But this is not what the verse says. To say that we are “one” means
that we are united,that there should be no factions or divisions
among us, and, that there should be no sense of pride and superior-
ity or jealousy and inferiority between these groups (who viewed
themselves as so distinct in the ancient world). Jews should no
longer think themselves superior to Greeks, freed men should no
longer think themselves superior to slaves, and men should no
longer think themselves superior to women. They are all parts of
one body in Christ, and all share in equal value and dignity as mem-
bers of one body in Christ.
As Richard Hove has demonstrated in detail,^28 when the Bible
says that several things are “one,” it never joins things that are exactly
the same. Rather, it says that things that are different, things that are
diverse, share some kind of unity. So, in Romans 12:4-5, we read,
“For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do
not have the same function, so we, though many, are one bodyin
Christ, and individually members one of another.” Paul does not
mean to say that all the members of the body are the same, for, as any-
one can see, a body has hands and feet and eyes and ears, and the dif-
ferent “members” have different functions, though they are one
body.
Similarly, using the same construction,^29 Paul can say, “Now he
who plants and he who waters are one;but each will receive his own
reward according to his own labor” (1 Cor. 3:8, NASB). Planting and
watering are two different activities done by different persons in
Paul’s example. They are not reduced to “sameness,” nor are they
required to act in exactly the same way, but they are still “one”
because they have a kind of unity of purpose and goal. And so
Galatians 3:28 simply says that we have a special kind of unity in the
body of Christ. Our differences as male and female are not obliter-
ated by this unity, but the unity is beautiful in God’s sight particu-
larly because it is a unity that comes about from different kinds of
people.
Surely this verse cannot abolish all differences between men and
women. Paul himself elsewhere commands husbands and wives to
50 BUILDINGSTRONGFAMILIES