“So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27 (NLT)
You and I are created by God to “fill the earth and govern it.” (Genesis 1:28), yet, there are those today who believe humanity is basically idiotic and should be governed by machines, or, at least, by those who control the machines.
John Stonestreet gives us insight into this idea when he wrote: “C.S. Lewis saw this impulse decades ago and recognized how it would grant growing power to certain people over and above others. In his masterpiece The Abolition of Man, Lewis warned of those he called ‘conditioners,’ who considered themselves above such common human frailties. Of course, as Lewis pointed out, the conditioners are also human, but in denial that they too are vulnerable to the same frailties as everyone else.
Their danger lies in the fact that they are oblivious about their frailties, especially their moral frailties. It is good that humans have bodies that limit us to one location and the need for food, sleep, and friendship. These limits are part of our design. Because we are designed, we must be guided by values and not merely algorithms. It is good that we take time to learn, to appreciate beauty, to feel wonder, and to have burning questions about what is behind all that we see.
God made us this way, so that, eventually, our seeking would lead back to Him. Though He intends to redeem us from the ravages of sin, He never intends to optimize us into efficient machines. Apparently, He considers being human as something ‘good,’ even ‘very good.’ So much so, in fact, He took on flesh Himself. (Pixar’s) Wall-E got it (mostly) right. Technology is good but needs a telos—a purpose for existing. That purpose cannot be to replace, transcend, or circumvent God’s good design for human beings. In short, technology and public policy should be human-shaped, not the other way around. (See BreakPoint Humanity Isn’t a Problem to Solve // Myanmar Junta Persecutes Christians – 09-21-23)
It’s ironic on some levels that as a world society, the less like God we strive to be, the more inhumane we are to one another, and this obviously isn’t getting better. The longer we deny, not only God’s existence, but our need of Him, the more prone we become to be destructive, not only to ourselves, but in the way(s) we treat one another.
The mutilation of children, the annihilation of people groups, the intolerance of anything that even hints of God and the disdain of anyone naïve enough to believe He exists, is not only frightening, but the confirmation that God’s tolerance of our sin-bent nature is growing short.
If ever there was a time when God’s people should shine in the darkness and depravity of the world in which we live, it is now. Treat others, every other person, whether you deem them “worthy” or not, like you’d like to be treated. Speak to people with whom you have contact each day with respect and courtesy.
We’re not humanized “machines,” we’re people made in the image of God, created and designed to function as mini examples of who He is and what He’s like. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to so rule us that those with whom we have contact will catch a glimpse of the living God and, perhaps, gain insight in why they need to yield their lives and allegiance to Him.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 