human dignity

In the novel “Bleak House,” Charles Dickens introduces us to Harold Skimpole, a man who seems charming and reasonable but is quickly revealed to be a mooch and a parasite. Skimpole lives comfortably off of his friends. Even worse, he believes he’s entitled to the standard of living his friends provide, giving no thought at all to what it took to make his life comfortable in the first place.

But then in 1997, Steven Pinker, one of the leading lights of what’s known as “evolutionary psychology,” published a piece in the New York Times that argued for the “naturalness” of infanticide. While not denying that under modern conditions, “Killing a baby is an immoral act,” it was a kind of triage for our not-so-distant relatives to separate those likely to survive from those unlikely to survive.

I believe the Christian story gives us the richest, fullest expression of what it means to be human.

Daniel Darling released his newest book today titled, “The Dignity Revolution: Reclaiming God’s Rich Vision for Humanity.”

The start of a new year is usually brimming with resolutions as to how we want to improve ourselves. Perhaps you desire to eat fewer carbs, spend less time at the office, spend more time at the gym, read more biographies, or take on a new hobby. While these are all worthy goals, as citizens of heaven, I think we should resolve to improve our pursuit of God’s kingdom on earth.

For the believer, our highest priority is to seek the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33). As we do this, our values will begin to reflect God’s values. Russell Moore says in Onward, “The kingdom tells us what matters and who matters, and that the criteria for that is sharply different from the social Darwinist values of success, power, utility, or strength.”

Valuing the vulnerable

God values the vulnerable, and one of the ways we can be more like him is to care for the vulnerable ones around us. We were all vulnerable in our inability to save ourselves from God's wrath. But God didn’t abandon us in our vulnerability; he had compassion for us. He sent his son. In the book, You Can Change, Tim Chester says, “Jesus was God getting involved with us.”

God values the vulnerable, and one of the ways we can be more like him is to care for the vulnerable ones around us.

God is with us. He is Immanuel (Matt. 1:23) and is characterized by his compassion for us. As his image bearers (Gen. 1:27), we must be known by our compassion, too. Are we not ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20), representing him and his kingdom on earth? So, in response to the grace shown to us by our father, I pray we would get involved in the lives of the vulnerable as we seek to proclaim God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Here are a few ways to help the vulnerable.

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