How to Let the Gospel

Drive Your Disagreements

Part 1

Remember That EVERY PERSON is

Made in the IMAGE OF GOD,
& Therefore Deserves
RESPECT, HONOR & DIGNITY

Gospel-Driven Disagreements, Part 1 1 Rob Wilkerson

Introduction

In my experience with people of many backgrounds and cultures, I have had

disagreements and conflicts. And in many of these I, like many of you, have
experienced a denigration of my relationship with many people because WHAT I
disagreed with them about devolved into something personal. Our conversations
seemed to move from the ISSUE we were discussing to our FEELINGS about each
other. To be sure, the people with whom I've had a disagreement sometimes hide
how they feel. And sometimes they don't. Either way it becomes evident pretty
quickly HOW they feel about me or how I FEEL about them through the course of
our disagreement.

Generally, the thing that devolves is our ATTITUDE toward each other. Somehow
we fall into the snaring lie that the ISSUE over which we disagree MUST change the
way I FEEL about the person or VIEW the person. I have ended up believing the lie
many, MANY times which tells me that if they are wrong I MUST avoid them and
warn everyone else about them. In reality however, this avoidance and warning
itself devolves into sinful communication about that person, even though I am almost
ALWAYS sure to tell everyone that it is spiritually and lovingly motivated. In the
name of sound doctrine of righteousness I end up slandering, gossiping and even
hating the person I disagree with. But, like any good hypocrite, I'm always careful to
hide THAT part, being sure to EMPHASIZE the other.

This issue is the thing which I have probably exhausted more thinking and inking
than any other subject in my life or in Christianity as a whole. It is my belief that
THIS issue, MORE than any other, is responsible for the ALL the divisions in
Christianity. You know how it goes. Here are the 20 Steps to Start a New Church
I've come up with over my years of experience in dealing with disagreements.

1. You disagree with someone.

2. You assume that your viewpoint is the ONLY correct one.
3. You continue arguing from your assumption.
4. Pride and arrogance builds inside of you about your view.
5. Frustration and impatience builds inside of you about the other person.
6. This cycle builds and deepens until anger is aroused.
7. Anger builds and deepens to the point that you say hateful things to the other
person.
8. The hateful things you say build and deepen to the point where you storm off
from them.
9. Storming off leads to a replaying of the entire conversation over again, usually
emphasizing YOUR points and CRITICIZING theirs.

Gospel-Driven Disagreements, Part 1 2 Rob Wilkerson

 10. The replaying continues in the hours and days that follow, so that your dislike
of the person deepens and builds as well.
11. Your dislike seeks to garner support from others who may "feel" the same
way.
12. Your support-building campaign turns into a neglect of praying for them and
desiring God's blessing for them.
13. Your neglect of praying for them turns into avoidance of them when you are
around them next time.
14. Your avoidance turns into outright rejection of them.
15. Your rejection of them is communicated to others in "righteous" or "pietistic"
terms.
16. Your sinful communication about them seals your separation from them for
"biblical" reasons.
17. Your separation turns your support-team against that person as well.
18. Your corporate separation from that person creates division from that person
and his support-team.
19. Your division creates hostility and a feud is waged between the two "camps."
20. Voila! A church split and/or a denomination is born.

After step one, ever other step I take from there is taken out of ignorance of the truth
that person I'm disagreeing with is made in the image of God...just like I am. That
ignorance has been unwitting at times. And many other times it has been willful.
DESPITE the theology I know about them being an equal image of God with me, I
choose instead to ignore that and launch my personal campaign against them. It's
my contention then that really and truly understanding this doctrine of the image of
God, or the imago dei, is probably THE most critical, crucial, foundational, significant
truth EVERY Christian must know and believe in order to see the nature and
outcome of their disagreements changed for the good.

Let's start then with the foundational passages for this theology of the imago dei. In
these texts we see that EVERY human being is made in the image of God.

 Genesis 1:26,27 - The first two people God created were made in His image.
"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.' So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God he created him; male and female he created them" (ESV).

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  Genesis 5:1 - "This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God
created man, he made him in the likeness of God" (ESV).

 Genesis 9:5,6 - "And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every
beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a
reckoning for the life of man. 'Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall
his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image'" (ESV).

A Brief But Important Lesson on How to Study the Bible

In each of these texts the word "image" comes from the Hebrew word, selem. The
English word "likeness" comes from the Hebrew word demut. Just like English
words, Hebrew words can carry different connotations or "flavors" of meaning. In
these verses in Genesis, the translators decided to use the word "likeness" or
"image." But what does this mean? When you're doing Bible study and you want to
study what a word means, there is really only one way to do that: find other places
where the word is used, read the text or passage in its context, and then compare
what you find in that passage with the passage you are studying. This helps give
you a general idea of what the word means.

