It has occurred to me over the course of my time spinning upon this oddly shaped ball, that one of the gravest mistakes in this life comes when we look at the things around us and only consider what they are made of and not what they are.
C.S. Lewis discussed this in “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”. In it, a star speaks with Eustace. And Eustace says something worthy of correction.
“In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.”
Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.”C.S. Lewis, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
In both worlds, a star was always more than a ball of gas. But Eustace had not seen this fact. I would argue that something akin to this is often seen in our world today. And it causes a lot of problems.
Neil deGrasse Tyson repeatedly says that we are star dust. man was made from the dust of the ground, so in an ultimate way I don’t have a problem with the sentiment. But I have a real problem with what he actually means by that.
We are not JUST dust. We are not JUST flesh and bone. We are not JUST walking bags of meat. And if you understand this, then a lot of our modern debates and discussions will make more sense.
I want to give a few examples of this. Many more could be discussed. But I’m not writing a book here.
The Abortion Debate
My children are walking meat bags with personalities. They can sometimes be a nuisance to deal with. I don’t like correcting them for the same things repeatedly. And if I only think of them with regard to what they are made of, then it is obvious enough that I will not see through that to what they really are. My children are human beings. They are more than meat bags. They are image bearers of God. They have been created in the image of God and because of that they have inestimable value.
Much of the abortion debate rests right here. If a person only sees what a child is made of, then they will believe that it’s okay to kill a walking meat bag due to it being an inconvenience to the mother. But the people that see through that and see that the child is created in the image of God find incredible horror at the thought of this act.
Downs Syndrome Testing
A very similar discussion takes place with regard to children with Downs Syndrome. If you are looking at what they are made of, then you will only see a walking meat bag with an extra problematic chromosome. This is a child that will cause many difficulties in the days ahead. For people that don’t see beyond what the child is made of, a decision is made to test in case they want to eliminate the child through an abortion.
But that is not what a downs syndrome child is. A downs syndrome child is an image bearer of God. They have incredible value and worth before God. And they should have that value before us. If you see through what these children are made of, and see what they are then you will see this testing and the results of it to be a pure horror.
Artificial Intelligence
Humans are not just animals that need to be fed. They are beings created in the image of God. They have been given a mandate
But if you see them as only animals, then you might be able to deceive yourself into thinking that as long as people supply something akin to a Universal Basic Income to people as jobs are taken over then everything will be okay. You might even think that this is a humane way to deal with job losses.
This may seem odd to say, but even now people are discussing whether or not AI and automation will eliminate so many jobs that Universal Basic Income becomes necessary. We’re far from sure anything like this would ever take place. But only a fool would think that handing people a check would fix the problem and not cause the the collapse of civilization.
Yes, people are walking meat bags that need food and shelter. But people are not just walking meat bags. Eliminating the necessity of work will also destroy humanity.
We Are More Than What We’re Made Of
Gods created us. And we are more than what can be seen about us. We are more than physical bodies.
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””
Genesis 1:26-28 ESV
We are created in the image of God. And we have a mandate to go forth, fill the earth, and subdue it.
Every study that I’ve ever seen on happiness reveals that married people with children and steady jobs are the happiest of people. Unmarried women tend to be unhappy. Women without children tend to be unhappy. Men without families tend to be unhappy. Men without jobs, without something to subdue tend to be unhappy.
Why is this the case?
If we were just walking meat bags then having freedom to do whatever we want should cause us to be happy. If living in the moment and doing whatever our hearts desires would bring happiness then those situations would do it.
But that’s not what we are. We’re more than our physical bodies.
You are far more than what a doctor could find out about you by dissecting you on an operating table. You are created in the image of God. And until you understand that, you won’t truly understand who you are. You will only know what you are made of.
R. Dwain Minor
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