City Life Starter

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1: 27.

The purpose of creating humans is to replicate the image of God. Humans were created by God in His own image, God’s own reflection! Do we really see God’s image on a fellow human being? If we don’t, I think it’s not because of the absence of His image but because of the absence of light or our eyes don’t see as God intended us to see. Once we understand that all of us are Children of God, our differences will disappear. If we take God away then we will start to see and measure using human criteria which inevitably leads to prejudice, discrimination, and conflict. God just created one human race. It was done perfectly in His own image.

Sadly, some sort of racism is pervasive even inside the church. It’s not new when we see the historical context right from the time of Christ. Jesus had to break the prejudice, confront the biased and outmaneuver the oppressors. He forced people to think and move beyond the comfort levels and challenged convention. One such discriminated group of people who lived during the time of Jesus were the Samaritans. ‘Pious’ people of that day would not even dare to say their names. We see that Jesus often transcended history and geography to meet and share the good news although his disciples were not thrilled about it.      

Often, we project grudge and our anger on someone due to perceived associations and try to take on people. This is one of the major issues with today’s identity politics. We tend to see ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ on every facet of thought. This is not only erroneous but also tragic and sinful.  They oppressed us for many years and now we want to oppress them. This kind of eye for an eye response will only lead to a blind kingdom. God does not want us to ignore the obvious but wants us to engage the issues on a higher plane. That’s what Jesus did. Healing comes by treating the wound and not by creating more wounds.

We need Christ to bridge the gap. Without forgiveness and reconciliation, there is no path forward. Recognizing the fact that we are all fallen, and our sinful nature makes us do sinful things and we need a savior to get us out of this vicious cycle. Christ stands unique and is willing and able to help us. He has shown the way, Jesus taught it and lived it. That’s what he did when he engaged with the Samaritan woman. He forced the religious people to consider a Samaritan as their neighbor. He even had an ex-tax collector and a zealot in his team. All ethnicities are equally sacred, and Christ died for all. Whether we like or not Christ has space for all. He loved even his enemies and we have trouble loving our neighbors. If we focus on Christ all our differences will melt away and we will wipe each other’s tears.  

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Help me today to move out of my comfort zone and love someone who is different than I am. Help me to see your image in others even if I don’t feel like. Help me to respond in love and not hate. Help me to look beyond color, culture, and ethnicity. Help me to move beyond man established boundaries and show your love knowing that we are all created in your image. In Jesus Name. Amen.