As a Christian I beg to differ on both counts.  With regard to gender, God created them both male and female.  The female is called the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7).  This has implications for all areas of life, especially the military where physical strength is a priority.  Hey, Uncle Sam, you are not drafting my daughter into the military!

All Christians understand that the gospel knows no distinction among races, economic status, or gender.  I was once part of a local church that included blacks, whites, and Hispanics.  We were all one in Christ.

However, I am afraid that the gospel of humanistic egalitarianism has replaced the gospel of Jesus Christ as the source of truth in America.  Equality as defined by man has become the mantra that undergirds modern politics, and now may even be gaining ground in the conservative church.  Does the gospel nullify obvious characteristics that are unique to both race and gender?  Is it wrong to stereotype a race, a nationality, or even a gender, even though we know that there is no gospel distinction between us?  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor freeman, male nor female (Gal. 3:28).

A number of American military generals are now promoting draft registration for females.  Your daughters could conceivably be drafted into the military by federal law. Male and female are equal.  Also, we are told that Middle East Islam is equal to Western Christianity.  We all must be one under the god of democracy because we all worship a common deity.

As a Christian I beg to differ on both counts.  With regard to gender, God created them both male and female.  The female is called the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7).  This has implications for all areas of life, especially the military where physical strength is a priority.  Hey, Uncle Sam, you are not drafting my daughter into the military!

With regard to nationality, the Cretan prophets called their own people lairs, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.  The Apostle Paul said, “This testimony is true” (Titus 1:13).   Cretan Christians carried their ethnic characteristics into the church with them, and Paul instructed Titus to reprove them severely so that they might be sound in the faith.  There was hope that they could overcome their ethnic proclivities even though they retained their ethnicity.

The point here is simply that both gender and ethnic groups do have unique characteristics, and it is not sinful to notice them.  “Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom” (I Cor. 1:22).

Even though what is true of the whole is not necessarily true of the one, yet, it is perfectly biblical to take notice of gender distinctions.  It is also biblical to consider differences in nationality traits — as Paul did with the Cretans.  We learn from the Scriptures that the female was created for a different role than the male; and too, sometimes that sinful tendencies can be inherently corporate. Noticing such differences will actually enhance pastoral care.

I’m afraid that the modern church is succumbing to this overwhelming egalitarian trend. It’s hard to buck the latest cutting-edge movement, but we must learn to test all the spirits by the word of God.

Larry E. Ball is a Retired Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tennessee.