On Bearing Christ's Image in a Suffering World
With only fifteen minutes to get from Downtown to Buckhead in afternoon traffic, I impatiently sighed as the light turned red. Annoyed, I looked out the window and straight into his old, worn eyes. On a scratch piece of paper he had scribbled the words, “Homeless. Hungry. Please help.” I had no food or cash on me, so I smiled weakly and mouthed the words, “I’m so sorry.”
The light turned green as it does and I was on my way once again…to go sign the papers for my new house.
I did not make it to the next block before the tears burst from my eyes. His eyes haunted me as reality hit: I am purchasing a home and he does not have a place to stay.
I hope that I have been very transparent in the fact that William and I have done nothing extraordinary to be able to afford a house, have our jobs, and earn our degrees. We owe our ability to work hard now to those who have worked hard and supported us our entire lives. We are ridiculously fortunate to have the parents and support systems we do, but we also acknowledge we do not deserve them. So why then are we so fortunate and yet, privilege is withheld from others? That seems counterintuitive to what I know about the Creator and God’s desires for this world.
So then why…why is there such depravity and disparity in our midst?
As I prayed this in rush hour traffic, I felt the need to confess my own sins to God.
The thing is, we have purchased The Purple House so that we can be a light in the face of disparity. We are mapping out our daily lives with intention so that we can be kind to others, welcome them in, and share our stories of grace.
But we haven’t always been intentional. We do not always love our neighbor as ourselves. And yes, yes there is grace for that, but there is also consequence. And most of the time, it is not us, the privileged, who face the consequences of our selfish desires and putting self first. The repercussions of our actions ripple down to the “least of these.” Then, because it is not on our horizon, we forgot or dismiss or diminish.
The truth is, despair is counterintuitive to God’s character and design for the world.
God is clear in Scriptures about how Christians should interact with the poor, homeless, and the destitute. God is also clear on how we, who have more, should rearrange our priorities, laying our selfish ambitions aside to help our brothers and sisters who have less. We have the ultimate example of sacrificial love in Christ and a similar one in the early Church. I believe that if the Church universal was truly living as the Church Christ intended us to be—sharing our resources, advocating for our neighbors, loving the different and the outcast—the world would holistically be different. Political leaders and crisis aside, the world couldn’t help but be different because light overcomes darkness and love always prevails.
But as a whole, that’s not our current reality. Given the state of things, one can only conclude that the church is failing in her mission. And perhaps it is because we have handed over our commission and asked a government to do it for us, failing to remember God designed the Kingdom to come through the Church.
It is hard to hear that we are not doing a good job and some of you reading this may be offended. I believe you when you say your church has a great outreach program, I do. I work for and adore the Church. I know churches have mission programs, but they also have members who are to be missional people. People who spend 40 hours a week in the work force. People who interact at grocery stores and in traffic. People who have access to computer keys and social media. People who invest thousands of dollars a year in consumer sales. People who live and breath as the image bearers of God.
And my question for you and for me is, are we representing God well?
And no matter what your answer is, my next question is, “How can we do better?”
Because, oh, the world needs us to do better. At such a time as this, we need more images of God—of love, of justice, of kindness, of compassion, of over the top generosity (even to those who you believe don’t deserve it!), of grace, and of intentionality.
It takes intentionality to kindly stand up for your beliefs. It takes intentionality to be a positive leader at work. It takes intentionality to decide where you are going to spend your money. It takes intentionality to give more money to organizations who are doing good, kingdom work. It takes intentionality to invite a co-worker over for dinner when you know she’s having a hard time. It takes intentionality to walk you dog when the majority of your neighbors are out just so you can say hi and ask them about their days. It takes intentionality to structure your heart and actions to be others focused. It takes intentionality to face our fears driven by self-preservation and to choose to love, give, or serve anyway.
Every day when I leave my house, I am reminded that this world is cruel to people, people who have been created in the image of God. And as a Christian, I pray that I will continue to be reminded that I too, have been created in the image of God. And as an image bearer, my prayer is to represent God well.