But this practice does NOT necessarily give you an exact meaning? Why? For the
simple reason that two people may not use the same word with the same meaning
all the time. If they are having two different conversations, and one person may use
a word one way, and the other person may use the same word a different way. So
then, if we are studying a word in Genesis, but then turn to another passage written
by a different author where that same word is used, we can't expect it to mean the
EXACT same thing, because they are probably having a different conversation.
However, if we listen in on that conversation, we WILL be able to at least get a
general idea of what the word means.

In Bible Study we call this the "Circles of Context." Here's how it works when you
are doing what's called a "word study."

1. First, you start with the person who's written this book and try to find
other places in their book where they use the same word. Chances are
very high that the author is going to use the same word the same way in the
same book he's writing.

2. Second, you move outside what the author has written and look for
other books that are similar to the one you are studying. If you are
studying a piece of narrative or history, for example, you will turn to other books

Gospel-Driven Disagreements, Part 1 4 Rob Wilkerson

 of the Bible that are also narrative or history. But keep it in the same
Testament, of course. That's because word meanings change or shift over the
centuries. I'll show you an example of that in a moment with the Hebrew word
we are looking at now. If you are studying a word that was written at one point
in the OT, and then try to find that same word in the NT, the massive amount of
time that separates the two usages will definitely mean that the word has shifted
meanings at least a little bit, if not a whole lot. That's just the way language
works. Many words just drift out of usage altogether, and some change
meanings in significant ways. Take a word like "gay" for example. When I was
a kid, we sang the "Flintstones" theme song, with the line, "we'll have a gay 'ole
time." Fifty years later, having "a gay 'ole time" means something totally
different, doesn't it? That's just one example of how a word shifts
meanings...and in just fifty years!

3. Third, after you've looked at the same word used in the same type of
literature, you want to move outside that literature and see how the word
is ued in different literature. If the word you're studying is in a history or
narrative, then you study that same word in another narrative, moving on then
to literature like prophecy, or poetry, etc. The contexts will be clearly different,
but you will be able to squeeze a few more drops from the word to use in
comparing to the one usage you are studying.

4. Finally, after you've studied a word in those three "circles of context"

you will want to move to the other testament to see how the word is used
there. Do you see what we are doing essentially then? We are studying the
occurrences of a word closest to the time in history in which it was used, then
studying it in the same kind of literature, then studying it in different types of
literature, and then studying it in a different testament and time period
altogether. Each circle is an attempt to squeeze more drops of meaning so we
have as much as we can to compare and understand. Pretty simple, eh?

Studying the Concepts of God's "Likeness" and "Image"

Getting back to our Hebrew word selem, in Genesis, we don't have any other usages
of that word in Genesis to study. So we move out to the rest of the Law. You see,
Genesis is actually part of a larger "book" called the Law, or Torah, as the Jews refer
to it. That book includes Genesis through Deuteronomy. And as we move out
through the rest of the chapters in that book, we find one other reference in Numbers
33:52 where the word is used to refer to an idol. So in the Torah, three of the
usages of this word are used in a good way, to refer to a human as the likeness or
image of God, and the fourth usage is used in a bad way, to refer to the likeness or
image of God or a god in a non-human form. You can immediately see just from four
usages in one book so far, that any likeness or image of God that is found in man is

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a good thing, and making any likeness or image of God or a god in non-human form
(like an idol) is a bad thing. From just four usages we can make the conclusion then
that God means for His image and likeness to be only represented in humanity who
is NEVER worshiped, and God does NOT mean for His image and likeness to be
represented in something manmade that IS worshiped.

That being the case, according to our "Circles of Context" we move to the next circle
which is occurrences of the word used in other literature. When we do so we find
three usages in similar literature (history or narrative) in 1 Samuel, 2 Chronicles and
2 Kings. All three of these usages are just like the one in Numbers, in that they refer
to a bad image or likeness of God or a god in an idol of some kind. That's
considered abominable to God.

Then, when we move to the next circle of context, which is literature that is different
from the one we are studying, we find three usages in Ezekiel, one in Daniel, and
one in Amos. This is prophetic literature, and interestingly it contains the same sort
of usages, referring to selem as a bad thing, a likeness or image made into a non-
human idol that is worshiped. Per John Piper in his study of these texts, "In the
remainder of the Old Testament, selem is used, but for the two exceptions, to refer to
the physical likeness of a person or thing, and almost uniformly these images are
abominable."(1)

Now, there are usages of the Hebrew word selem in other types of literature where
the meaning is NOT bad, and has nothing to do with idols that are made or
worshiped. When we look at these occurrences, which occur in the poetry literature
of the Psalms, do that, here's what we find.

 Psalm 39:5, 6a - "Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and
my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere
breath! Selah. Surely a man goes about as a shadow!" (ESV). The word
"shadow" in the English is the translation here for the Hebrew word selem.
This Psalm, written by David, uses the word to basicallyrefer to the
resemblance or reflection of something greater. A shadow of something is
always less than the something, yet always representing something greater.
In this passage then, a selem is not bound to a physical image.

