Namaste (pronounced “namastay”) is a beautifully humble greeting originating in another culture and religion. Taken literally, it means “I bow to you.” When spoken to another person, it is commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards, near the heart. In India, it is understood that the gesture itself signifies Namaste, so it is unnecessary to say the word while bowing.
Though Namaste is a universal greeting, it has a stirring spiritual connotation. With reverence and humility, one person communicates to another person important messages like, “I honor the Holy One who lives in you. That which is of God in me greets that which is of God in you. I recognize the work and presence of deity in you. I honor the Spirit in you that is also in me. I salute the Almighty within you.”
What an affirming, respectful and humble greeting: Namaste! I see God in you! It is a foundational principle we often neglect in practice: “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) God’s image in every person underscores every commandment related to how we are to treat each other. God demands an accounting when one person takes the life of another because we are made in His image (Genesis 9:6). In the New Testament, James points out how wrong it is to curse people who are all made in God’s likeness (James 3:9).
I was reading a World Vision article recently that noted this theological understanding: “This conviction ought to fundamentally shape the way that we as Christian individuals relate to each and every person. The conviction is this: that we are all made in the image of God. Every human being, no matter how tall or short, smart or silly, beautiful or plain, skilled or unskilled, able or disabled, no matter what their circumstances, every person is made in the image of God. Every person therefore has immense value.”
Larry James, president of Central Dallas Ministries, underscores the power of seeing and celebrating God in every person, as he describes their ministry: “We tend to approach our neighbors as the embodiment of the Jesus whom we follow. We take Jesus seriously when he said that whatever we do with and among the ‘poor’, we actually are doing with and to him. We believe that we meet him in our encounters with the hurting, the excluded, the prisoners, the homeless, the sick, the hungry and the immigrant stranger.”
May God help us see Him in everyone we meet. Namaste. Amen.
Dennis Lynn
Redwood Church
P.S. Question: What if we can’t honestly say “I see God in you” to some people?
Answer: Perhaps we’re not looking.
