The Nature of Being and Our Identity

Our identity as human beings is to be celebrated! From a biblical point of view being human is an existence that God not only fathered but took great pleasure in creating. To think that God the Father takes pleasure in who we are; that we are his children and that His rescue plan is to recover our humanity and establish a new humanity in Christ is not only overwhelming but so encouraging.

We were challenged this past class to put this biblical value of humanity to the test. Not only was it interesting but so necessary. As a faith community we have for far too long segregated ourselves in our own communities and haven't thought long and hard about what it means to engage others in terms of living out the biblical value that all people matter in God's eyes. One of the big questions in this course is "Do we matter?" The logical subsequent question is "Do others matter?" Focusing on the marginalized in our society and examining our own views and prejudices by using Miroslav Volf's steps to inverting perspectives - to see if we really do understand those on the sidelines of society - reveals whether we just simply give mental assent to the value of humanity or act upon our belief by trusting that this is certainly true.

Do we trust in the power of the character of God's love so that we live it out in our character toward others? This I believe is where the "rubber meets the road" in terms of our faith and belief as individuals and as a faith community. We were reminded that such acceptance and affirmation of others demands a vulnerability that we are not so willing to offer. Maybe our insecurities and fears are preventing us from being vulnerable, but whatever it may be, we need to continue challengng each other concerning what is the true extent of Jesus' love in our community.

A good passage to review along these lines is John chapter 13 where John explains that "Jesus showed the extent of his love" to his disciples by the act of washing their feet - a very vulnerable and humbling action on the part of the Son of God toward those in his life. When we think of the characters present that day we understand that his love goes the distance in conveying acceptance and affirmation - even to one who would betray him several hours later. He goes on and tells his disciples that they will do "greater things" than even he has done because he goes to the Father. The essence of this in application to our lives is that because Christ is "in" us we then have the opportunity to build up the humanity of all we come in contact with on a daily basis. Jesus was not afraid of reaching out to the marginalized of his society and letting them know that there is acceptance and affirmation. What a calling and what a challenge he has passed on to us and what a privilege to be able to be that kind of community for our world today.

I wonder if there is something tangible we can do in the next days and weeks that takes us out of our comfort zone and pushes us towards affirmation and acceptance of others? I challenge us to push ourselves to more vulnerability in this sense knowing that Christ is with us and His Spirit will help us and that he has given us the opportunity to bring value to others by loving them.

Resources:

I have attached the powerpoint from last class On the Nature and Relation of Being