Somehow, the exclamation, "Don't blame me, I am only human!" has become a way of excusing ourselves for all sorts of things. For some reason we think if we can tell people, "I'm only human," they will give us a pat on the head and say back to us, "Don't worry. We understand. It's okay."
The trouble is, this is the exact opposite of what the Bible says about us and our problems. We are not who we are...and things are not the way they are... because we human, but rather because we are not human enough. Too many of our words and deeds occur because we are sub-human, and using our humanity as an attempted justification only makes things worse because it is a cover-up for what is really the case.
The Bible defines humanity in Genesis 1:26-28. We are made in the image of God, a quality of life the psalmist later describes in one translation as being just a little lower than the angels, and in another translation as being only slightly less than divine (Psalm 8:5). Humanity is God's best idea!
With this definition of humanity in place, it makes "Don't blame me, I'm only human" the Grand Excuse. It is a diabolical way of trying to justify our greatest inhumanities. Humanity is not something we need to be cured of, like a disease, and to treat it as such is to remain sick. Humanity is the healing that leads to the recovery of what we have lost.
We speak of the need to be holy, and that is certainly true. But the first step in that direction is becoming human. [1] It is recognizing our oneness as a human family and treating each other as beloved siblings created by the same God. We will not be the society we should be or the Christians we are called to be until we become the people we are made to be.
No, the harming and maligning we see played out in spades today in both state and church is not happening because we are human, it is happening because we are not human enough! Being human would be a step up. We sorely need to pray for an upgrade.
[1] I owe a great gratitude to people like Richard Rohr and Jean Vanier for this understanding of humanity. Rohr's "Immortal Diamond" and Vanier's "Becoming Human" have been gifts of the Spirit in the healing of my own egotism and ethnocentrism (a healing still going on, not completed) and moving me to increasingly embrace the six words that E. Stanley Jones called the most important in all literature, "Christ is all, and in all" (Colossians 3:11).
Steve Harper
Rev. Steve Harper
The Rev. Dr. J. Stephen Harper is a retired seminary professor, author and retreat leader. This post is republished with permission from his Facebook page.