Individual or Person?

John Wayne and a lot of other actors personified a myth we see often in American literature, the 'rugged individual' who fights his or her lonely fight, and at some point in the story even turns away from those who offer comfort and shelter. I'm sure you've read books or watched movies along that line. The reality, though, is much different. Not one of us is
an individual standing alone, whether we manage to assume the title "rugged" or not. A better term, 'person,' helps us to look at the relationships that make up who we are as well. This has deep roots in the history of humanity and in the Bible's teaching about people -- and about God himself.

Why are we not 'individuals' but persons? For one reason, looking at the physical, it's because all of us depend on others for life. We all owe our lives to our biological parents. None of us raises our own food or distills our own gasoline, and few of us have even a reliable water source outside of municipal water.

'Person' also looks at our relationships. For instance, I am the son of my father and mother, brother to six siblings, husband of Joanne, and father of two children. I could not be fully who I am without those relationships. You're the same in your own particular circumstance. We owe large parts of our personhood to those other persons.

And of course God is not a singularity somewhere out there, but one God in three Persons, according to the classic formulation of the Trinity. God defines, in his own self, both "person" and "community," and those apply to his creations, you and me, just as well. We cannot be who we are without the God who created us, and who brought us into a relationship with him (we call that "salvation" although it's much more than simply escaping something).

Not just birthdays, but every day can be a day to appreciate someone with whom we have a relationship and who helps make us who we are. Every day can be a day to thank God who has brought us into his own community of persons -- sharing his love with us and with all people who will listen. Every day also presents the opportunity to shock others with the truth that God loves them and asks them into his own eternal community of love. What a great piece of news, that we don't have to battle our way through this life by ourselves!