"The indelible stamp of the Creator"

Dear friends,

One of my most-repeated themes when speaking about Side by Side is the belief that every person is created in God’s image. Last week we celebrated the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, for whom it was also a central belief. In one sermon, he expressed our theme beautifully in this way: each person is “etched with the indelible stamp of the creator.” For Dr. King, it meant that we are compelled to treat each person with dignity; our identity is bound up with that of our fellow human beings. The “indelible stamp” was the foundation for his vision for the beloved community, as it is for us.

We are at a moment that requires the same moral clarity and courage that Dr. King had. The ongoing conduct of our federal government against those on the margins and the people advocating for them is cruel and deeply un-Christ-like. I say that as a Christian and leader of a Christian community, not as a wannabe political expert. I know that we have various political perspectives and sources of information. This is my honest response to what I am seeing with my own eyes - the videos, the photos, and the first-hand testimonials. Dr. King was once visiting families in Mississippi, and when he saw that they didn’t even have shoes or blankets for a cold night, he said, “God does not like this.” Watching God’s children being treated with such cruelty by our own government, I have the same sentiment.

Stephen Miller, the president’s most influential advisor, recently said, “We live in a world that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world that have existed since the beginning of time.” I cannot imagine a more accurate way to describe the worldview of our current leadership, nor can I imagine a worldview more opposite than that of Jesus.

We believe that love is the law that has existed since the beginning of time, originating in God and fulfilled in Christ, who came as a servant instead of a strongman. For the sake of our neighbors, ourselves, and humanity, we desperately need to lean into that law of love right now. The law of love forbids us from seeing fellow human beings as “other,” no matter what.

I continue to believe that Side by Side is just the kind of community that the world needs. Let us, together, continue to see and stand up for that “indelible stamp of the Creator” in each and every person. 

Grace and Peace,

David