Musing 23

One of the next principles that always weighs heavily on my mind is that of man’s nature as image bearer of God.

While sin has marred the display of that image in every aspect of man’s life, there is still a solemnity and value to man’s life. Hence why God requires justice for the shedding of blood.

The consequences of this are so wide-ranging that I think a whole book could be dedicated to that aspect of things. Because when we frame our societal interactions as relations between that of “those bearing the image of the sovereign creator”, the gravity of sin comes to the forefront.

No longer is wage theft (the most expensive form of theft in America) simply corporate greed that abuses the poor, it is a demonstration of idolatry and demeaning of images of the living God.

Murder is no longer just one animal killing another, but the unjust taking of life is now an action which even the earth itself demands an accounting.

And it puts the trend of dehumanizing those whom we disagree as fellow image bearers who may have a different solution to a problem, but are now a irreconcilable enemy.

To be clear, we live in an age where there is a side of the political spectrum that is more overtly rebellious against God’s prescribed will. And so we have many considerations in that interaction. But let’s also not delude ourselves - in America, none of our leaders at this point should be viewed as anything other than wolves in sheep’s clothing. The fruit of their behavior and the beliefs they publicaly profess alongside their profession of Christian beliefs should make that clear.

But first - for the Christian, the gospel concerns should override any other concern we have for our political opponents. For those in power we pray they may have wisdom for just rule (though we may disagree with their methods) and that we may have freedom to spread the gospel in peace. We should want to see Democrats come to Christ just as much as Republicans or independents.

And beyond that, we recognize that apart from thought processes being sanctified to think more like Jesus, we should expect unbelieving leaders to lead us in a direction that points us not towards God, but towards government, the free market, or some other entity as the true solution to our problems.

Secondly, we remember that no matter how severe the disagreements, the other person is still a fallen image bearer, and their status as image bearer gives them inalienable rights. As we see increasing political violence, it is becoming increasingly common even among professing Christians to refuse to treat the other side as image bearers. That we tolerate such sin in our midst should be to our shame. Yes, it is hard to love our enemies, but such is the gospel call. If we die in doing good to overcome evil, let us be martyred. Hard words, especially when I feel the weight of my responsibility towards my family, but that is still what Jesus calls us to do.

Finally, that we are all image bearers means that the dispensation of justice must be taken seriously. In a previous musing I noted that a useful way of framing things is by asking “where is the sin?” and the other side of that question is “how must justice be served?” The demonstration of justice in punishing evil and rewarding righteousness is a core issue in politics because our politics will be a reflection of the sense of right and wrong we have. One of the things that makes modern dialogue so different is that we have fundamentally different ideas about right and wrong because on one side, the Christians and almost-Christians in America have a heritage that comes from various explications of the 10 commandments. On the other side, the secularists and non-Christians are often in active rebellion to some commandments while clinging tightly to others (with interpretations of wildly varying validity).

But as we navigate this landscape of increasingly un-Christian landscape, let us remember that this is nothing new. The early Christians were an extreme minority for centuries in an outright hostile environment, with much less political sway than we have now. Let us use the blessings we’ve been given by God to do good in all spheres so that Christ’s gospel may spread.