This week, I wanted to attempt to address an issue that I think has been plaguing our society for quite some time. Admittedly, the argument can be made that this issue has been plaguing humanity since The Fall. However, because we live in the age of social media, I do think that we have all been given a platform to not only share photos, stories, and relationship updates, but also a platform to de-humanize our fellow man/woman and treat them only as a digital presence with no feeling, emotion, or worth. Essentially, social media has allowed us to treat one another as though we are all the android, Data, from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Once again, this is a topic that I alluded to in my maiden post, “First Things First.” And, seeing as I am still establishing some credibility regarding my authority to speak on such things, allow me to once again also offer a disclaimer: This comes from personal experience as well as my own observations as a pastor and frequent social media user. As I noted in last week’s post, I hope to not only decrease the amount of time I spend on social media, but my devices as a whole. However, for the purpose of this post, it is necessary that I at least mention that I have been using social media since at least 2005 (earlier if you include sites such as MySpace and Xanga), so I am familiar with its evolution over the last 16+ years. Most notably, in how it has been used to further isolate, divide, and de-humanize our fellow man/woman.
Defining Terms
Prior to fully digging into this topic, it is necessary to define a few terms for those readers who may not know what I mean by Imago Dei or even where Christian theology basis this argument. For those who do know what I mean, it is always helpful to regularly remind ourselves what we mean by these terms.
First, what do I mean by the term Imago Dei? The term itself is Latin. Thankfully, we can quickly discern what it means by breaking it up into its parts: Imago – Image; Dei – God/Deity. Therefore, the term can be simply understood as “Image of God.”
Second, where does the basis of this position come from in Christian theology? All Christian theology is based on the teachings of the Christian Bible. Now, there will be heavy debate on books of the Bible (such as the Apocryphal books and whether or not they should be included. As a Protestant and a Baptist, I would personally say “no,” but as a lover of church history and even the Roman Church on certain levels, I do appreciate those works), and there will even be debate on whether or not theology should be based on extra-biblical documents/tradition (such as is believed by our Roman/Orthodox friends). These are wonderful discussion topics that we will take up in later posts, but for the discussion at hand, let’s simply move forward with the basic understanding that all Christian theology is based in, and finds its grounding in, the Christian Bible.
With that settled, where does Christian theology base its argument of the Imago Dei in the Christian Bible? Thankfully, if you were to open a copy of the Bible, you wouldn’t have to go too far to find the Scripture upon which this doctrine (teaching) is based. Christian theology bases its argument first and foremost in the passage from Genesis 1:26-27. Allow me to provide for you the text of Scripture:
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
There you have it! Now, let’s work through this and figure out why it is necessary that we see one another as Imago Dei.
The Importance of Imago Dei
For those who are unfamiliar with Christianity, or those Christians who have never given much thought to this discussion, this verse is vital in how many Christians approach many of the issues that angers the left and “radicalizes” the right (or, depending on who you ask, angers the right and radicalizes the left):
- Sexuality and Transgender issues
- Abortion
- Human Rights
- Marriage
The list goes on. The point here is, for Christians, our entire worldview is based upon a biblical understanding of Creation and a biblical understanding of the creation of mankind – regardless if they view Genesis as completely 100% literal or allegorical. The Christian worldview looks at mankind and says “There is an image bearer.” Fellow Christians, we need to hear this: the reason that non-Christians get so angry with the Christian position of Imago Dei comes down to this: most Christians don’t actually live, act, or approach life with this theology in the foreground. This is most notable in when one of us decides to share or comment on social media, but it has extended outward into everyday life as well.
As a pastor in the rural south, I can attest to the issue that many in the church will happily say that all humanity needs to hear the Gospel – but the way they talk about folks of other political affiliations (“demoncrats”) or even folks of other religions (“ragheads”) in extremely derogatory terms displays an intentional rejection of the doctrine (teaching) of Imago Dei. Are we allowed to disagree politically and religiously with others? Absolutely! Are we allowed to de-humanize them? Absolutely not!
