour, especially those who labour in the word and doctrine.” (1
Tim.5:17) Double honour for ruling well,
means adopting Jesus’ teaching about the chief man being servant of all.
Not long after the event between Moses and his
brother and sister, we find an even more grievous situation arising. (Numbers
16) “Now Korah, Dathan, and On, . . . took men and rose up before Moses
with 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown,
and they gathered together in the sight of Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘You
take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of
them, and the Lord is among them; why then do you lift yourselves up above the
congregation of the Lord?’ And
when Moses heard it he fell upon his face.”
The Lord was very angry at this snide
accusation, and separated the men of Korah from the rest of the congregation,
after which we read that “the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them
up.” (Num.16:31) Weakness of human
nature is one thing, but if there lurks within the human heart something akin
to the attitude of Korah, then it is quite another thing altogether. And all
this has to do with the inter-working of each man, each woman, in the Body of
God’s People, whether it be in O.T. days or now in the 21st
century. Even if we don’t find the earth opening its mouth to swallow up
the worst offenders, we must realise that the mind of the Lord is equally
grieved now as it was then. This should inculcate an attitude of humility,
whereby we are ready to accord double honour to those who have shown a good
work in their ministry for the Lord.
So we conclude by saying that amongst the
members of the Body of Christ there are bound to be human problems, weaknesses,
and misunderstandings, and we should treat these very lightly, knowing that our
Lord is more merciful than the best of men.
But any sign of a Korah-like attitude should be
addressed with forthright vigour in an attempt to save such from the
Lord’s wrath.
There is no equality amongst us when it comes
to individual abilities, ministries, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Each part of
the body is there to serve the rest. There is no place for jealousy and
offence. No one can do without the rest, and each part should be willing to
play its part without murmur or complaint.
He that is down need fear no fall;
He that is low, no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide.