Diversity Whys #1- Humanity is Sacred
By Belkis Lehmann in Diversity
“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.'”
-Genesis 1:26-27“From one man he made all the nations…”
-Acts 17:26“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
-Revelation 7:9
Why am I so passionate about diversity? There are many reasons, but the first and most important is, “humanity is sacred.” Sacred means connected with God … and so deserving veneration. Humanity is connected to God because God created us. All of it! All peoples, from all nations! What is more he created us “in His image.”
The sacredness of humanity is what makes it wrong to treat one person differently from another, to value one ethnic group over another. In the Christian, Biblical worldview anything but veneration of human beings is totally and utterly excluded. (Notice I said, veneration, not worship.) It is completely impossible to call oneself a Christian and hold any type of view that values different groups of people differently, not to say this has not happened through out our history. It has, and it is one of the worst stains on our Christian history.
Another important point to notice from the Acts 17:26 verse, is that all nations have come from one man, namely Adam. Yes, there have been some foolish thoughts over the years (and yes, there are still, believe it or not, people in the church today who still hold on to these foolish thoughts) who think Adam and Eve were blond, blue-eyed Europeans and have no clue were the rest of us came from. But both the Bible and genetics are in complete agreement here. Skin color is literally only skin deep.
There is only one race, the human race. Now that does not mean that there are not racial issues in our country and our world. (Racial being a way we group like-looking people). But, we are one humanity. One creation made in God’s image and created for his glory. How does it all work out? How could one couple produce the diversity of people we have today? Well, it’s not difficult is it? My parents were not from two countries and two “races” and yet my siblings and I are quite diverse. If Adam and Eve were a mixed race couple their offspring as it intermarried with each other would produce all sorts of diversity. Nuff said on that. There are better articles out there on all this science stuff; check out our resource page for more on this subject.
The Biblical witness to the sacredness of human beings is very clear. It is clear we are made in God’s image. It is clear that we are descended from one man. It is clear that our ethnicity is so sacred to God, that it is eternal. Notice that when John saw the Great Multitude before the throne he recognized each person’s unique nation, tribe, people, and language. Wow, how cool is that? When we stand before God’s throne, we are going to be standing there with a multitude of diverse people, just like us.
All views expressed on this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, U.S.A., U.S. Missions, and The General Council of the Assemblies of God.