Let’s dig into this text from Genesis. The best way for us to ground our argument in this text is for us to simply walk through it with one another. Let’s start:
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness…'”
I’m sure you all quickly picked up on the words in bold (maybe because they were bolded and italicized?). Here is the basis of the Christian doctrine (teaching) of Imago Dei – God himself intentionally set about creating mankind after His likeness and His image. But, you notice the plural here. What’s that about? Because the verse begins in the singular and then continues in the plural? Well, in fact, this verses does not begin in the singular. The Hebrew word used for “God” at the start of this verse is the word we know as “Elohim,” which is a plural word. Basically, this is where Christian theology starts to fully see that God is One in Three/Three in One. This is where Christianity begins to grasp the understanding of the Triune Godhead (Father, Son, Spirit) that we see fully manifested and explained throughout the New Testament.
Why is this important for Imago Dei? Because mankind has been intentionally created to image the Triune Godhead. The word “image” used in the Hebrew is the word בצלםנן (buh-se-lem-nu), which can mean image, but also can mean “idol” or “replica” or “likeness.” A great way for us to consider this is with the word “icon.” Now, we won’t get off into the debate on Icons, but for the sake of understanding this verse, we need to understand the purpose of Icons. Christian Icons are like “windows” into the divine. “Windows” into the heavenly places. For the purposes of Imago Dei, each and every person is a “window” through which we can see the likeness/image/replica of God.
This does not mean that we are God or that we become gods. This simply means that we are made to mirror image the Divine and some of God’s attributes. We see this explained throughout the rest of verse 26:
“… And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
This word “dominion” is going to bother some people. However, it is vital to the Christian understanding of Imago Dei. Not because biblical Christians desire to dominate our fellow man, but rather because we see a particular divine attribute in the word “dominion.” Allow me to explain:
The Christian understanding of God’s sovereignty over his creation comes into play here. God has created all things – but God has delegated the watch care of the earth into the hands of mankind. We could argue all day long on the poor job that humanity has done to care for the earth and the many forms that takes, but again, another topic for another post. The point here is that, through being image bearers of the Godhead, every single human being is charged with this creation mandate of delegated “sovereignty” over the earth and all that is on it. God has not relinquished any of his sovereignty, rather he has given mankind the authority to control, subdue, care, and work the earth for the good of mankind and to spread the name of God throughout all the earth.
Alright, let’s look at verse 27 and continue to consider this doctrine of Imago Dei:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.“
There’s a lot of theology wrapped up in this verse. For the moment, I do only want to continue this basic discussion of Imago Dei, but we can quickly see the first inklings of the Christian teachings on gender and sexuality. We will dig into that and other pertinent topics in later posts. For now, let’s bring this introductory discussion to a close.
What we see in verse 27 is the complete working out of verse 26. God said, “let us create man in our image and after our likeness,” and he does so. As Creator God who is sovereign over his creation, this is his right and his authority. But, what does this have to do with Imago Dei and our present discussion on “Seeing others as Image Bearers of the Godhead”?
My answer is directed completely at Christians, but is applicable for any non-Christian reader as well: Brothers and Sisters in Christ, understanding that every man, woman, and child is created in Imago Dei is absolutely paramount to how we approach everyone in every avenue of life. It does not matter if you are talking with or about someone of a different skin color, nationality, or even religion. All people are created in Imago Dei. Every derogatory term, every thought of hate because of what they believe in or how they look, every snide “joke” about “taking them out” is an intentional slap in the face to the Creator God who made them. Yes, Christian, we do still sin and fall on a daily basis, but this does not excuse us from the consequences of our sin. Remember, “all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Just because that family worships Allah or Buddha or the stars doesn’t make them less of an image bearer. More importantly, it doesn’t mean that they are any less fallen than you are (all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God). Most importantly, it doesn’t make them less worthy than you of hearing the Gospel. To treat another human being as less than an image bearer is to assume that they are less human and less worthy of the grace and mercy of God than you are. Frankly, none of us are worthy of the grace and mercy of God, which is why we lay all of our unworthiness on the worthiness of Jesus.
The Necessity of Seeing Others as Image Bearers of the Godhead demands that we see others as worthy of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and then telling them. Anything short of that and we have fallen into the sin of personal idolatry.
“We must stop going along with the slanderous status quo and call such behavior what it is: the sin of failing to love our neighbors as ourselves.”
Thaddeus Williams, “The False Gospel of Assuming the Worst of Others”
The SouthTown Pastor 
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