1 Peter 2

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

1 Peter 2

I imagine this is one of the passages that slaveowners used to justify slavery.  And I don't intend this as an apologist for the passage telling slaves to be good and respectful of even harsh masters and offer up their suffering in this world.  I can imagine for too long, especially in times of serfdom or particularly punishing class systems the beliefs of the apostles that the world would end and therefore why provoke a widespread rebellion were used to keep people in their places.

But I do think there's something radical in addressing the slaves at all - at considering their actions as also worthy or unworthy of God's attention and graces.  Of not lumping an entire household in with the head of it.  Of saying that God cares about the doings and sufferings and sins and goodness of even slaves.

It's a shame that when we finally realized we were going to be here for awhile, that we were to build the Kingdom of God on earth - not simply wait for Jesus to return and build it for us - we did not always apply this message of personhood.

I think a lot about the ongoing project of the human race as a whole to try to define only certain people as people and the abhorrent turns it takes.  And I hate it when my religion - the religion of kindness to your neighbor and the personhood of even slaves - is used to help further that awful end.

Because the only reason the Bible sounds like it's okay with it is because the apostles thought a revolution would be counterproductive since soon Jesus would come and sweep all this away.

Our world is made of issue compared to the world of the spirit, but we are made of tissue as well.  So we should build it to catch the light.