Skip to main content

Categorising Humanness

Categorizing Humanness

When my grandfather was a prisoner-of-war, he was witness to incredible cruelty on the part of the captors. Since the prisoners were viewed as not being human, the captors felt free to treat them in anyway they wished. According to the captors, the prisoners were inferior creatures.


De-Humanizing

People being judged as inferior beings, is something that I have come across frequently when helping women. Sometimes husbands have told them that they are inferior simply because they are women. Children have been treated as inferior to their parents only because they are younger. Local people in a given town can treat people from other countries and cultures as inferior because they are different. Old people can suffer in this way as they are seen to be a burden to the economy. Disabled people are seen as lesser beings because they do not function as other people do. It is even questioned whether the old, the disabled, and the sick should continue to live because their existence is not like that of other people.



Dignified Image-Bearers

In each instance, the stronger group treats the weaker group in a bad way because they consider themselves to be better. But what does it mean to be human? Is there a difference in levels of humanness?
In Genesis 1:26-31, we read that God made the male and the female in his image. Both are equally his image-bearers. When Adam saw Eve in Genesis 2:23, he exclaimed that she was "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." In this way he recognized their similarity. If she was inferior to him, as the animals were, he would not see his similarity and likeness in Eve. 
In 1 Corinthians 11:7, Paul speaks about the difference between the male and the female. In this passage we read “For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.” In this verse, Paul did not teach that the woman is the image of man, nor that the woman is not the image of God. Paul gives two reasons why the woman is the man’s glory. The first reason is that she came from the man. Paul is referring back to Genesis 2:22, where we read that God created the woman from the man. The second reason is because she was created for the man. We know from Genesis 2 that she was created for the man to be his helper. Although men and women are different to each other, as seen in this passage, they are both made in the image of God and equal in worth as human beings and as Christians. 
Our nature as being made in the image of God is continued after the fall. In Genesis 9:6, we read that God made people in his image and in James 3:9, we are warned about cursing people who are made in his image.


Relating in Dignity

We have discovered that, according to God's design, all people are made in God's image. This means that all people are of equal worth in his sight. This affects how we view other people. No matter a person's age, gender, health, or race, all have equal worth and dignity since all are human beings who are made in God's image. 

Since what we think influences how we live and act, by seeing all people in this way, it will influence how we treat others. It is a call to treat all with dignity and respect. It is a call to reflect the character of God toward all people we relate to.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Midnight Mercies: Walking with God Through Depression in Motherhood

  Many Christians have gone through dark nights of the soul. They have clung onto the Lord and life in times of deep despair and sorrow in this fallen world. If they have believed that Christians should never be like this, their grief and sorrow is compounded. Midnight Mercies, by Christine Chappell, gives voice to the experience of despair. While being written for depressed mothers, the book will be helpful for anybody in such a dark place. Chappell looks at common experiences despairing people have, examines people from Scripture who went through the same, and points to helpful Scriptural truth. Chappell ends describing how experiencing the gracious Lord Jesus brought life and hope and transformed her view of herself and her situation. I highly recommend this book. The book is available  here

Someone I Know Is Grieving: Caring with Humility & Compassion by Ed Welch

  Ed Welch has written an excellent short book about how to care for others while they are grieving. In the book, he covers how to respond wisely with wisdom, with compassion, and with humility. In each section, he gives real life examples of how people have cared well and cared badly. Then he walks us through how to care well by asking the reader practical, reflective questions. This is an excellent short book, which I would highly recommend. The book can be purchased  here

Social Media Pressure: Finding Peace Alongside Jesus

  Probably all of us know people who struggle with anxiety and depression that is in some way related to their social media use. John Perritt, in   Social Media Pressure: Finding Peace Alongside Jesus is written as a response. He writes   about a number of ways in which people’s relationships, mental health, and perception of the world around them are affected by the way they use social media. Perritt gives advice about how people can gain more peace in their lives, how they can relate more thoughtfully, and how they can recognize when they are addicted. Social Media Pressure is a helpful book that gives some basic guidelines about using social media in a healthy way.