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The Image of God as Community

The last two weeks we have examined two different views on what it means that we are made in the Image of God. The first was the functional view, that it means our vocation and calling in the world. The second is the structural view, that it means our very design as both physical and spiritual beings. This week we will look at the communal view, which holds that what it means to be made in God's Image is the fact that we were made for community.

First we must remember that God is Trinity. God is an eternal community of self-giving love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There was never a time when this was not true, nor will there ever be one. The fundamental truth about God is the Trinity.

This view takes this into consideration and views the Image of God as meaning communal. After all, God himself declared that it "was not good for man to be alone" in Genesis 2:18. Since God is community and we are made in his Image, then we too must be made for community. We see this throughout scripture as community is a foundational aspect of God's plan for humanity.

We were made to love and be loved by others, to know and be known. We naturally group ourselves into family units, tribes, nations, and friend groups. It is this unique communal nature of human beings, communion by choice and pleasure and not merely necessity, that makes us made in the Image of God. God himself is the author of families, nations, and of course the Church.

Even those who live out lives of celibacy and singleness (something viewed very highly in scripture) are called to do so for the sake of a larger community. We see this most clearly in Jesus, the perfect Image of God. In him we see most clearly a life lived selflessly for others and for God. Sinning, then, is a violation of community and a failure to truly consider others ahead of ourselves.

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