 Psalm 73:20 - "Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse
yourself, you despise them as phantoms" (ESV). Here in this psalm, written
by a different man (Asaph) several hundred years later than the previous one,
the Hebrew word selem is translated as phantoms. So it's pretty plain here,

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 as in the previous Psalm, that we aren't dealing with "a concrete, tangible
image, but again, a more abstract likeness."(2)

In conclusion, it seems from the usages of the word throughout the OT that the word
selem refer to duplicate or copy which has a diminished or lesser resemblance of the
original thing. In the Genesis passages we are trying to study, that "image" or
"likeness" can be a duplicate with a lesser resemblance of God in humanity. This is
a good thing. And in the other passages it can be a duplicate with a lesser
resemblance of God or something else in something manmade, like an idol. That is
a bad thing.

So what about the Hebrew word demut? It seems to be a bit more flexible than the
Hebrew word selem. It seems to be used in a more concrete sense, in that it is
connected with something tangible, something that can be experienced or
encountered with the five senses. The word points to a copy that looks like the
original.(3)

When we put both words together, "image" and "likeness," a theology unfolds for us
that includes both the physical and the abstract. In other words, Moses (the writer
of Genesis) is saying that God created man with His physical likeness, as well as His
spiritual image; with His intangible essence, as well as His tangible appearance.

Jesus Christ as THE Image of God

"But I thought God was a spirit and therefore had no body. So how can God say He
is creating man with some sort of physical likeness of Himself?" Because of Jesus
Christ. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, is the bodily appearance or form of
God. Colossians 1 teaches us this. "He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation...For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell..." (vv.
15, 19). Jesus is the physical, tangible representation of an spiritual God.

We see Him in the OT appearing as "the angel of the Lord" to Abraham and Gideon,
for example. When He appeared in this form, it was bodily, physical form just like a
man. We see Him in the NT appearing as God Himself (John 12:45; 13:9). He is
also the radiant brightness of God Himself, much like the light we see from the sun
(Hebrews 1:3; John 14:3). Therefore, to say that man was made in God's physical
likeness is to say that he was created as a copy of Jesus Christ. Man looks like
Jesus in his physical appearance. And man also has the intangible, spiritual
essence of Jesus. This doesn't mean man is God, per se. Rather it simply means
that man is a lesser copy of Jesus Christ. He has many of the same thing Jesus
Christ has, but he is not Jesus Christ. He is LIKE Jesus.

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Now, this was all God's original design, mind you. In the beginning, when God
created Adam and Eve, they were the perfect copies of Jesus Christ, both physically
and spritually. But when they sinned, death was brought to the whole human race,
as Romans 5 teaches. This introduced and sort of injected sin into the very DNA of
humanity, and into the very fabric of the universe. This had the effect of damaging
the image of God. Humanity and earth malfunction now because of sin. If man is
like a mirror of Jesus Christ, that mirror is broken. This is why we have crime, war,
death, sickness, suffering, and mutation. Sin causes human beings and planet earth
to malfunction.

But every man, woman, and child is still made in the image of God! We know this
because even after sin, human beings are still said to be made in God's image
(Genesis 5, 9). This means that human beings are still the copies and
representations of Jesus Christ on planet earth, but those copies are malfunctioning
and marred. However, just like I can look at a broken mirror and still see something
of myself when I look into it, God looks at humanity and still sees something of
Himself in every human being when He looks at us.

So then, how does all of this teaching on the imago dei apply to our main point so
far? It applies in this way: if every human being is made in the physical likeness of
Jesus, and with the spiritual essence of God, then one human being is no better than
any other human being - since every human being is marred and malfunctions - and
every human being deserves respect and honor from every other human being. In
short, I am as broken as you are, and I am as much made in the image of God as
you are, both in body and soul. Even though I look different from you and have
different personality issues from you, we are both made in God's image and are
therefore equal to one another in status. You are not better than me in ANY sense,
and I am not better than you in ANY sense.

Therefore, when it comes to something over which you disagree with me, I deserve
your respect and honor since I am as much an image of God as you are. And
conversely, if I disagree with you over something, you deserve my respect and honor
since you are as much an image of God as I am. We are both made in the image of
God, both marred and malfunctioning because of sin, yet both equal to each other in
God's eyes. Our status is the same: creations of God Himself.

Key Questions We MUST Deal With

But what if one person is a Christian, and the other is not? Then the one who is
a Christian has had the unmarred image of God (originally given to Adam and Eve)
restored to him because of Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God. When I am
adopted into the Father's family, I am looked at and treated as if I were Jesus Christ
Himself. What is more, God has regenerated me, made me alive, resurrected my

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soul from the dead. That act of regenerating me also began the work of restoring me
to the full, original image of God at creation. It won't be completed, mind you, until
Jesus returns and finishes that work by giving me a new body. But until then, the
restoration has begun and I am growing more and more into Christ's likeness (2
Corinthians 4:7-5:5).

