United in dignity

Advocates of school uniforms often argue that having all children wear the same clothes lessens the disparity between children from richer and poorer households, providing a more equal opportunity to flourish in education. But as well as the problematic costs of many uniforms, opponents cite the importance of individual expression over bland uniformity.

The tearing down of human divisions based in ethnicity, economic status, gender and sexuality, or anything else, is at the heart of the gospel message. But it would be a mistake to read these famous verses from Galatians as advocating for a bland uniformity over the God-given diversity of humanity. Rather, the unity of the people of God is based in a shared dignity that cannot be taken away or destroyed: that Jesus deemed each one of us worth his own life.

In the renewed humanity that Christ came to instigate, we don’t need to look the same or dress the same, nor glaze over our different backgrounds and identities to fit in around the family table. It is the systemic evils of racism, slavery, sexism, poverty, persecution and oppression that need to be eradicated, in order for the glorious dignity of all the children of God to be fully expressed.

Thank you, God, for the intrinsic value and worth you give to all without exception. Give me courage to acknowledge the ways in which I benefit from unjust systems, and to repent of the ways in which I’ve upheld them. Help me now to be part of the tearing down of inequalities. Amen.