Thursday, September 21, 2017

Understanding Humanity

Humanity isn’t something that we should rid ourselves of, but rather a powerful realization of the intent that God originally created us with.

I’ve been thinking a lot about humanity. What it is, and what it isn’t. It seems to me that the world describes humanity as simply the biological beings that we are. This completely removes God from the equation. Humanity, to them, is just us being the most intelligent beings on the planet — and even that point of view is being challenged by some scientists.

Within Christian culture, we say that humanity is defined as those who bear the image of Christ — but then we also speak of our humanity as an evil, terrible thing. Humanity, to us, is totally depraved. Something to rid ourselves us rather than to celebrate.

And while this point of view sounds appropriate and Biblical at first, I’m beginning to question it. I do believe that humanity is grounded in the fact that we bear the image of Christ. How then could it also be something that is filthy and unholy in God’s eyes?

I’ve come to realize that in the moments that I feel closest to God, or when I’m being obedient to the Holy Spirit in difficult things, or when I’m pouring out my life before the Lord — those are the moments when I feel “most human.” It’s when I’m hurting others, when I’m being disobedient to the Holy Spirit, and when I’m seeking my own glory — these are the moments when I feel “least human.”

I think humanity is found in the God who created us — and as we grow in His image, and are sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we are slowly becoming more human — more like God intended us to be originally. Rather than humanity being something that we seek to shed ourselves of (which sounds a whole lot like veiled neo-Gnosticism), perhaps humanity is something we should pursue.

This shift in perspective allows for a full realization of the fact that we, as humans, are image-bearers of Christ. In those that don’t know Christ, we can still catch glimpses of humanity — albeit, humanity that has not come to know its full potential to grow and flourish. Rather than humanity being something that we as Christians despise in those we disagree with, it becomes a common ground for us to grow together in.

The Bible, I believe, supports this; for example, we can see that sin leads us away from God, and therefore makes us less human:

“They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.“ - 2 Kings 17:15 HCSB

We can also see how Christianity (in recent ecclesiastical history, I might add) has adopted the idea that ridding ourselves of humanity is a good thing:

“But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” - Ephesians 4:20-24 ESV

However, I don’t read these verses to mean a complete removal of an 'old' identity, and then an acceptance of a brand 'new' one, however. What I think Paul means by “putting off” and “putting on” is much more akin to the act of unwrapping a gift — we take off the wrapping paper which merely entangles and obscures the actual present we were given.

This new way of thinking deeply impacts our Christian perceptions of the world. No one is without hope, for they always have a glimmer of humanity — the Imago Dei — within them, no matter how veiled. Humanity becomes something to celebrate as a gift that God has given, which informs our attitudes towards community, as well. Individualism starts to lose ground as we begin to realize that we can learn about our infinite God as we see His eternal glory reflected in the finite humanity of those around us. 

Also, rather than making us brand new — a process that suggests the utter destruction of the previous self — we see that God is RESTORING us through a process of reconciliation called sanctification. He isn’t giving up on His original creation; rather, He’s shaping us in a direction that is headed towards His original intent for us. I don’t believe that God thinks He made a mistake when original sin entered our world, or that we are unlovable in our humanity — rather, I believe that it is our humanity that is the reason why He sent Jesus to die. 

To Him, our humanity was worth saving.

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