we were talking today in one of my classes about what it means for humans to be created in the image of God. classically, the Old Testament affirms that even after sin, humans still bear the image of God. people are told not to murder because that is taking the life of someone who was made in the image of God. in the New Testament, excluding a passage in James and one in 1 Corinthians, the image of God is found in Christ. and as we grow in maturity in our faith and our intimacy with Christ, we become more like him. the image of God grows in us. we are still taught in James and 1 Corinthians that all humans deserve dignity and respect because they were created in God's image. i dont really want to take an overlong time in discussing the theology behind it, but i think it can be summed up by saying that part of our job as the church is to help people rediscover their image.
one of the great opportunities we share is to start over. we can create our own community, set our own priorities and show people who they were created to be. this, i believe, should be one of the main priorities of the church, this is a key to evangelism. people are searching for identity, what makes them special, what sets them apart. as Christians, we believe God made each special, each unique, each with a wonderful and beautiful identity in his own image. as we work together to form this community, we must keep in mind that our fellow workers and those that exist outside of the church were made in God's image. we also must help share this wonderful message with the world. here is my question. what does this mean practically? how does this theology take shape in our lives and in the life of our church?
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so many times in church evangelism is basically telling others what to expect after life after death. So most people know that, but what they do not know is what does living life before death really look like. So i think that us as a church should help in doing that. What does our life with christ look like now instead of what will it look like later on. we focus way to much on the future instead of the now.I think i am just repeating myself. But to we need to see what is important to us as a church now who the people our that make up the church, the gifts they have, and then we need to show or ask them how they think they can use those gifts to best to glorify God. There has to be action taken.
those are really good points tanner. i think we are always caught up in the balance of the now and the not yet. we can only influence and shape the now, but the not yet is what we are hopeful for and to. i think you are completely right about action too, what are some ways that we can facilitate that as a churhc?
I think it is important that we make sure that people know that following Christ is always going to require us taking action. So we as the church need to be in action. Being a follower of Christ is not about sitting and learning and feeling good about ourselves all the time but it is about putting others before ourselves and loving the people that are hardest to love.
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