The Imago Dei | Genesis 1:26, Romans 12:6 | Rainey Segars

Introduction – When People Don’t Approve of You Rainey began her message with a story from her college years — a painful and funny one about rejection. She told how she dated a grad student named Noah who was brilliant, popular, and part of an elite, intellectual friend group. When she went to dinner to meet his friends, she knew she was being evaluated — an “audition dinner.” When asked about Kant’s Critique of Judgment, all she could say was, “I think Kant is really good. Art also, very good. So to sum up, I am pro.” It didn’t go well. Shortly after, Noah broke up with her, saying she “wasn’t smart enough” and that she’d be more comfortable with someone “her speed.” It was humiliating. She had been evaluated and found lacking. Rainey then drew the connection: this kind of rejection happens to all of us. We don’t always fit in. Sometimes we’re not chosen, we’re overlooked, or we’re compared unfavorably to others — the sibling the parents brag about, the colleague the students prefer, the church that people leave for. She said, “There’s no use pretending everyone will love you. That’s not true. The Gospel has to be good news even when people don’t like us.” If our sense of worth depends on impressing others, we become weak, reactive, and easily crushed. To show how dangerous this is, Rainey turned to Scripture. ⸻ 1. The Danger of Insecurity (Matthew 14:1–11) She read the story of Herod and John the Baptist: “Herod was greatly distressed, but because of his oath and his dinner guests, he ordered that John be beheaded…” (Matthew 14:9) Rainey highlighted that Herod didn’t kill John out of hatred. He killed him out of insecurity. He wanted to look strong in front of his guests. He cared more about their approval than what was right. She said, “If Herod hadn’t been so desperate for them to think he was strong, he’d have been free to ask, ‘What is right?’ Instead, he asked, ‘What do they want to see?’” That’s what insecurity does. When we tie our worth to others’ opinions, we become unable to do what’s right. We can only do what others want to see. It’s a position of terrible weakness. Then she brought it home: “If I link my worth to your approval, I can’t be a person who obeys God. I can only be a person who performs for you.” That’s why we need good news for the insecure heart. ⸻ 2. Imago Dei – You Are Made in the Image of God Rainey’s first idea for finding freedom from insecurity is the biblical truth of the Imago Dei — that every person is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). She described how all beauty and goodness in creation point to God: “The heavens declare the glory of God; day after day they pour forth speech.” – Psalm 19:1–2 Mountains, oceans, sunsets — they all reflect something of His glory. But humans are unique because we don’t just reflect His glory — we resemble Him. She said, “God used His own fingers to carve the lines of your face. He held your cheeks and said, ‘Yes, that’s just right.’” We are designed to show the world something of what God is like — each of us in a slightly different way. To despise yourself or wish to be someone else is to insult the Artist who made you. “The one who carved your bones is not wishing you were more like your sister.” It’s beneath your dignity, Rainey said, to let your worth swing back and forth with every opinion. Your worth is not determined by the crowd — it’s anchored in the Creator. Then she turned to the Third Commandment, often translated “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.” She explained that the Hebrew verb nasa means “to carry.” So the command really says: “Do not carry the name of the Lord your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) In other words: “You carry My name. Represent Me well.” If we treat people as though they don’t matter, we misrepresent the God who made them. When we devalue others, we carry His name badly — we show the world a false picture of Him. So, what are we called to show the world? Rainey told the story of Hagar in Genesis 16 — an abused, pregnant, runaway slave who meets God in the desert. God sees her, comforts her, and promises a future. In response, she names Him: “You are El Roi — the God Who Sees Me.” And Rainey said, “That’s who He still is. To people no one else sees, He is the God who sees.” That’s our calling as image bearers: not to impress others, but to see others as He does. The highest calling is not to be admired — it’s to notice the forgotten, to look into someone’s eyes and say with our presence, ‘God has not forgotten you.’ When we do that — whether as a doctor, teacher, parent, or neighbor — we reveal the God who sees. That’s the stable foundation of our worth: not impressing people, but bearing His image. ⸻ 3. The Gospel According to You Rainey’s second major idea was that God isn’t wishing you were more like anyone else — because He designed you to tell the story of His goodness in a unique way