Do
you ever struggle with self-image, identity, and a sense of dignity about who
you are as a person? We live in a
culture in which we are always “sizing each other up.” Here’s another quote for you from The Pastor as Minor Poet.
Pastor’s
never trust the self-image of anyone.
That’s because most people construct their identities from an assortment
of borrowed images. The typical American
today strives to be as attractive as the models on the fashion magazine covers,
as successful in work as Bill Gates, as sensitive a spouse and parent as Ward
and June Cleaver, and as death-defyingly healthy as Lance Armstrong – all while
maintaining the inner peace of the Dalai Lama.
The fact that these images are often in conflict with each other creates
tension within the heart of the individual, who tries desperately to meet all
of their demands.
Typically
the pastor is the only influence holding to the belief that life is a holy
creation that can be rightly known only in light of the image of God. As the old confession of faith states, “our
chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” We were marked by God, for God, and the
holiness of this image goes to the heart of our identity and mission in life.
Do
you think of yourself often as a unique person, created by God, marked by God,
made for God, and that you have value for who He has made you to be, without
regard to how you “size up” to others?
In listening to a lecture by Dallas Willard today I was struck by his
definition of the word “dignity”. He defines
it as “worth that has no substitute.” He goes on to say that most things have been given a value. If I want a cheese burger and you have one that you are willing to trade me for $3.00 then we know the value of the cheese burger. The reason that slavery is so heinous is that it places a monetary value on human persons. However, the human person is beyond any monetary value. There is nothing for which we can trade the human person that does not ultimately devalue, and remove the dignity, of the human person. We often sell our very selves for something of much less value than our self! Slavery is selling yourself for something of less value than
yourself. We lose our dignity when we
become slaves. When you sell yourself
for the image of what you think others want you to be you lose the dignity of
knowing who you are truly created to be… you lose yourself and, ultimately, gain nothing
real in return.
