The Significance of Individuality: The Beauty of Diversity
The Gift of Individuality
Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator—individuality, power to think and to do.” Education, p. 17, para. 2 This is one of the marvels of human creation: not merely that God created us with the ability to think and to act, but that each person does so in a manner completely unique from another, and yet in harmony with divine order. This is one of the great wonders of existence. Two individuals may share the same experience, yet each will interpret it differently; each possesses a distinct way of perceiving, processing, and expressing thought, and this even apart from the effects of sin. Humanity was endowed with minds fashioned after the mind of God. This is the mystery: uniqueness without disharmony or contradiction. When humanity came forth from the hand of its Maker, endowed with intelligence, each individual was to express that intelligence in a manner distinct from every other man or woman, and even different from the way the Creator Himself expressed it. Yet he was to remain in harmony with his Maker both intellectually and spiritually. This is the ideal—the ordained will of God.
Individuality does not imply opposition to God, independence from Him, or rebellion against Him, nor does it mean strife and hostility toward our fellow men. Individuality is primarily our specialized capacity and unique ability to develop and exercise our mental faculties. It is our distinctive ways of expressing our intelligence. Each one of us has both inherited and cultivated exceptional mental abilities, a special, one-of-a-kind perceptive capacity, and unique processing aptitude. This is one of the greatest phenomena in the creation of mankind, central to being made in the image of God. Hence we read that it is “a power akin to that of the Creator.” In order for us to know God, understand Him, and appreciate His gift of life to us, this power—individuality—is essential. It is also at the core of relational unity and satisfaction, for two individuals to walk together in love and harmony, this gift is crucial. But when misunderstood and misapplied, it can be turned into a curse.
Individuality and the Corruption of Individualism
Often individuality is mistaken for individualism, the idea that one’s personal interests, desires, and ideas are to be esteemed above those of others. It is the twisted concept of glorifying egoistic independence and loneliness. The erroneous idea that one’s needs, emotions, and thoughts are to be held as standards superior to those of others. This is an incorrect concept of individuality. It creates schisms, confusion, and hostility; it is inconsiderate and arrogant. Most evils are products of this kind of thinking, where others are compelled to conform their thinking at the cost of suppressing individuality, and ideas are imposed upon them under the threat of death. Some, if not all, of the political, social, economic, religious, and educational systems of this world are founded upon and rooted in individualism. O, how shortsighted we can be, that we miss the beauty of diversity.
The Beauty of Harmonious Diversity
Pure and true individuality is capable of producing the amazing beauty of diversity, characterized by harmony and complementary qualities. This can be seen when exploring a forest or a botanical garden, where each flower and each tree contributes to the beauty and well-being of the whole. One secretes chemicals that expel parasites, another emits a fragrance that attracts pollinators, while another sends forth roots that hold the soil together and prevent erosion. This we see even more vividly in God’s plan for humanity, where two individuals with distinctive individualities were originally created to complement each other and contribute to each other’s growth and development. We were never intended to be mere copies of another, no, not even of our Maker. He did not create us to be robotic copies of Himself, but gave us the ability to creatively grow within the parameters of His love and character. To be bold enough, I will say, to complement Him. Not that man was to perfect God, for God has no lack of perfection. Rather, humanity was designed to harmoniously reflect, express, and participate in the manifestation of divine beauty and character. It is in this reflection, expression, and participation in the manifestation of divine beauty and character that individuality, and its beautiful diversity in harmony, become significant. Since God is infinite, it is necessary that, in expressing Himself through humanity, He should do so through the beauty of harmonious diversity of character. One finite mind would never be able to fully reflect an infinite mind; even diverse individualities in their totality would still only dimly reflect His fullness.
Since the original purpose of individuality is to reflect, express, and participate in the manifestation of divine beauty and character, it should therefore be applied in harmony with the will and character of God. The reason why we do not know how to harmonize our diverse individualities, but rather compete for supremacy, is because we understand and exercise them contrary to their intended design. Take our intellect, our capacity and ability to exercise our mental faculties, and how we perceive, process, and express the data we find in the world. Were we all to harmonize our perception and processing, we would have a harmonious and beautiful expression of different views of the same whole. An astrophysicist, a mathematician, a biologist, a zoologist, and a theologian would all contribute beautiful pieces of their findings and make a holistic view of God clearer. The transcript of God’s character, as found in the Ten Commandments, and its foundation and central theme—His love—would be the standard through which we govern our minds, direct, and regulate our individualities. His Word would be the standard and test for every perception, processing, and expression. Truth would stand majestically, and His glory would fill the earth; mankind would happily fulfill his purpose.
O, how beautiful is holiness, how glorious is God’s plan. In every aspect, not only did He inculcate His knowledge, but wisdom and beauty that surpass human understanding. In every step, He exalted mankind to a higher plane that he does not deserve nor fully understand. He set us in noble places, each endowed with extraordinary abilities, special and unique in ways that finite minds cannot fathom. We are all, in a very special sense, scientists, for not only do we possess the power to think and to do, but the power to do so in exceptional ways, with uniquely extraordinary abilities to see, understand, and embody a part of God that no other individual can.
