God is love.
God is holy.
God is simple.
I am complicated.

The above four sentences, which I believe are true, help explain the dilemma we face as a society today. Divine simplicity is an ancient theological concept that has many facets, but here I am focusing on divine simplicity as it is seen in holiness. In God things are clear, holy, pure, and therefore not mixed up. There is no confusion in God. God does not have a measure of justice for some, but then, at times, gets carried away and bends the rules for others. No. God is pure in his justice, as he is pure in his love. This is wonderful! It should move us to fear God and therefore to worship him. We worship God for what he is and what he does; there is no division between the two because he is “simple.”

We, however—and when I say “we” I mean all human beings born after Genesis 3—are mixed, or better, mixed up. We are not pure. None of us is purely good or evil. None is consistently loving, nor consistently vengeful. The effects of sin took that pure image of God, in which we were created and which is imparted to us, and made it cloudy and polluted. The image still resides in each person, but every facet of that image (emotions, intellect, body, imagination) has become mixed and dirty.[1]

We get confused in this highly anxious and contentious world. We have a hard time holding together in our minds that our friend can be both good and sinful, both loving and mean! And so, the temptation is to “simplify” things that are inherently complex. Why do we divide people into categories of “good” and “bad,” “friend,” or “enemy?” Such simplifying suggests one is really God-like. But only God is simple and pure.

I believe such judgments arise from the laziness of quick and mindless judgments. These eventually turn into anger and even (for some) into violence. It is easier simply to write off someone with whom we disagree, whether in word or deed, than to take the time to lift up and hold in tension what is good and also what is troubling. Instead, the tendency is simply to “cancel” the other, whether a person or a group.

We are all clouded and mixed in our motives, our loves, our desires, and, of course, in our speech. It could be called total depravity, meaning that every facet of our being is influenced by sin and therefore clouding the purity of the image of God within us.

Understanding this matters a lot. We need to recover the twin doctrines of divine simplicity and human depravity and stop confusing the two. Our heroes all have clay feet and our enemies all have redeeming characteristics. We simply need to make the effort and take the time to come to know them.

I talked to one of our DMin students recently who told me a woman in the church questioned how he could be the pastor of this church where the chair of the local Democratic committee and the chair of the local Republican committee both attended. He responded something like, “We can all choose how we want to be involved in politics, but we as a congregation are not a political party. We belong to something much more important and powerful. The Kingdom of God unites us. Politics comes under the Kingdom.”

I am praying for myself and for our seminary community that we can come to understand and embody God’s purity, simplicity, and holiness and thus refrain from simple (simplistic) judgements of others. In so doing we will create communities of grace where there is often otherwise division and anger. This will lend beauty and appeal to our evangelistic endeavors.

Jesus, help us not to judge before listening, and so to divide rather than reconcile. Help us not to be comfortable excluding others with little forethought. You, Jesus, are the perfect example for us. You welcomed children, touched lepers, and forgave sins, all while preserving your holiness, love, and gentleness. Give us the grace to see with your eyes the image of God in others. Make us slow to judge, divide, and exclude. Guide our churches to be places that remember your simplicity, your pure love and justice, holiness and mercy. And in this, may something of your image in each of us be cleansed and polished for your greater purpose in this world. As we embody your simplicity, may your Kingdom come on earth as in heaven. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[1] The ancient Syriac-speaking church talked about the imago Dei in us as a mirror reflecting God’s image, but it is clouded. Sanctification polishes the mirror.

Dr. Scott W. Sunquist, president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, is author of the “Attentiveness” blog. He welcomes comments, responses, and good ideas.