RECLAIMING THE IMAGO DEI THROUGH THE TURBULENT SEAS OF COVID-19 AND WHITE PRIVILEGE

BANGKOK FORUM PAPER | ENTRY 2 OF 4

This spiritual drive originates from the truth that all human beings are created in the image and the likeness of the Triune God. From the “community of producers” of God, each of us were created in the image and the likeness of God. The end of spiritual journey is to be in union with God (transformed into the likeness of God), thus fulfilling the vision of imago dei. The Gospel of John confirms the narrative this vision unlike any other book of the Bible, highlighted by Jesus’ prayer of union at Gethsemane.

What would happen if current and future missions endeavors (our participation in missio dei) were to be launched out of the imago dei? The so-called “Third World Missions” phenomenon started in 1970s (though there were earlier pockets of this phenomenon, the decade of 1970s is widely accepted to be the beginning of the movement) and thus within in our lifetime. Even the “global” colonization drive and craze is only one generation removed. My parents still remember living under the Japanese occupation. In U.S., it is uncovering and helpfully exposing the systemic stronghold of the white privilege and white supremacy mentality that has seeped into so many layers of the society ever since the founding days of the nation. White privilege is “a sociological concept referring to advantages that are taken for granted by whites and that cannot be similarly enjoyed by people of color in the same context,” writes Robin DiAngelo, in her book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People to Talk About Racism. Charles W. Mills in his book, The Racial Contract, defines white supremacy as “the unnamed political system that has made the modern world what it is today.” As I write this paper, U.S. is experiencing dozens of irenic protests and contentious outbursts of anger and mayhem all over the nation (and around the world), notably sparked by the latest incident of incidents--the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. His dying words, “I can’t breathe,” may have prophetic utterance on global societal consciousness as well as missional consciousness that is built on white privilege and supremacy.

The current impact of U.S.’s clumsy dealings with COVID 19 is aiding deglobalization, which is synonymous with dewesternization. The current missions endeavor is a milder or more sophisticated extension of the blatant western colonization which existed not too long ago.[1] In other words, no one would dare to admit publicly that the current missions effort is another form of westernization based on white privilege. To be sure, the Protestant missions effort was launched right from the colonial context of western dominance and privilege. I would be quick to affirm that we have made tremendous progress toward equality and integrity of the vision of imago dei—that all are created in God’s image and likeness and that no one is above or below, in or out, or with or without. Even then, there are subtle nuances and remnants of white or western privilege at work. At the same time, the flavor of the Church globally remains generally western, and sometimes the Church in the majority world remains more western than the West. It is a highly complex web of reality and thus I am not isolating western as simply the West.

[1] To be fair, I accept and understand that not everything in western colonialism was inherently bad. Even then, the colonialism in general promoted and maintained a belief and system of advantage based on race.