Cultivators of Dignity

Our greatest call is to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbor as our self...the two are inseparable. Our lives should reflect and impart to others that they are intricately made in the image of the Creator...they are of worth because they are image bearers of God.

Our history of humanity has been plagued by severe lapses in our God given command. Out of our xenophobia we have turned to defending "self" and terrorizing the "other". The benefit of this exchange has been (and always will be) "self" (identity is protected, safety guarded), at the expense of the "other" (now entrenched in worthlessness and fear). This is a win-lose scenario (win for "self", lose for "other").

This "win", however, is short sighted. True wholeness comes not when one person, or a particular people group are lifted up over and against another, but when all people stand in solidarity with one another. Our distinctive as kingdom people is not compatible with the self preservation model of our culture. The metaphors our Savior gives us (take up your cross, wash one another's feet, save his life will lose it) point us in a direction of selflessness, service, and sacrifice.

This is "our" call; all of us. In the hope that in it and through it, identity, worth, and dignity would be found for all people.