i am having a very odd week. to follow up on my entry about "thawing out," that process increased tenfold in the past couple days. i heard from a couple old friends that fell away years ago. a strange happening indeed. i wonder why... i wonder what God is trying to tell me. updates to come.
on to part two of my discussion on the missional church now. if you recall yesterday i blogged a bit about how the missional church goes TO the people and does not expect them to come to us. recall the "lobster-trap" analogy of getting them in and then dropping the trap and making them accept Jesus. well, tonight i want to discuss briefly on the restoration of imago dei. the term imago dei is latin, meaning literally "the image of God." the imago dei describes the initial state of humanity prior to the fall in which man was created in God's image. sin entered the world and distorted that imago dei and the domino effect continued all the way up to today's world.... blah blah blah. if you want more on how the imago dei was perverted and evidence of that, i will be happy to go further on that. i am assuming, however, that my audience (or lack thereof) is well acquainted with the doctrine of fallen human nature. i want to focus here on something a little more positive, though. the missional church believes that the initial imago dei can indeed be restored to its prior glory. this belief looks at humanity in an optimistic "glass-half-full" light. viewing humanity in this way leads us down some very productive roads. first off, the missional church finds it easier to forgive. understanding that the imago dei can indeed be redeemed, the missional church chooses to see humanity as essentially good and having inherent value and worth. further, we recognize the ongoing restoration of the imago dei in our own lives as well. thus, we can more easily forgive the transgressions of others by choosing to look at the value of all humanity. second, belief in the restoration of imago dei brings more responsibility. i would like to borrow from the apostle paul on this note: "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Belief in the restoration of imago dei means constantly looking forward and taking responsibility for the state humankind is in. being missional means taking responsibility not only for the restoration of mankind in the kingdom of heaven but also seeking the restoration of that which God has entrusted to our care. society could possibly describe this in literal terms as "going green," but it means so much more than that. it means taking responsibility for our planet, our relationships, our habits and behaviors, etc etc and striving to see each of those individual systems in our lives be redeemed by God's holy hand. we choose to never embrace complacency, for complacency only results in failure.
choosing to embrace imago dei means a total shift in how you view others. for example, i saw the image of god today in:
matt's humor
sam's innocence
lindsay's smile
sara's love
scott's enthusiasm
ami's devotion
rob's laughter
dave's passion
patrick's new friends
andy's way of saying things
brittany's helpfulness
kelley's care for her friends
patty's love for her family
dan's self-knowledge
ben's concern for a friend
i truly believe in the inherent good of all God's people. this is missional thinking.
so today's topic was imago dei. i cannot guarantee when the next entry will come as i am visiting family in indiana for the upcoming weekend (and visiting family means no internet), but i can guarantee that the next time i write, i will touch on the missional church's understanding of another type of dei: missio dei.
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seeing as i did promise old embarassing poems, i must deliver:
8/1/05 (written while working in a general motors assembly plant for the summer, ironic given the current state of GM):
"beauty and the beast" or "blonde beauty" by: jeremy daniel bixler
from the moment i saw you, i was captivated.
in the midst of the darkness, you were illuminating.
your smile, exciting,
your face, electrifying.
you symbolized everything this place was not...
you, my Blonde Beauty.
in my mind's eye, i saw things to come
i caught a glimpse of a dream.
you and i were together.
you and i were happy.
all my doubts were washed away...
for i had you, my Blonde Beauty.
as i awoke from my stupor, i finally decided
the time was now..
i sucked in my breath,
gathered my thoughts,
prayed that God would look over me...
and approached you, my Blonde Beauty.
the bell sounded and break had arrived.
i cautiously drew near to the area
and saw what words could not describe...
my dream shattered and my heart collapsed,
for there, inhaling the filthy smoke
was you, my Blonde Beauty.
it's a shame to see such beauty wasted,
decisions made that change everything.
maybe my hopes were too high
or my heart too eager
but i will never forget the shock
of seeing my Blonde Beauty...
...devoured by the Beast.
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"there are no more tears. we've used them all so now we'll rely on our laughter and the faith that pain brings joy..."
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