rambo

We recently viewed the final act in an epic of Hollywood films starring Rambo. Rambo is a man who needs no one. He is a hard man, embittered by years of combat. He is a hero, boldly rushing in to rescue the innocent when no one else is strong enough to overcome the enemy. Rambo is a warrior and he is good.

The enemy is not good. The enemy is portrayed screaming and yelling, killing and pillaging. The brutality of the enemy is boundless. As I watched images of soldiers, ripping the caps off of grenades and tossing them into nearby ponds, I wondered what they were trying to accomplish? There were no other soldiers nearby, there was no ongoing combat. There were only prisoners of war, hands bound behind their backs, starting at the ground and some crying with fear. The soldiers tossed the grenades and began shouting, motioning the prisoners to run, shooting into the air. The scene was chaotic, but it became clear that the soldiers’ purpose was to create terror and a sense of inferiority in their prisoners. Another purpose was simply to dispose of these people in an entertaining way. This was a game aimed at stealing their humanity, to turn them from image-bearers into animals.

Of course, Rambo liberates the imprisoned. As I watched the warrior charge forth, slaying the enemy soldiers and rescuing the innocent, I noticed that I felt no pity for the victims of Rambo’s wrath. These people seemed to have no compassion, no mercy and no love. They no longer seemed human. They no longer looked like image-bearers of God. A glimmer of understanding flickered through my mind, an “ah-ha” moment.

Every one of us is an image-bearer of God.
But we can choose to embrace that,
or we can give it away.

“…in the Scriptures, anything that’s anti-human is anti-God. Genesis begins with God creating the world and then creating people ‘in his own image.’…The writer of Genesis makes it clear that in all of creation there is something different about humans. They aren’t God, and they aren’t going to become God, but in some distinct, intentional way, something of God has been placed in them. We reflect what God is like and who God is. A divine spark resides in every single human being. Everybody, everywhere. Bearers of the divine image.”
Rob Bell, Sex God

“When Jesus talks about heaven and hell, they are first and foremost present realities that have serious implications for the future. Either can be invited to earth, right now, through our actions. It’s possible for heaven to invade earth. And it’s possible for hell to invade earth. A friend of mine talks honestly about how he spent years exploiting women for sex. He knew exactly what to say, how to act. He was a master at finding a woman who had a troubled relationship with her father and manipulating the situation for his pleasure. The first time he was telling me his story, he made a profound point that is true for all of us. He said that exploiting women for sex didn’t just rob them of their humanity, it robbed him as well. As the years went on, he found that he didn’t like what was happening to him. He was becoming less human in the process. He said he was becoming a monster.”
Rob Bell, Sex God