Therefore, if one is a Christian then they have had the restoration process begun in
them. This necessarily puts the responsibility of even greater respect and honor on
the Christian...NOT to receive it from the unbeliever, but to GIVE it to the unbeliever.
In other words, because the Christian person has been set right with God, they
actually have the power and ability now to TREAT the unbeliever with the respect
and honor they deserve as image-bearers of God. Jesus Christ, the complete and
perfect image of God, exemplified that when He said His life mission was "to seek
and save the lost" and "not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many."

This places ALL the responsibility of respect and honor on the shoulders of the
BELIEVER when it comes to a disagreement with an unbeliever. And to be sure,
this is HOW the believer WINS the unbeliever...by giving the respect and honor and
dignity that the unbeliever deserves as an image-bearer of God. All conflict is not
bad, but it usually turns bad because one or both persons in the conflict think they
are better than the other, or that their viewpoint is better than the other.

The very moment that happens, unless it is repented of, the conflict will only grow
into sinful hatred, bitterness, resentment, anger and impatience. As that sin grows,
so does the treatment each gives to the other. They no longer treat each other with
love, respect, honor and dignity. Instead, they begin tearing each other down,
pointing out each other's faults and weaknesses, lying, manipulating, discouraging
each other, and eventually even plotting against the other. The prevention of this
sort of thing lies entirely at the feet of the believer in relationships and conflict with
unbelievers.

But what about two believers who disagree with one another? It should be even
BETTER! BOTH persons are redeemed, regenerated, and are being restored to the
image of God. So BOTH should be tripping over one another to love, respect, honor
and dignify each other as image-bearers of God. Conflict and disagreement
between Christians should be the best and highest example of how to love, honor
and respect one another in the "heat of the battle." Conflict or disagreement
between two believers should be THE shining moment in which we show to each
other as well as to the unbelieving world HOW we can disagree and still deeply and
fervently love, honor, respect and dignify each other. Any disagreements Christians
have between themselves are opportunities to show the world how we hold each

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other in the HIGHEST esteem, regardless of the nature or subject of our
disagreement.

What about disagreements between a Christian and someone who just thinks
they are saved...or even someone who is supposedly a heretic? Is that really
any different? Does the fact that someone is deceived about their relationship with
God really change their status as image-bearers of God? Does the fact that
someone is supposedly a heretic really change the fact that they are made in the
image of God? Of course not! On the one hand, these things certainly emphasize
the malfunctioning factors in the marred image of God. That is, these things may
simply serve to point out with greater clarity the cracks in the mirror. But it does
NOTHING to the FACT that they are still made in the image of God and therefore
deserving of respect, honor, love and dignity as image-bearers of God.

Murder and Sinful Anger Are EQUALLY Destructions of the Image

of God

Let me put it in terms of a couple of biblical passages to make my point. Turn back
to Genesis 9 and read the bit about murder and the death penalty. Moses wrote
there, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God
made man in his own image" (v. 6). It is a sin to murder someone else precisely for
the ONLY reason that fundamentally they are representations or image-bearers of
God Himself. To kill a person is to destroy an image of God. THAT is why murder is
a sin. That is the ROOT cause of the evil of murder. It takes matters into its own
hands and decides to destroy something God made, without God's permission.
THAT is why God says in the Ten Commandments, "Do not murder."

Now turn to Matthew 5 and see how Jesus applies the issue of murder. There, in the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached, "You have heard that it was said to those of
old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I
say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;
whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!'
will be liable to the hell of fire." Jesus teaches that there is essentially no difference
between anger and murder. Both destroy the image of God. One does so physically
and the other does so verbally. Attacking someone to death physically is murder.
Attacking someone verbally is death to their soul, and is also considered murder.
Murder kills the body, and anger kills the soul. Murder kills the likeness of God
outwardly, and anger kills the image of God inwardly. Jesus sees them both as the
same thing and even pronounces the SAME judgment on both: the fire of judgment,
or hell.

It is safe to say, theologically speaking, that when we murder a person physically OR

verbally, we are actually murdering Jesus. If human beings are made in God's

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image (in the likeness of Jesus Christ), then to kill one is to attempt to kill the other,
or at least an affront to the other, in the very least. To disrespect, hate, or dishonor
the copy is to do the same to the original. Burning someone's picture in effigy for
example, is a pulbic way of dishonoring and disrespecting the person himself.
Mudslinging in politics during election season for instance, is a public way of
dishonoring, respecting the political opponent himself, so that people will not view
them the same way and therefore not vote for them. This is what we call
"demonizing" someone, which is making them out to appear to others to be so evil
and underhanded and bad that we lessen our respect and honor for them, and begin
to actually hate them. But when we do that, Jesus says we are actually, in our own
soul, killing the other person's soul. Whenever we not respect, love, honor and
dignify a representation of a person, we do not respect, love, honor or dignify the
person himself.

