From the very first page of the Bible, Genesis 1, human beings are endowed with dignity and worth; they are created in the image of God, male and female, and then given power—and responsibility—“dominion” the Bible calls it.
Psalm 8 echoes the same sentiment of human creation and responsibility, “what are human beings? Yet you made them a little lower than God,and crowned them with glory and honor.” The Bible holds a very high view of human beings, our value, our promise and potential. Dignity, honor, and responsibility.
Yet , We live in a spiritual crisis society where social norms and policies including racism negate God’s given rights of the individual . Professor Cornell West calls it Nihilism. It is a state where individuals lose hope and there is a total absence of meaning and love .
Because it is a spiritual crisis , we need a spiritual conversion to address it . The church as the community of people of God should be instrumental of affirming the biblical centered worth value of every individual and people must understand that they are valuable and loved. We need a self affirming worth to mitigate nihilism.
Dr. Willy L Mafuta Pastor,
Hopewell United Methodist Church, Hopewell, NJ 08525