Why We Can't Forget that We're All Image-Bearers
Around ten years ago I remember spending time with some friends scrolling through a website known as People of Walmart. For all I know, the website could still be around, but I don’t have any desire to check. If People of Walmart is new to you, its content is probably still obvious: photos of people looking their worst while walking through Walmart.
After a couple of weeks of obsessively scrolling through pages of these uploads, I felt sick—not because of the portraits but because of my own sinful mockery. I became revolted with myself for extracting pleasure from looking down on other men and women.
My own insecurities were allayed by laughing at individuals I’d never met being secretly targeted by someone’s cell phone. After all, I subconsciously thought, I may have my own issues, but “thank you God, I’m not like other men” (Luke 18:11).
These sites don’t seem like a bad way to waste time until you realize that person you’re laughing at is created in the image of God.
IMAGE BEARERS
The imago Dei, Latin for “God’s image,” has been placed in each human being. All of mankind shares certain characteristics with God the Father simply because He so willed this. We also reflect a lesser sovereignty over all of creation. The arsonist, the racist, the abuser, the progressive, and the nationalist were created with no less the imago Dei than your kind Sunday school teaching grandmother. No amount of disagreement or social unrest changes that.
The United States in 2020 is facing relentless unrest from the coronavirus, racial injustice, peaceful protests, violent riots, and a heated presidential election, to name the headliners. Anyone plugged into the news or social media sees this angst play out every day. We’ve created adversaries out of individuals who have even the slightest disagreement on these topics. Even in the church, ministry leaders are sometimes shamed because they posed for a picture with the wrong teacher or were simply willing to consider new perspectives on social issues.
Disagreement is natural and sometimes even necessary. Paul and Barnabas differed on including John Mark on their missionary journeys (Acts 15:36–41), and what happened? Barnabas took John Mark to Cyprus and Paul went with Silas to Syria and Cilicia. Thus, two different regions received their ministry. Disagreement led to the Protestant Reformation and the reclamation of the authority of scripture and the preaching of justification by faith. And in other circumstances, speaking the truth will inevitably lead to conflict simply by standing athwart history, yelling “repent and believe!”
Unfortunately, these disputes often turn from contesting ideas to demeaning those with whom we are in conflict. Not only is one’s view challenged, but now there are a dozen memes belittling the opponent and a handful of blog posts and podcast episodes dedicated to tearing him or her down. On more grave levels, forgetting image-bearing leads to resentment, inequality, and even death—all consequences of sin.
MAJOR DISTORTIONS
George Floyd and others died because they were seen as less than image-bearers. Their bodies were treated as nuisances and as though they did not matter. Floyd was handcuffed and on the ground. If the police officer had viewed Floyd as one created in the image of God, would he have kept his knee on Floyd’s neck? If Eric Garner was seen as an image-bearer, would he have been kept in a chokehold until he died?
Similar questions can be asked about abortion: If we recognized a “clump of cells” as the beginning stages of God creating another image bearer, would we see 800,000 abortions in the United States every year? If all human life bears God’s thumbprint, the way we view and treat any life we come in contact with should be radically transformed.
When the imago Dei is forgotten, our communities, our nations, and our world fall to pieces. In fact, there can be no communion with another if we act or speak as though he or she was somehow created with less than God’s full enterprise. Abuse is the natural consequence of not valuing another life created in God’s image. Maybe before we can fully repudiate major distortions like racism and abortion, we need to begin at a micro-level.
MINOR DISTORTIONS
We keep running in circles with these major distortions of image-bearing. Be it from police brutality or ending the life of an unborn baby, the heart of the matter is not seeing God’s fingerprints all over His creation.
Perhaps we first make a difference by starting smaller in the spheres we can control. No one decides to run a marathon the day before the race—training comes first. The would-be athlete plans out a couple miles to get started. Eventually a few more miles are added to the circuit. Next, maybe hills are added to the route. Marathon contestants run down alleys, through the neighborhood, on the local high school’s track, or the gym’s treadmill before taking their place in the starting grid. In fact, REI recommends twelve to twenty weeks of training before running a marathon. You don’t become a marathon runner overnight, and the same can be said about changing how we view one another.
Of course we don’t give up fighting injustice against minorities or standing against abortion, but maybe a foundation of training should happen first. We need to include in our engagement with our counterparts a relentless and unbridled love for one another—a love that does not burn down buildings or spit in the face of those with whom we disagree. A love that sees every individual as an image-bearer.
The parable of the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1–13) describes a person about to be fired by his master for squandering resources. The manager acts shrewdly with his master’s debtors to curry their favor before his ultimate demise. Maybe he’s being fired, but he now has a backup plan involving those who owe half of what they once did. Jesus doesn’t condone the manager’s actions but illustrates how someone who can manage a little can do so much more. He said, “Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much” (v. 10).
This must apply to how we treat people. If we insist on calling bossy, upper-middle class white women “Karens,” can we be trusted to advance the gospel in the suburbs? If we stereotype black men from the city as dangerous, will we be able to recognize inequities in the criminal justice process? If we continue ranting about lazy and entitled Millennials on social media, will we truly submit to them as they are called into pastoral ministry and eldership? If we are willing to walk out of our church because of the elders’ decision on wearing masks, are we capable of ever valuing Christ’s bride? If we do not help provide and care for orphans and children in need, do we have the principles and fortitude to end abortion?
No, unkind thoughts and petty squabbles are not on par with violence or withholding the gospel. But if we cannot mortify our sinful thoughts and words toward those with whom we disagree, will we ever be able to make positive changes to weightier matters?
A THEOLOGY OF MAN’S RELATIONSHIP TO GOD
Christians above anyone else should recognize each person with whom we come in contact as being made in the image of God. In his Systematic Theology, Louis Berkhof writes, “According to Scripture the essence of man consists in this, that he is the image of God. As such he is distinguished from all other creatures and stands supreme as the head and crown of the entire creation.” There is no room left for saying, “Well, these folks who think, worship, and vote like me are image-bearers, but those over there doing something else are less than.”
There is no biblical exception to the presence of God’s image in mankind. Trillia Newbell says, “As image-bearers we are all made to glorify and magnify the Lord. And by all, I mean all mankind. The Lord did not distinguish between the Christian and non-Christian in creating them in His image.” Regardless of one’s standing with the Lord, he or she was purposefully created by God and bears His image.
It was sinful for me to revel in the mockery of men and women walking through Walmart. I don’t think I could have really loved my neighbor as myself if I continued that habit. If we enter discourse while recognizing that all participants contain the imago Dei, perhaps love and charity will characterize these engagements. Then, perhaps, we will be better equipped to handle the more serious matters of image-bearing distortions.
Tony Beard is a student affairs professional who has worked in the college setting for the past decade. He holds an MA in Counseling in Higher Education from the University of Delaware and is the staff advisor for his college’s Christian Student Fellowship. Tony’s new book, Let No One Despise You: Emerging Christians in a Post-Christian World is available now. Tony is married to Angela, has two children, and can be followed on Twitter @TonyBeard.