Mr. Rogers, Depravity, and the Image of God

Did you watch Mister Rogers Neighborhood as a child?

Recently, my wife and I rented the documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, detailing the life of Fred Rogers. In essence, Rogers saw his calling to minister to children over the medium of television. He became an ordained minister and then found himself on the cutting edge of using this relatively unknown medium to help children relate to life.

Not many of us would recognize a soft-spoken, cardigan-wearing figure as a pioneer. The documentary reveals his meticulous planning in the script to explain adult concepts to children from assassinations, war, divorce, etc. He brought together the best thinking from child psychology and his faith rooted in the Bible.

Critics insinuated that Rogers influenced a generation of entitlement. His seemingly positive affirmations to children fed their self-centeredness.

This documentary surfaces a paradox in the Christian gospel. The Bible both affirms the value and dignity of human beings as people created in God’s image. It also displays the depravity of humans in the fact that individually and collectively sin has pervaded not just our actions, but our motivations, thoughts, and hearts.

When you lean towards an overfocus on the Image of God, you can succumb to dismissing the brokenness of the world around you. When you lean towards an overfocus on depravity, you can operate out of truth dismissing grace. Entitlement can result from a pre-occupation with the Image of God. Guilt and self-righteousness can result from a pre-occupation with depravity.

Dr. Junlei Li, the Executive Director of the Fred Rogers Center,  says this in the documentary in response to the critique of fueling entitlement, “Christianity teaches that we are the sons and daughters of God.” (paraphrase)

Mr. Rogers captured the essence of the Gospel which transforms us to see — identity precedes behavior. He communicated to children their worth and significance with love. Thus, that influences how we act. The documentary describes this in the section on anger.

Paul prays in Ephesians 1:3-14  that his readers would understand that God has adopted them. Consider the significance. The same Jesus who created you loves you. He gave up the riches of heaven to walk this earth and ultimately die on a cross for humankind’s depravity. Then rose from the dead so that we can experience the redemption of new life. Our identity in Christ precedes our behavior.

Overfocusing on the Image of God and depravity elevate the same problem — they make humans the main subject. Paul described the Gospel in Ephesians starting with Jesus first to help us see ourselves. In a similar way, Fred Rogers wanted children and adults to recognize significance and identity influencing behavior. The love of Christ transforms how we live, think, feel, and treat others.

This is why we remind ourselves of the message of the Gospel. It does not dismiss the reality of our depravity and the need for a Savior, and it tells us of our values from Jesus who created us. It informs who we are in Jesus and how to live. It holds together grace and truth. A healthy view of the Image of God and depravity will bring us back to Jesus  — the author, hero, and redeemer of our lives.

I would encourage you to watch Won’t You Be My Neighbor and read Ephesians 1:3-14. May you today see the reality Gospel throughout the day and at work in others.

Photo from the Won’t You Be My Neighbor Facebook Page.