June 14

There Is Neither Male Nor Female

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:26-29

The equality of women and men in the eyes of God is a liberating concept for women all over the world. This was true for Kana, a woman from Irian Jaya who was the featured speaker at a large retreat in 1980—the first one ever—for the women of the Pyramid-Tagi districts. As she stood before the vast audience seated on the grass for this historic occasion, she reflected on the effect of Christianity on women in her culture.

“When the gospel came to us Dani people, we were told that the gospel was for the men,” she reminded them. “The men said we women did not have souls, so we did not need the gospel message. The men crowded around the speakers of the good news. We women were told to sit out on the edges of the crowd and to keep the children quiet so the men could get all of the profit from the message.”

So convinced was she that she wasn’t a full human and did not have a soul that she questioned her own reality. “Once I was in a group when a photo was taken by the missionary,” she related. “I was so excited I could not wait until the picture had been developed and came back. When word came that the picture had arrived, I elbowed my way through the crowd to see if my face would show up or if, as the men insisted, I would not appear because I was only a spirit.” She was ecstatic. “There I was! . . . I had shown up the same as the men had! I, too, was a real person.”

The gospel had made Kana free. She was living proof of that, but it was not until the end of the retreat that she began to realize what this freedom entailed. A missionary gave the final address—one that challenged the women regarding their obligation to share the gospel with others. “The Great Commission is to every believer—men and women,” the missionary said. “We all have a responsibility to spread the good news of the gospel message.”

For Kana, the message was sobering. As the women departed from the retreat, Kana later recalled, “I lingered behind not wanting to join in their jubilant singing and chatter. I was battling with the Lord over this new thought that I was also responsible to carry the gospel to my unsaved neighbors.”

As a leader among the women she recognized her obligation and she did not want to face it. But she had no choice when a woman sought her out and announced the decision she and her friends had made. “We have decided that we will gather your firewood and dig and plant your gardens if you will just teach us how to witness to others.” In the years since, Kana and her friends have been reaching out to new areas with the gospel. ¹⁴