Be Still And Know

Colossians 3:11 'In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.' Every society is full of divisions, but the world of the apostle Paul was sharply and deeply divided, far beyond anything we know today. The biggest divide of all was between Jew and Gentile. Jews were the chosen people and Gentiles were basically the outsiders. There was a Jewish daily prayer in which they would thank God that they were not Gentiles. There was deep suspicion, and even hatred, between Jews and Gentiles, focussed on male circumcision, the physical evidence of the distinction between the two groups. Meanwhile Greeks looked down on anyone who didn’t speak Greek, calling them ‘barbarians’ (which literally refers to people who could only say “bar bar”). And then there was the massive difference between those who were slaves and those who were free. In ancient law, slaves were not even cl