Not Made in China

“First, the original goodness of creation implies that all of it, including any human being we meet, is potentially redeemable. Just as a banged-up, badly repaired, out-of-tune Stradivarius violin would still be unmistakable to a trained eye and ear, so everything made by God retains at least some part of its goodness and promise. It has come for the shop of a master.”

Everyday I’m challenged with the truth of our human identity before God. The truth is that I am a created being made in the image of the Holy God, called to live for eternity with Him with some fantastic ruling and authority perks. When we compare our destiny in Heaven to our lives here on Earth, you would think that we would work towards making the finest preparations possible to smooth our transition to the infinite. However this is not the case for I find that I’m constantly distracted, led on, tempted, and even apathetic towards the truths of who I am called to be in the Heavenly context. On the contrary I place a much heavier emphasis on attaching myself to the worldly ways of thinking.

Now I’m not talking about the things which actually do require a reasonable level of attention, such as receiving education in the C.S Lewis sense, building strong and meaningful relationships with people, and I don’t know, hygiene. I’m talking specifically in the context of how I treat others. Do I sincerely treat, behave, and love other individuals as immortal beings created in the good image of God or do I think them otherwise? I ought to respect and appreciate others, yet every critical judgment, roll of the eye, and disregard contradicts what the Bible reveals not just on our true identity but also of how we need to relate to our neighbors. Jesus called us to love our neighbors as ourselves as one of the greatest commandments to obey. This means to treat them as they ought to be treated as God’s good creation, with love, grace, and an attitude of humility.

I’ve been challenged for I don’t think that every gesture, tone of voice, thought, nor opinion that I have is shrouded in integrity towards other people. I often like to think that I’m doing pretty good, however I don’t believe this is an area where you should ever feel like you’ve done enough. Rather, the charge to love our neighbors as ourselves is a lifetime process of growth until we actually do reach Heaven and truly treat and love each other as we ought to.

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror or a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one of other of the destinations. There no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

C.S.Lewis