Always Dignity

Dignity. Always dignity. 
-Don Lockwood

My most embarrassing moment (out of the many I’ve had) happened on my high school senior trip. We were on our way to Washington, DC, and stopped at a rest stop to go to the bathroom and stretch our legs.

I was an awkward High School student who tried too hard to be fun and funny. I also tried too hard to be athletic and cool. I was none of those things. Mainly because I tried too hard to be fun, funny, athletic, and cool. I hadn’t relaxed and figured out what I really liked, how God had built me as a unique person.

So, in trying too hard to be fun and funny, athletic and cool, I raced to the front of the bus to be first off, to swing from the top of the door frame, and do a 360 out of the door.

I failed to look down before I attempted this feat.

Right outside the door, just on the other side of the curb, was a steep decline of about 20’ that led to a walking trail and a wooded area. So where I expected my feet to land, where I would have executed a flawless superhero pose, was nothing but air.

I rolled down the 20’ hill, was deeply scratched by a stick on my hip on the way down, and came to a stop in a patch of poison ivy.

Instead of acknowledging my pain and humiliation, I struck the “I totally meant to do that” pose of an Olympic gymnast, then ran off into the woods to see how badly I was hurt. For the rest of the week, I had poison ivy right and a gash under my belt line, and every step was excruciating.

And I told NO ONE.

I still have a scar from that incident.

I think most of us feel the opposite of dignity is embarrassment. Or maybe shame. I was undoubtedly undignified in the moment as I was flailing down that hill.

But if we think of dignity as the sense of identity, purpose, and self-respect that flows from the fact that we bear the Image of God in each one of us, then the opposite of dignity becomes anything that diminishes or shames or oppresses that Image in a person.

Yes, sometimes we bring shame and embarrassment to ourselves, but we often fail to recognize the Image of God in other humans.

Every human being who has ever lived bears the Image of God and is thus worthy of being treated with dignity and respect.

We often justify our disrespect or indignity by parroting some nonsense about how people prefer to be with their kind, or that certain people are too much of a drain on their families or society, or that because of some action that person did we are then justified in responding in ways that violate their dignity.

If every human bears the Image of God, then it matters how we treat EVERY person.

If every human bears the Image of God, then people who suffer indignities and oppression deserve justice.

Suppose every human bears the Image of God. In that case, Ethnicity, economic status, and other external defining characteristics are part of a beautiful Mosaic that gives us a picture of who God is.

Instead of self-justification, the Christian response is to repent, lament the fact that the Image is violated all around us, and work to restore those who have been oppressed.