Regarding the Image of God

This post will be a bit of a strange one. I wrote most of the following piece about six months ago, as certain governmental policies and actions were starting to roll out - and while reflecting upon certain ongoing atrocities. While these reflections revolve mostly around those claiming and practicing the Christian faith (and our failures to do so rightly) I do believe that they might be provide valuable insight - or at least something to think about - for folks of all perspectives who are willing to read them. So without further ado, here are a few of my recent reflections regarding the biblical concept of the 'image of God.'

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I sketch a lot of strangers. While sitting in a cafe on weekends, while taking the bus or train, in airports, or across a park. Whenever an opportunity presents itself for me to discreetly and unobtrusively capture a fascinating character, I strive to do so. It's great practice for developing the speed and accuracy of my drawing, and I've come to really enjoy the challenge of capturing a person's distinct features with precision.

Often when I am sketching someone, I try to reflect for at least a moment on the concept of the Imago Dei in that individual. This is an ancient Latin phrase representing a crucial idea to the Christian faith: namely, that each person (however much I am willing to look for it or not) carries in some profound way the image of our divine, loving, and beautiful Creator.

The more that I look around me at the world today, the more I am convinced that one of the greatest failures of the American Evangelical church has been its failure to look for (or, indeed, even believe in) the Imago Dei in other people. To perceive the image of God in another human must always necessarily mean to afford them dignity, to treat them with basic respect, and to defend them when others would see them treated as less than human.

All too often, we who profess faith in Christ are among the most guilty of failing to do this: the categories and boxes through which we see other people allow us to reduce our estimates of how much grace and justice we think they ought to receive. It is very, very well known that many within American Evangelicalism have actively endeavored to dehumanize, villainize, and expel those with whom they feel uncomfortable living alongside.

Maybe this waffling seems too abstract. Another way of putting it is this: I think that we treat as less than human those in whom we do not make an effort to see the image of God. If you are one who shares with me the Christian faith - or if you are a person interested in reflecting on your own biases/perspective on things - and if you care to humor me for a moment longer, then just ask yourself this: Whose suffering, whether on a personal or global scale, do you mind the least? In my experience, this question is one of the quickest ways to shine a spotlight on one's own problematic biases. If you're willing, actually take a little time (more than fifteen seconds) to think about it.

Whose suffering, whether on a personal or global scale, do you mind the least?

Ask yourself: where have you become okay with turning a blind eye to injustice? What human rights violations do you find yourself scrolling quickly past in the news, or explaining away in a defensive and minimizing rush? Through a theological lens, I believe it is fair to say that this graceless act equates to denying the Imago Dei in that person or people. And it is a failure of which the American Church in particular - but in truth all people who claim faith in Christ - must deeply, daily, repent. We must genuinely and prayerfully seek the Imago Dei in those whose suffering does not much bother us.

To me, there is no more obvious place at present where this willful blindness among people of Christian faith has revealed itself as the destruction of life in Gaza. It has faded into background noise beneath the regular news cycle - but we have watched civilian casualties climb well over 70,000 over the course of a couple of years. And in my experience in Christian communities and online, the American church has for the most part been entirely silent about it. Where is the defense of these people? What cheap arguments and human-made categories have kept the people of Christ from loving and caring for these vulnerable image-bearers?

The U.S. government's current treatment of asylum seekers and immigrant communities is another situation that must be addressed in this conversation. Stories of brutality, deception, and other abuses by the Enforcement and Removal Operations wing of ICE are a daily norm. Anonymous internal reports reveal that resources are being diverted away from cases involving the capture of child predators for the sake of meeting deportation quotas. Legal statuses of lawful immigrants are being repealed for the same reason. Certain Christian-Nationalist-leaning churches fully condone these actions - I have all but given up on changing the minds of such people, as I believe they have fully given themselves to a false reality willing to hate and villainize those whom Christ calls followers to care for most.

Yet for the more 'centrist' churches that have elected to merely remain silent in the face of these atrocities - the time has long passed to speak up. To those churches, I say this: allow Christ, the-fully-God-and-fully-human savior, a child refugee, a steadfast helper of the sick and poor, and the one who was subject to the depths of human abuse and brutality, to convict you. See the image of God in the vulnerable, belittled, and villainized. Speak up for the aching remnant of Gaza. Speak up for the immigrant, asylum seeker, and refugee. And if their suffering does not long hold your attention, ask yourself: do you really believe in the Imago Dei?

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Alright, those are all the words and edits I can muster up from this reflection for now. If you have any thoughts to add to an ongoing conversation, I am open to hearing all thoughtful perspectives - please feel free to reach out in the comments below. May we all see masterpieces in the human beings surrounding us each day, and treat each other accordingly.

For any who are interested, I also wrote this poem several months back while reflecting on a lot of these same ideas. Feel free to check it out here.

Until next time - all the best, friends.