Soong-Chan Rah, professor at North Park Theological Seminary, writes about how the direct connection between loving God and loving people–all people–has been twisted by the “racialization of the image of God”:
“Every human is made in the image of God. Racism declares, explicitly or implicitly, that the full expression of this image is found only in certain races. Racism thus usurps God’s rightful position in creation. The main expression of racism in the United States is the theological distortion that elevates whiteness to a privileged position over other races. This racializes the image of God and links God’s image to whiteness. Whiteness becomes universalized–the embodiment of all that is good, true and honorable. The racialization of the image of God–robbing some humans of their status as created in God’s image–is a key factor in defining racism as a sin.”
This, Rah, concludes is what has tragically led to a doctrine, the image of God, being twisted from something intended to elevate the worth and value of all humans to something used instead to elevate the worth and value of only some humans. It is as ludicrous as the Father’s Day card made years ago by my daughter Jordan behaving as if it were superior to the clay bowl made years ago by my son Jacob. Both are visible manifestations of the two children whom I love. And because I love my children, I love their creations–equally.
It’s clear that, biblically, one of the primary ways of recovering a love aimed at all humans made by God is to also recover a love aimed at the God who made all humans. There is a method to Jesus’ message where the first commandment is a call to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength and the second commandment is a call to love neighbor as we love ourselves. The first naturally and lavishly leads to the second. Increase the former and you will, by extension, increase the latter. In addition, a failure in the second derives disturbingly from an undeniable cause: a failure in the first. Find a church or a Christian who loves a person of color less than a white counterpart and you’ll find a church or a Christian who does not love God. This is the hard truth of John’s teaching that the one who does not love his brother does not love God (1 Jn. 4:20). The way forward, at least in part, is to redouble our focus on loving the Creator, believing that this will, in turn, empower our capacity to redouble our focus on loving all of his creations.
