7 Imago Dei Takes

Friday Takes! It’s what you get and no whining about it.
One
This is so funny. Truly, I am a Twitter lurker, and this is the kind of reward that make my social media life worth living. And you were wondering whether we should educate the women…Yes! Yes we should, because lots of them are on Twitter just saying all the things. Truly, moar and better education for everyone.

Two
I said as much over here at inAllthings. The other pieces in the series are better than mine, so you should click around and find them (they’re all at the bottom of the piece). And I hear a rumor that Tish herself will weigh in, thank goodness, because I was just throwing words at the wall waiting for her to show up.

Three
And here’s an interesting Twitter thread. It sets up what I’ve been saying for years, but in the opposite direction. You have to let the men be men, you can’t force them to be women, or in some sense you dehumanize them. But the same is true on the other hand, you have to let the women be women. If you try to overly define and cliché one side or the other you end up with ridiculously obtuse definitions of gender.

I’m reading everything everywhere about the Imago Dei–the theological concept that we are created in the image of God, that the human person has worth and value because of God’s own work in creating that person. Words like dignity come into critical mass here.

In my own private thinking over the last decade, trying to make sense of the unsolvable divisions between men and women, I’ve considered more often the proposition of humanity itself. Sure, we are made in the image of God, but a lot of the time we don’t even want to believe in or acknowledge him. The question is, what is humanity at all? Can you be a human? Can you be a person? Can men be human And women be human? Can you talk to another person plainly and simply, setting aside for a while all the anxiety about sex, gender, and the idolatrous insecurity so foundationally apart of yourself? I mean, probably you can’t because none of us can. But a lot of times young people come trying to figure out how to sort out the idea of marriage, and they want to reflect biblical categories, and so they tie themselves into knots wondering how to be. When really, they could try looking the other person in the eye and saying, ‘What do you feel like eating for dinner?’

The idea of God’s image is so fascinating, though. We were made in the image of God. But we broke and destroyed and trampled on that image, and do every day–trying to rub it out, erase it, deface it. But God, who loves us even as we break and destroy the lovely creatures he makes, came to us, adopting our image, our humanity, joining us ever closer in himself to the Father.

It’s not about who is subordinate to who, or who is in charge, or who gets to speak or even be–that’s what we’re worried about, in our quest to be God. It’s really about Do we get to be together? Do we get to be with God? Do we get to be bound up in the Son? Forever? Do we get to struggle along together as people, being bound into the broken body of the Bride, waiting to be made whole and lovely?

You don’t go to a wedding wondering who will make all the decisions, who will be the greater oppressor. You go rejoicing that two separate people are united, tied closely together, joining what was broken apart back together.

The question about image is not What do I look like, who do I reflect or how am I to be? But rather, into whose face may I look forever? Whose eye do I catch? Whose understanding Word will I thrill to for eternity?*

Four
Oh! And this is so funny! Look, this strange woman thinks, in the name of Jesus or someone, she can stop the hurricane, but not on those islands that nobody cares about anyway.

I’ve been watching live streamed French news every morning, and I’ve been learning lots more about what’s going on in the world than by reading or watching anything else. Just ten minutes a day and I’m a cleverer person. Did you know, for instance, that some people have already died because of Hurricane Irma? But most of them don’t speak English so it’s fine.

Five
Sorry! My sarcasm is showing. I should pray instead of being sarcastic. Prayer is hard, though, and it basically feels like a worthless activity, at least in the moment when you’re doing it. Later, when you realize that God heard you, you feel like a dumb brick for not thinking of it sooner.

This is why, even though we are said to be made in the image of God, we are nevertheless more often than not likened to sheep, who are the dumbest bricks of the created order. And not that cute either.

Six
Oh, and here’s that video of the Irish people chasing the bat. I’m sure you’ll forgive their bad language because of their brilliant accent and comedic timing. This is the best thing on the internet this week.

Seven
Sorry! Didn’t mean to turn this into a glorified Links post. But you didn’t want me to saw on about homeschooling did you? I already did that and it was lame. Now I’m going to clean my house because one thing that’s impossible is schooling and cleaning at the same time. The people who profess to have a clean house and well educated children (at home) are surely lying to you. It’s like they’re not even human. They must, instead of being sheep, or people, be unicorns. Go read more Takes!

*Not knocking the ESS debate! Still wading through reams of fascinating reading.