The biggest and most important example of this is forgetting that our actions in this
way to one person are actually actions to Jesus Christ Himself. To dishonor and
disrespect another human being is to do the same to Jesus Christ. Jesus teaches
us this principle with the utmost clarity when He blessed the sheep and cursed the
goats in Matthew 25. To the sheep He blessed them saying, "And the King will
answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, you did it to me'" (v. 40). And to the goats He cursed them saying, "Then
he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels...Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say
to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And
these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (vv.
41, 45, 46).

I don't think it can be any clearer than this. ANY activity or behavior toward another
human being that does not treat them with respect, honor, love, service, and dignity
as an image of God, is activity or behavior that treats King Jesus in the very same
way. To treater the lesser of the two with disrespect is to treat the Greater with
disrespect. To hate the lesser is to hate the Greater. To dishonor a human being is
to dishonor Jesus Christ. Every single human being, no matter what is wrong with
them, is an image-bearer of King Jesus and as such should be treated with the same
respect and honor we would give Jesus Christ.

The Crucial Question: Do We IGNORE What's Wrong With Someone

Else?

Now enters the most crucial question we can come to, the crux of the whole deal.
Everything else we've said so far has been conceivably palatable to us. But when it
all comes down to it, we actually DO disagree with things other people say, do, or
believe. There is just no avoiding that. The fact that we disagree with them is just as

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much a fact of reality as the truth that they are image-bearers of God. But image-
bearers are sinners by nature. Their image is marred, and therefore their image-
bearing abilities malfunction. So what about the crucial issue of what we DO with
what is wrong?

What about the actual wrongdoing another person does? What about the
actual wrong things another person believes? Am I saying that we should just
ignore the wrong things they do and believe, and just honor and respect them
as if they've done nothing wrong? Of course not. Again, the fact that they do
something wrong or believe something erroneous is just as much a matter of fact
and reality as their being an image-bearer of God Himself. Regardless of the fact
that these two things are incongruent and contradictory, they are both true at the
same time. So I am NOT saying that just because they are image-bearers of God
that they are somehow magically not guilty of what they've done wrong or whatever
erroneous thing they believe or teach. And I am also NOT saying that the wrong
things they do or believe somehow cancels out the fact that they continue to be
image-bearers of God.

What I AM saying is that this theology of the imago dei DEMANDS that we treat
every person with respect and honor and dignity IN THE WAY that we handle their
wrongdoing or IN THE WAY that we hold them accountable. The fact that they ARE
image-bearers of God MUST dominate and control everything we SAY to them and
everything we DO to them. We DON'T excuse what they do by ANY means!
Rather, we DO handle it by holding them accountable, yet in a WAY that is guided by
this truth: no matter what they have done, they are still made in the image of
God and as such are always deserving of dignity, including (and especially)
when punishment or disciplined is meted out.

ALL Broken Image-Bearers Need MERCY from the Perfect Image-

Bearer

Plain and simple, this is called "mercy," which is NOT giving the other person what
they DESERVE, but instead giving forgiving them. When the need arises to censure
someone, or discipline them from the church, or point out a wrongdoing, or hold
someone accountable, or ANY action really that acknowledges wrongdoing and calls
for accountability...in ANY and EVERY case WE should reflect THE MOST
significant and crucial and fundamental reflection of the image of God, which is
MERCY. And this IS the God of the Old AND New Testaments.

"'The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity
and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' Please
pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast

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 love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now" (Numbers
14:18, 19).

"The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast
love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not
deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities"
(Psalm 103:8-10).

"The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast
love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made"
(Psalm 145:8-9).

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an
end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations
3:22, 23).

"And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified
him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said,
'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do'" (Luke 23:33, 34).

Regardless of WHO the image-bearer is, or WHAT they have done, they DO
deserve respect, honor and dignity because of WHO they are. However, they ALSO
deserve God's judgment because of WHAT they have done. Both of these are
equally true. But, JESUS came as the MERCY of God Himself toward WHAT
broken image-bearers have done, so that WHO they are can be restored to who God
ORIGINALLY intended them to be.

The Image of God is a Metaphorical Issue, NOT a Categorical One

This is such a difficult thing for us to get our minds and hearts wrapped around. We
think in black and white, if you will. Our culture teaches us to think categorically,
instead of metaphorically. We are taught to believe that if you are in one category,
you cannot at the same time be in another category. If you deserve to be punished
for commiting a crime, our culture tells us that you are NOT also deserving of dignity.
As a result, the criminal is demonized and made out to be something he is, but is
not. He may have committed a demonic act, but that doesn't change the FACT that
he is still an image-bearer of God. Metaphorically speaking however, God is
mysteriously able to declare a criminal "not guilty" and treat Him as such, while at the
same time confronting that person with additional wrongdoing that needs to be
repented of.

