"God created humanity in God's own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them."
-Genesis 1:27
"From the very beginning, we humans have wanted to escape this world, to become like gods. We have wanted to escape the limits we feel and gain a gods-eye view of the universe. Yet what do we find in the Gospel narratives? We find the unique idea that God became human and dwelt with us. The desire to escape our humanity and become like God is twisted and turned on its head, throwing us back into our humanity. The incarnation tells us that if we want to be like God, then we must be courageous enough to fully and unreservedly embrace our humanity."
-Peter Rollins, "Insurrection"
. . .
I have said it before and I will say it again: It's time for us evangelical Christians to redeem our view of humanity.
Because I have to admit that I occasionally grow weary of much of the language and ideology that has infected the evangelical church when it comes to this subject. And it seems to be everywhere. One of my good friends not long ago made that statement that people are "trash in the sight of God."
To which I responded, "but God created us... and in God's image!"
As Michael Card points out when we are first introduced to God in the Bible it is as the creative artist.
And people are an integral part of the artist's masterpiece. One part fertile soil from God's good earth, and one part breath of the creator God.
So where did we get this idea that saying people are trash somehow brings glory to God? Wouldn't that be a bit like telling a master painter that you think her paintings are trash and expecting her to take it as a compliment?
And I bring all this up because I think it's not only a incorrect idea but a dangerous one.
When we refuse to see the inherit worth in all of God's handiwork - when we see people (or any other part of God's good creation) as trash then it can lead to oppression and abuse.
. . .
One of the prominent ways this surfaces itself is in the way the Evangelical church (and many other faces of the Church throughout her history) thinks about women. When we refuse to see all people, male and female, as inherently valued on the grounds of being created in the image of God then we end up trying to devalue some people in order to feel better about ourselves. We put up barriers to separate "us" from "them". We end up spending a lot of time focusing on figuring out what God's planned role is for different genders.
Now at this point someone always ends up pointing out that men are different from women.
Which is true...
But isn't it also true that men are different from other men, and women different from other women?
In my experience all people are different.
. . .
I'm not interested in constricting myself to a sort of one-size-fits all role for being a man. I am interested in what God's role is for being Ryne. I want to be the Ryne that God created me to be!
So I'm okay with having some characteristics that would traditionally be considered feminine. In fact I've never met a single person that didn't have both masculine and feminine characteristics. Which comes as no surprise to me considering that I believe we are all created in the image of a God who the Bible describes in both masculine and feminine terms.
. . .
It is my sincere prayer that we will figure out how to work together in the journey God brings us on.
And along the way we will all stumble and fall and knock each other over, then we will cry together and then laugh together, and help each other up just to fall down again.
And we will recognize the journey, with all its ups and downs, can be deeply beautiful and sacred if we only allow it to.
And somehow, through God's transforming grace we will learn what it means to be the people that God created us to be.
Then we will be human again!
Grace & Peace,
Ryne
