I want to strongly encourage everyone to read Charles Colson's recent article, "In His Image: The Roots of Social Justice." Colsons argues that the foundation for real social justice is a firm and correct understanding of the Imago Dei, the "image of God."Christians believe that everyone is made in the image of God and is thus, precious in God's sight. This image transcends all race, nationality, age, background, or experiences. All life is sacred. All life has worth. Every life has a purpose. It is this belief that has served as the launching pad that has led to the greatest social change in history.
Secularism misses this. Although many on the secular side cry and fight for social justice, they will never attain it. Colson writes:
Because we are created in the image of God, human life is sacred. We have value,
worth, and dignity. Science by itself doesn’t give us any basis for that view. So when a society loses its belief in God, it starts to believe that humans are only valuable based upon their “capacities”—and then you get views like those of Dr. Peter Singer of Princeton, who believes that some human lives have no value and deserve no protection.
This is an interesting point. By removing belief in God, the uniqueness and sacredness of life, all life, is removed with it. Although Singer's views seem extreme (such as the belief that infanticide is morally OK), it is easy to imagine that such views are not far away from being part of the cultural debate.
Just think about some of the discussions and debates we have. Secularist fight to end racism, but somehow rationalize the murder of unborn children. They fight for the end of sexism, and yet fail to defend the persecution and executions of Christians worldwide. Secularism is selective justice. Unless life is sacred because the Sacred has declared us sacred, then social justice will never be realized.
Virtually every major social justice movement in the West is rooted in Christianity. The abolition of slavery (although at first supported by many Christians, and non-believers I might add), it was Christians that stood up and fought for the freedom of slaves. Men like William Wilberforce in Great Britain and John Wesley in America found for abolition because of the doctrine of the imago dei. Likewise, beginning with Jesus and the apostles, the Christian worldview has had immense respect and dignity for women (although some have mistreated women, as have non-believers).
And it is primarily the Christian worldview that seeks the deliverance from legalized death sentences in abortion clinics. Why? Because from the moment of conception, all life is sacred. It is the battle over life where secularism and Christianity are dramatically divided. The Christian worldview considers life sacred whether just conceived or terminally ill. Secularism, on the other hand, is forced to see life as a commodity and as economically convenient.
Yes, Christians have their warts. Many lives have been shed and tragically taken as the result of a false understanding of the gospel and the Christian/Biblical worldview. That does not and cannot, however, overshadow the unique nature of the Christian worldview: life is sacred because the Sacred has declared it sacred. And if life is sacred, then it is worth protecting, defending, and dying for.
So sacred is life, made in the image of God, that the Sacred Himself took upon flesh and died for the bearers of His image. The cross is a constant reminder that life is sacred and worth the fight.
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For More:
Charles Colson - In His Image: The Roots of Social Justice
1 comments:
A slight mistake: John Wesley was also very much British, and apart from a short and unsuccessful period in Georgia, spent most of his time there, rather than America. Try again, maybe with someone like Charles Finney?
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