In the early part of Paul's letter to the gathering at Rome, I came across a note, perhaps decades old, written within his quoting of Psalms; as it is written,
“There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
- Romans 3:10-18
In this passage, there is much action and positioning, but one thing is missing...hearing...
We hear (read) that "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female;" (Gal 3:28) because The Lord inspired our forefathers to impart that to us...and we really try hard to live this principle because God said it.
But, it is much more than hearing; Paul says in Romans 3:29-30;
"Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also--if indeed God is one..."
God does not just tell us there is neither this nor that in the human condition; He doesn't just tell us not to be this way because...
HE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, SLAVE NOR FREE, MALE NOR FEMALE!
Our region, our state, our nation, our world, doesn't live this way because they neither hear nor then accept Jesus' free gift of Relationship to the Uncreated One and for many in "The Church of the Western Mindset", Jesus is "asleep in the boat" - in their hearts.