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This is really no different from the way we treat our own children. They are our
children, and we love them and nothing will EVER be able to change that. But we
discipline our kids nonetheless for the wrongdoing they commit. Our discipline is
meant to help them BECOME or GROW INTO who they really are: children bearing
our name and reputation. And God's discipline is also meant to help Christians
BECOME or GROW INTO who He has declared them to be. They can sin and at the
very same moment not be guilty of that sin, but still stand in need of correction for
that sin, yet not be judged for that sin. That's a reality that cannot be categorically
defined. It is metaphorically defined.

A similar example is how we look at our President. We may not like what our
President decides to do, but we still respect and honor the office which he holds.
Bad-mouthing his decision is not respecting his office. It is okay to disagree with it,
but NOT okay to slander him because of our disagreement. This is perhaps THE
single most troubling feature in Christianity today. Christians are taught by the "fair
and balanced" media to hold a view of the President which is anything BUT fair and
balanced with regard to this fundamental premise, much less with regard to a
theology of the imago dei. When they demonize the President, they demonize Jesus
Christ who made the President. When they bad-mouth a decision the president
made or something he believes, they bad-mouth him personally. Sometimes you
may hear one of them say that they don't actually hate the man. But the way they
talk about him is clearly hateful and disrespectful, and dishonoring and without any
dignity or integrity whatsoever. The media doesn't allow for ANY of that, at least for
the most part. THEY are the ones who teach us to think categorically which leads to
demonization of a person. This is why we should ignore almost everything they tell
us.

This is a METAPHORICAL issue. A human being can live and breathe as an

image-bearer of God, while AT THE SAME TIME live and breathe as a very bad
person, doing very bad things, and believing very bad things. But mysteriously, the
one doesn't negate the other. We don't understand that, primarily because of the
cultural mileu, as well as because of the fact that, again, our image-bearing source
malfunctions and is marred. BUT they are nonetheless BOTH true. Any human
being may be an image-bearer of God AND AT THE SAME TIME a criminal, or an
unbeliever, or a heretic, or whatever you want to call them.

However, WHAT you call them, and the WAY you represent them or talk about them
MUST be guided and guarded by this theology of the imago dei. You cannot bad-
mouth, slander, gossip about, or denigrate another human being without ALSO doing
the same to King Jesus. Therefore, Christians MUST find new and healthy ways to
talk about the ISSUES you disagree with RATHER THAN the people we disagree
with. Talking about the PEOPLE we disagree with usually leads to sin. Talking
about the ISSUES can certainly lead to the sin of bad-mouthing them, but it leads to

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this FAR LESS than talking about the person. Regardless, our esteem and respect
and honor and love for the PERSON as an image-bearer of God MUST guide and
guard what we say about them, as well as how we actually feel about them.

The Image of God is About How I FEEL Toward, THINK About, and
BEHAVE Toward Other People

This gets down to the "nitty-gritty" of this theology, doesn't it? This image-bearing
theology is connected to every human being outwardly AND inwardly. They are
marred but divine representations of God, both in body and in soul. Therefore, what
I say about them outwardly AND how I feel about them inwardly MUST take into
account these truths. If they are images of God physically and spiritually, inwardly
and outwardly, then I MUST inwardly think of them as such and outwardly treat them
as such. In other words, I'm leading a contradictory and hypocritical life if I only treat
them outwardly with respect and dignity, but inwardly judge, criticize, condemn or
think disparagingly toward them. That's just being nice on the outside, and almsot
EVERYONE does that. Rather, Christians are to think INWARDLY of every human
being in a way that is guided and guarded by the fact that they ARE...every second
of their lives...image-bearers of God Himself...no matter what they do that is
ncongruent with that fact. That's why we are called to LOVE one another. That's in
inward AND an outward reality. It's how I FEEL about them and toward them as well
as WHAT I do to them or for them.

Paul exhorts us for example, to not let ourselves be overcome with evil, but rather to
do the OPPOSITE. In Romans 12, his theology behind this exhortation teaches us
to,

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the
lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the
sight of all.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is
written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
20 To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him
something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Peter points us in the same direction. In the second chapter of his first letter he tells
believers to,

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 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak
against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the
day of visitation...
17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor...
21-23 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no
sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not
revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting
himself to him who judges justly.

And in the third chapter, he teaches them,

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender
heart, and a humble mind.
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for
to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
10 For "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his
tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their
prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

WHY Christians Behave and Think This Way

Why do we behave this way? Because we truly love everyone. That is why Peter
exhorted us in the first chapter of the same letter, "Having purified your souls by your
obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from
a pure heart..." (v. 22). This purity of heart excludes hypocrisy. It is a heart that
deeply and fervently loves every human being ever made, because they are made in
the image of God, just like we are...even though they may be marred, just like we
are.

