Image Bearers

Ten years ago when I was first asked to teach art classes at the Freedom School, I re-opened some ongoing contemplation in my brain about the nature of being both Christian and Artistic.  I wanted to clarify the many thoughts I have had on the subject into a context that could be communicated to young children.   Since then I have begun every year of teaching by reading the account in Genesis of how God created the world, and how he created mankind in his own image. 

"Because we are made to look like ( bear the image of ) our Creator, we are creators too," I tell the students.  "We don't all create in the same way, but we all Create.  Some people create by being artists, some people create by being musicians, some people create with words and are story writers or poets, some people create with numbers and are mathematicians,  some people create order out of chaos and have neat homes (not me), some people create new hairstyles, and some people create by cooking yummy food."

Meanwhile, at Harambee, ( http://restorestlouis.org/harambee/index.asp ) my husband and other staff members also teach the youth who participate that they are image bearers of God.  They point out to them that even God worked, and that when they work, it is one way of reflecting the nature of God.  They teach them that because they are made by God in his own image, they have worth, dignity, and something to offer to others.  

Of course, the list of the many ways we as humans, and more particularly as Christians, are image bearers of God, could go on at great length.  When I look around at church and see the many cultural heritages that are represented - people from every inhabited continent- I marvel at both God's creativity, and the subsequent creativity of the people he made.   I love talking to new friends and leaning about the unique characteristics of their cultures.    At the same time, I am always impressed by the ways that we are all the same.

For example, little boys of every culture like to show me their mighty muscles.  They draw pictures of super heroes and space aliens in class.  They try to gross-out the little girls.  Little girls give me pictures of flowers and hearts.  I'm not saying that there are no cross gender similarities,  but, in some ways , all little girls are alike, and all little boys are alike.  To take it even further, all grown girls, and all grown boys also are alike.  Maybe it is because if you go far enough back in our genetic history, we all are descendants of the same two people ( whom, incidentally, probably shared identical DNA, since Eve was made from the body of Adam ... just something to think about), or maybe we are the same because each one of us is made in the Image of God.