Reclaiming the Imago Dei
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
John[1] had murdered his best friend, was convicted of that murder, served time, put on conditional parole, and was now in my office at a Christian residential facility seeking help as part of his early release deal. On paper he was being treated for substance use (please don’t ask how prisoners have substance use problems, that’s a different paper) and our six-month goals were sobriety, 12-Step participation, and employment, but John’s issues were much deeper, and his wounds were as fresh as the day he pulled the trigger.
John was lightly tatted and ‘street’ which meant he grew up in a place that was fought over and controlled by various gangs. His home life was street; troubled and unsafe; his drug use was learned and multi-generational. He wasn’t a formal gang member, because he and his friend Jimmy had learned how to navigate school and life around full membership. John had grown up with Jimmy; they were best friends; they did everything together.
Out partying late at night John and Jimmy got into a verbal altercation that quickly turned physical and poured out into the street. The brawl quickly turned violent, everyone was strapped, guns were drawn, shots fired, people scattered, Jimmy caught one from John’s gun, John ran to his friend, sat on the asphalt, pulled him into his arms and held him as he died in the middle of the streets where they grew up.
Tears poured from John’s eyes, and it was quite a while before he was able to speak, “How can I ever forgive myself; I hate myself and what I’ve done. It shoulda been me. Jimmy’s family has forgiven me, but I can’t. I just want it to end.”
God let me know that John wanted a new life but didn’t believe he deserved it, I had hope God and I could help and I just needed to give some to John. John believed his only path was a return to the street, join a gang, take and sell drugs, do crime, and embrace the violent or OD-related death that awaited him, it was the punishment he felt he deserved.
Buried under all the grief, guilt and shame, drug use and prison abuse, court orders and parole reviews, assessments and diagnosis; shined his Imago Dei; the image and likeness of God shimmered within him, and God helped me see it. My first job was to help John grieve, and grieve well everything he had lost or destroyed, and then begin the process of reclaiming the image of God that was his. With God’s grace the next steps would help him move toward Christlikeness (the Imago Christi[2]) as the best path to honor God and His plans and purposes for John’s life but that would take a little more work and tears and a lot more grace.
The Imago Dei Framework
God has created us to enjoy personal communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and with one another in them, to be hid with Christ in God[3]. God also created us within the created order exercise, in God's name, dominion, responsible stewardship of the created order. The world rather than being something random turns out to be where we interact with God and others in that endeavor.[4] My role is to help people grow in the knowledge that no matter what they have done they are God’s beloved child with meaning and purpose in this universe.
There are a host of techniques and practices (modalities of care), and philosophies about psychology (Grand Theories). These are mostly good things and can be tremendously helpful in caring for others, but what I have learned that is of utmost importance in helping people is helping them find their Imago Dei. To discover and wonder at how God has fearfully and wonderfully[5] made them and placed them exactly where they need to be to find and fulfill their godly purpose in union with Him and others.
Much of what I do as a Recovery Specialist involves helping people who are enslaved to something that isn’t God and not very good for them. I help them gain freedom from those idols by helping them reclaim their core identity, their Imago Dei. The best way for me to counsel people is from a place of confidence in their Imago Dei as a real and vibrant part of who they are that is often waiting to be seen and heard. Our Imago Dei is a core truth of who all of us are in God’s great universe. If we can begin to reclaim our Imago Dei the healing of our heart, mind, soul, strength, and relationships can begin in earnest and a quickening[6] can be discerned. This never goes smoothly and storms occur, it is definitely a ‘rinse and repeat’ process.
On their journey I help them discern, respect, and honor how God has uniquely knit[7] them together. Tools like Learning Styles, Intelligence Types, Personality Traits, skills, abilities, joys, goals, and aspirations and other things come together to show them God’s special care and attention in how they were made. This godly image is vital to address Satan’s attempts to belittle and ridicule us and the worlds tendency to cancel and condemn.
God seems to woo us back to our true self and rebirths us, re-parents us and gives us a re-beginning if you will. Out Imago Dei does not seem to be static it grows as we do. God gives us a place to stand and weather the difficulties of life. Sometimes we struggle with these notions of being precious and loved but we yearn for it to be more and more true.
We learn we are a gift that God imagined and planned for from before the foundations of the world existed. For many of us it might be the first time we have been called a gift. When things go well the Imago Dei is reclaimed and the yoke of life becomes much lighter and easier[8].
Within this Imago Dei framework, the tools and techniques of my craft make more sense, they appear to have a greater positive impact and interweave with the clients’ efforts at sobriety, recovery, and discipleship. The Imago Dei Framework helps direct and inform their spiritual formation by giving them an understanding of their purpose and the virtues aligned with how God made them.
[1] Real client but I have changed their name.
[2] Romans 8:29
[3] Colossians 3:3
[4] International Theological Commission, Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God
[5] Psalm 139:14
[6] The 1828 Webster Dictionary defines quickening to mean ‘To make alive in a spiritual sense’. Unfortunately, we do not have a modern equivalent and this is fun to say.
[7] Psalm 139:13
[8] Matthew 11:30