In the Image of God and by the Blood of Christ
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt
I’m sure we’re all familiar with this quote. I know I am as it’s been quoted to me a few times recently. But to be honest, I have yet to understand it. It is obvious that anyone who speaks English can understand the words used, but how on earth does someone give their consent to feel inferior? Does one take the time to ask the other person for their consent? And only continue with their condescending criticism once the consent is given? I know I have never willingly consented to feeling inferior; and in the same way, I’ve never been asked if I would be so kind as to allow another person to think little of me. It has been my understanding that if you feel inferior, it’s just because you do, for reasons unknown to mankind. End of story.
However, I have recently come to understand that as a Christian, I shouldn’t feel inferior to anyone – believer and unbeliever alike. 1 John 1:7 says:
But if we walk in the light, as he [Jesus] is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (ESV, emphasis added)
Whenever I thought I wasn’t good enough to converse with other believers, or befriend them, wasn’t because of anything I had, or hadn’t done. They were saved the same way I was – by grace. They are no better than me by their service rendered to the Lord, nor am I better than them by my worship given to Him, or vice versa. We are one in the Lord as God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11).
Just as I am equal with other Christians through Christ’s blood, I am equal with unbelievers through God’s image.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27, ESV)
We were all created in God’s image and we all fell. Not just some of us. Not just poor people, or curly red-heads, or illiterate people. All of us. The Image we were created in is our common ground. I have no right to discriminate against anyone. I have no right to choose to whom I’d like to witness. The Great Commission was to preach Christ everywhere to everyone.
Inferiority is not a case of low self-esteem. Inferiority is a case of selfishness; seeking superiority and self-glorification. It is a lack of love and compassion for our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as for the lost of the world. If I am to walk as Christ did, I need to fellowship with the Body in a way that is untainted by my own desires, and I need to witness to unbelievers without shame and fear of derision. May the grace of the Almighty enable me to do this!
Filed under: Christian Living, Fellowship
Very true. I was thinking the other day about my faith and how I “ranked” among other Christians and as I was thinking all this I had to stop myself. I am not inferior to any other Christians, not because of the past I may have or because I don’t pray for more than an hour a day… My weaknesses may be their strengths, but it’s a vice versa parallel I’m sure.
Thank you for posting this, it was a wonderful reminder of what I have been thinking about lately. :]
-Bee-