I began 2026 with the grand idea of reading through the Bible in a year. It has been a slow start, not because I am not reading, but because I keep returning to certain texts for closer reading.
Genesis is fascinating, full of stories about how the Hebrew people thought about their origins and their relationship with God. I have been circling back again and again to the first chapter:
“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:27, NRSV)
There are moments I truly cherish in this first creation narrative. I love that once creation is completed, God looks on “everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Not a small part of creation. Not 51% of creation. No, all of creation is very good.
And then there is verse 27. The Hebrew people not only believed that humanity was very good, but that we were made in God’s image. From the beginning of creation, humankind was an image bearer of the Divine. This comes from the first book of the Hebrew Bible, a text that has not only served as a guidepost for the Jewish people for centuries but is also a tradition that Christians have included in their own faith. We are image bearers of divine love, and all who live on this planet bear that same image.
I thought about this cornerstone of my Christian faith when I turned on the news and watched the killing of Alex Pretti. His death burdened my soul, just as the death of Renee Macklin Good did earlier this month.
We are only beginning to learn about the life of Pretti, a man who served as a Veterans Affairs nurse and was beloved by his co-workers. In the days following Good’s death, we learned about her devotion to her children and her passion for justice.
No person can be fully known through biography alone, but the stories of both Pretti and Good help us understand the depth of their lives and how they lived. Telling these stories is an important ritual in recognizing what we have lost through their violent and avoidable deaths.
But Pretti and Good are not the only ones whose lives have been cut short by government entities and officers this month. How do we hold space for the image bearers who have been attacked on boats during the journey between Venezuela and the United States? We will likely never know their biographies, hearing of them only as “drug traffickers,” lives the current administration considers expendable.
Given the tactics being used, we may never know the cargo or contents of these boats. We have been given no concrete evidence that drugs were being transported on these vessels because all potential evidence has been destroyed in the attacks.
Even if they were carrying drugs, we can be certain of one thing: The leaders of the drug cartels were not on these boats. Those aboard were likely desperate individuals facing unimaginable decisions that led them to dangerous work. Given Venezuela’s oppressive regime and crippled economy, trafficking drugs may be one of the few ways many can survive. In some cases, they may be forced into this work under threats against themselves or their families.
How do Christians consider the dire conditions faced by these image bearers as they navigate impossible realities? Are Venezuelans who work within drug cartels less worthy of God’s love than we are? Does working as a drug trafficker warrant death?
I have wrestled with many questions about our current administration and how it values human life. I wonder if its leaders lie awake at night thinking about how their decisions impact the lives left behind. I wonder if they believe that snuffing out lives through guns and bombs is a worthy cost in pursuit of policy goals. I wonder if they ever consider the dreams and hopes of the Venezuelan boat passengers who will never see them fulfilled. I wonder whether the many self-identified Jewish and Christian individuals who carry out and defend these policies ever think of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti as image bearers of the Divine.
All Image Bearers
As I mourn the loss of Alex Pretti today and continue to mourn Renee Good, I also remember the lives of non-American citizens who are creations of our God. Alongside that grief is righteous anger, rooted in my belief that the good news of Christ calls our administration to stop unholy actions against those who do not share its ideology.
As a Christian, I believe all followers of Christ should be furious about how Alex Pretti was killed yesterday. Agents of the state should always exercise restraint when resorting to violence and death-dealing methods, especially when peaceful alternatives are available.
If Christians in America wish to continue claiming faith in their sacred text, then we must hold our leaders accountable for killing God’s children and then crafting narratives to convince the public that those killings were justified. I am tired of being lied to by bad actors who use Christian faith as both shield and sword.
God looked upon creation and saw that it was very good. May we, as Christians, seek paths of justice and mercy that strengthen our conviction that all of us are image bearers of God.
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Rev. Jonathan Greer (he/him) is an ordained Baptist minister residing in Dallas. He graduated from Brite Divinity School in 2024 with a Master’s Degree in Divinity and a Certificate in Women and Gender Studies. Jonathan and his good friends Annie Wilde and Katie Valenzuela are currently in the late development stages of a podcast with Good Faith Media, which will drop later this year. His days consist of a healthy mix of professional singing, teaching voice lessons, churning homemade ice cream, and navigating an ever-increasing collection of books and vinyl records.
