People are complex beings, and the church seems to be perplexed on how to deal with them. First of all, human beings are made in God's image. That doesn't mean that God made them perfect and that people are automatically holy. But I do think that is a misconception of many professing Christians. On the other hand, human beings are sinful people living in a fallen world, ruled by a Master Deceiver. No wonder the world is such a mess!
The way we understand people will manifest itself in how we treat others. In the world today, people are beaten down. The devil is constantly lying to us. Those who have come to Christ are targets for the Enemy of our souls. By the time we become adults, we are going to be on one of two ends of a value spectrum. We will either be so confident of ourselves, that we will be arrogant, or, we will think of ourselves as trash, and be discouraged in life. Neither view is correct, although in both, there is some element of truth.
The world tells us that the answer to our problems is that we need to have 'self-esteem'. Is this correct? What I think the world is possibly looking for, is the word, 'dignity'. Dignity is not the same as self-esteem. Dignity is respect for human life. Self-esteem is like wishful thinking about how high and important we really are (or believe we are). Self-esteem is rooted in pride. Dignity recognizes that people are made in God's image and to destroy God's image is to be taken very seriously. Self-esteem involves flattery, whereas dignity involves encouragement. Self-esteem is the world's answer for dignity, because it cannot see what dignity is. Dignity has to do with fearing God and respecting life.
The world teaches that man is the measure of all things. This basically means that man is at the top rank of any living being and gets to call the shots. We have seen what happens when cruel men reign. Dignity is destroyed. Manipulation is a tool that we use to get what we want. Left to himself, mankind would destroy itself.
In the book of James, he talks about favoring the rich person, while treating the poor with less respect. By default, I think we all would tend to do this. We put value on a person, not because he or she is created in God's image, but depending on how much money he or she makes. We ignore the poor and needy. Many even show contempt for the poor. But Jesus did not even bruise a broken reed. We should do the same. We should seek out those in Lo-debar. Loving the ones in Lo-debar by Keith Collins
Some things we can do to be proactive in this area are: Talking with children (but be careful and make sure you have a good relationship with the parents), reaching out to those of other nationalities or skin color, helping the homeless and needy (a good book on this is 'When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett) When Helping Hurts audio When Helping Hurts Paperback at Amazon
The reason I say that talking to children is important is simply because we don't even think to do it. We adults just communicate with adults. We don't have any need to talk to children. But children need to know they are loved and wanted. They also need to know that they aren't trash. They are human beings who will grow up with some kind of belief system based upon many things that happened in their childhood years. If they are ignored, they will sense that they are not important to society. But they will become part of the fabric of society as they grow up and get on with their lives. They need to know that God loves them and that people love them too.
I think of the many 'racial' issues we have in our country, and wonder if the root is possibly that some people really, deep down inside, don't believe that other people are as human as they are. Look at slavery. The slaves were thought of as less than human and many, though not all, were treated as such. Then we have the Holocaust. Obviously, Hitler did not think people of certain ethnic groups were of equal value to his. Darwin, in his book, 'Origin of Species' showed that black people were less developed than white people, and that women were less developed than men. Throughout the ages, in the Middle East, women were almost always treated with disrespect. They were considered 'lower' than men. In Islam, women have very few freedoms. But when Jesus came and interacted with people, He treated women with great respect. No one in that community respected women in that way.
So, underlying our thinking is this thought that some people are lower or lesser than others, but that is not what the Bible teaches. And bringing dignity to people does not mean that crime and other evil acts are not dealt with. If we respect our children, then we will discipline them. But we will love them through the discipline. If we show contempt for our children, we are harming them. If we manipulate them to get them to behave right, we are not helping them. We have to respect those who are weak, those who are needy, those who are physically handicapped, and children (as well as elderly people). We need to bring dignity, not self-esteem, back to the human race.
One last thought (actually I have many last thoughts, but I will write about them another time). in the book, 'When Helping Hurts' a mistake that we commonly make is to try to do for needy people, things that they can do for themselves. When we do that, we are stripping them of their dignity. There are times when we need to send help quickly, but there are other times when we just pass out money as if it were candy. The goal would be to help people when they are in a pinch, but also help them to get back onto their feet. The best way to restore someone's dignity who is in this position, is to give them a job. There is something really therapeutic when it comes to being hired, or serving someone at a workplace.
More on this subject later on.......
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