in the image of God, he created them.

male and female, he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

The image of God does not distinguish between male and female, ethnic or cultural background. The image of God gives dignity and worth to all human beings. When someone refers to another human being as “garbage” or “trash,” they are diminishing the image of God. It is wrong, it is immoral, it is blasphemy!

We need to respect and honor the image of God in our sisters and brothers regardless of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, or the color of their skin. When we attack a sister or brother based on an external quality or a political position we are attacking the image of God.

As a nation we should be better than that. We should know better than to allow that kind of political rhetoric to control our thinking. The image of God extends to all persons. There is nothing in the biblical text that indicates one person, or one race is superior to another.

The church should not attempt to control the political agenda. As individuals we have the obligation to vote our theological convictions, while at the same time acknowledging and living into Jefferson’s “wall of separation” between church and state. The church was never intended to control the political agenda. When questioned about taxes Jesus declared, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22:21, cf. Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25)

Jesus clearly understood there needed to be a distinction between the church and the political realities that govern our lives. We are called to serve Christ first and to live in the reality of the secular world. Romans 13 instructs Christians to pay taxes and obey the civil government. We are not however to dismiss the value of our sisters and brothers who bear the image of our creator.

The present political climate flies in the face of the biblical reality that ALL persons are created in the image of God. When someone attacks another calling them “garbage” or “trash” you can be assured that person does not represent God’s perspective.