Going back to Romans 12, this is why Paul explicitly and plainly and clearly says,
"Let your love be without hypocrisy" (v. 9). This is just as much about OUR inward
feeling and outward treatment of them as it is about their outward and inward needs.
We are to love them and honor, respect, and dignify them by meeting THEIR needs
outwardly AS WELL AS speaking to THEIR hearts and about their souls inwardly
with dignity. Parallel to that, WE are to serve them respect them outwardly, as well
as inwardly in OUR hearts. The physical likeness of the image of God within us
should meet the physical needs of the likeness of God in other people. And the
spiritual image of God within us should meet the spiritual needs of the image of God
in other people.

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In conclusion, this theology of the imago dei teaches us that NO Christian should
EVER ACT toward another person with disrespect and dishonor or hatred, nor
should they EVER FEEL any disrespect or dishonor or hatred toward another
person. Again am I NOT saying that Christians should just ignore everything they
see that is contrary to the image of God. What I AM saying is that Christians should
NOT wish on another person or treat another person with the kind of behavior,
words, or thoughts that WE would not want from God for OURSELVES! Give to
them what God gives to you...no matter who they are, or what they have done.
Jesus put it this way in Matthew 5:43-47.

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate
your enemy.'
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his
sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even
the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?
Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

A Pop Quiz to See if You REALLY Believe in the Image of God

Now let me test you on where you are at with all of this right now in your life. Let me
do so by throwing various names or titles out there. What I want YOU to do is to let
that name or title sit in your heart for a few seconds and then you examine how you
feel. These include "hot topics" by way of key words that are meant to incite
something inside of you, whether sinful or righteous.

o President Barak Obama

o President Bill Clinton
o President George H. W. Bush
o Senators or Congressmen
o Homosexuals
o Muslims
o Terrorists
o Rob Bell
o Brian McLaren
o Emergent Church
o Rush Limbaugh
o Sean Hannity

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 o Liberals
o Conservatives
o Univeralists
o Arminians
o Calvinists
o Your Boss
o Your Husband
o Your Children
o "That" Neighbor
o "That" Teacher
o "That" Policeman
o "That" Judge
o "That" Coworker

If you did NOT feel any sort of honor, respect, esteem or dignity toward the person or
groups I mentioned, then you do NOT view them as image-bearers of God. The
BEST way to check what you believe about another person is against how you FEEL
about that person. If you do not FEEL honor, respect, love, or dignity for that person,
then you do not believe they are made in the image of God, for that is what the very
image of God invokes in our minds, doesn't it? When we think of God we think
respect, honor, love and dignity. But when we think of certain people made in the
image of God, these feelings don't always come to mind, do they? So there's some
work to do, some praying to do, some repenting to do for ALL of us in how we
understand the image of God, and therefore with how we TREAT others and FEEL
about others.

Concluding Challenges

Let me leave three examples of what this looks like by way of a challenging close.
Each example centers on the issue of how you view your leaders, because that is an
issue we see often repeated in the Scriptures.

1. The first example comes from Paul's life and ministry, and it's found in
Acts 23. If your heart gets frustrated with a passage like Acts 23:5, then you
are not seeing your leaders first and foremost as image-bearers of God. Check
this out and see if you would respond like Paul.

1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, "Brothers, I have lived my
life before God in all good conscience up to this day."
2 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to
strike him on the mouth.

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 3 Then Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed
wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to
the law you order me to be struck?"
4 Those who stood by said, "Would you revile God's high priest?"
5 And Paul said, "I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it
is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'"

2. The second example comes from Stephen's life and ministry...the man
whose murderous execution was sanctioned by the previous man we just spoke
of, the Apostle Paul. From Acts 7:54 - 8:1 we read the following story.

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground
their teeth at him.
55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
56 And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God."
57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed
together at him.
58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses
laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit."
60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not
hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
8:1 And Saul approved of his execution.

3. The third example comes from the life of Jesus, who's example is the
most supreme of all. I shared two other examples of Him first, SO THAT you
would see that two ordinary human beings like Paul and Stephen are
essentially no different from you. They were image-bearers of Jesus, and so
are you. If THEY responded like Jesus, you can too. Here's how THE Image of
God, Jesus Christ, responded. Here is the spectacular display of THE Image of
God dealing with other image-bearers of God...who were at that very moment
persecuting and murdering Him. The story comes from Luke 23:32-43.

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with
him.
33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they
crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
34 And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
And they cast lots to divide his garments.

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 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him,
saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God,
his Chosen One!"
36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine
37 and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
38 There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you
not the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are
under the same sentence of condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds;
but this man has done nothing wrong."
42 And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43 And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in
Paradise."

