What is the Scandal of Particularity?

I think there’s a natural apprehensive reaction in the heart of many people when they hear that the Jewish people are still God’s chosen people. In many ways, much of modern Christian thought is universalistic, that God loves all people the same no matter who they are or what they’ve done. And if this is the case, how can one small group of people have a status that is different than the rest of us? In academic terminology, this is called the scandal of particularity. It feels scandalous to us that God would choose one particular group of people over all the rest, right? Yet isn’t particularity itself the deepest form of love and commitment? When you marry someone, you’re saying that you are choosing one person over all others. You’re reserving your deepest affection and commitment to them only. This is the highest expression of love. Similarly, when God covenanted himself to Abraham and his descendants, he was limiting himself to work on the earth through them in an effort to reach all other people.

Envision God as a helicopter pilot hovering over a massive mountain. We are the hiker at the base of the mountain staring through the tree line at the 20,000 foot peak ahead of us. God sees the best route to take from his vantage point above, but we must commit to one route and rely on his guidance as we navigate the summit. In the same way, God is navigating Jew and Gentile towards the pinnacle of building and bringing his kingdom on earth. When the Gentile church embraces God’s particular way of doing this through Israel and joins ourselves to this plan, we believe the ascent of this mountain will happen much more quickly.