When we think of those with whom we disagree, even they are persecuting us, what
do WE THINK of them? What do WE SAY to them? What do we SAY ABOUT
them? Does any of this look like Paul, or Stephen, or Jesus? Or does it look like
grumbling, complaing, slander, gossip, bad-mouthing, mudslinging, hatred,
bitterness, and resentment? I'll come in for a landing here with Paul's exhortation in
Ephesians 4 about our hearts and our mouths towards those with whom we
disagree.

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the
calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in
love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace...

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth
with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for
building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the
day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away
from you, along with all malice.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in
Christ forgave you.

The Gospel is GOOD News for Broken Image-Bearers

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In the end, the gospel of Jesus Christ is GOOD NEWS because it says that this
image of God in every marred and malfunctioning human being can be set aright.
Jesus came to die on the cross to meet the just demands of God against our
brokenness. Then, in His resurrection, He defeated and overcame sin and Satan
and death. All of this is GOOD NEWS because it preaches that ANYTHING and
EVERYTHING that has marred the image of God in us...anything and everything that
makes us malfunction as human beings...has been forgiven and taken away
because of the work of Jesus Christ. When a person believes that what Jesus has
done can be counted for them personally, they become a follower of Jesus. They
are "born again," regenerated, converted, and "saved."

 Being "born again" means that this second birth completely replaces and
repairs everything about their first birth.
 Being regenerated means that their "dead" souls have been resurrected,
leaving everything that marred them in the grave with Jesus.
 Being converted means that the marred and malfunctioning lifestyle they
experienced before is now changed and will continue to change.
 Being saved means that they've been rescued and delivered from every
marring feature of sin which kept them enslaved.

In short, the gospel is good news because it preaches that Jesus has come to
restore the image of God in every person who believes, regardless of who they are
or what they have done. This restoration is for EVERYONE. That is the good news.
Jesus experienced death for every person (Hebrews 2:9). This is not just good
news. It's GREAT news! It is the BEST news! We don't have to put up with
whatever is broken or marred or malfunctioning inside of us! Jesus has brought
repair, renewal, reconciliation and restoration to us.

What's ALSO good news, even GREATER news, is that we CAN forgivingly forbear
with what's broken and marred and malfunctioning in OTHER people. We CAN
experience inner peace and comfort within our hearts DESPITE whatever
disagreements we have with others. We can LIVE like this because we know that
we are right with God and that nothing can change that...not even the greatest
disagreement or conflict we have. And we can live like this because we know that
GOD is powerful enough to change and transform the other person, just like He has
done to you. OR, God is powerful enough to change and transform YOU, so that
you come to see the OTHER person's point of view, and perhaps repent from your
arrogance and pride!

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But all of this ONLY works for those who BELIEVE it. If you continue to live in your
current state of life and ride the tornado of devolution, you will eventually have few if
any friends. And the friends who DO agree with NOW will eventually disagree with
you later, since the only grounds of friendship you have is your current, temporary
agreement and not Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ, and what He has done for
BOTH of you, is NOT the foundation for your relationships, those relationships will
fail and descend into bitterness, hatred, separation, and division...and eventually,
loneliness.

Jesus has come to deliver every human being from this lifestyle of eventual
loneliness. He is calling you and I into a community of unconditional love and care
and respect and honor and service to one another. That community is built on the
restored image of God in Jesus Christ, instead of on mere agreement with
information. There are few pieces of information on which we HAVE to agree to
have REAL community. Yet there are NO pieces of information which prevent me
from honoring, respecting, loving and dignifying EVERY human being, regardless of
who they are, what they believe, what they say, or what they do. This is the good
news which the gospel brings to the image of God BECAUSE of THE Image of God
in Jesus Christ.

Footnotes:

(1) Numbers 33:52, molten images to be destroyed; 1 Samuel 6:5, images of your tumors and images
of your mice; 2 Chronicles 23:17 and 2 Kings 11:18, images of Baal; Ezekiel 7:20, abominable images
made of ornaments; Ezekiel 16:17, images of men made of gold and silver; Ezekiel 23:14, images of
Chaldeans portrayed in vermillion on a wall; Amos 5:25, images of other gods and kings; Daniel 2:31-
35, the image made of five substances; Daniel 3 (twelve times), the image sixty cubits high and sixty
cubits wide. John Piper, "The Image of God: An Approach from Biblical and Systematic Theology"
(Source: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-image-of-god).

(2) Ibid.

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(3) The usages of demut which are synonymous with selem are found in Isaiah 40:18, "what likeness
will you compare with God"; 2 Kings 16:10, "the model of the altar"; 2 Chronicles 4:3, "in the furnishing
of the temple there were figures of gourds"; Ezekiel 10:1, "the likeness of a throne." The usage of
demut that is different is found in Ezekiel 10:10, "as for their appearance, the four had the same
likeness."

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