From Hierarchy Trauma to Ontological Stability

From Hierarchy Trauma to Ontological Stability

For much of my adult life, I have reacted intensely to being belittled.

The reaction is physical.
Immediate.
Often disproportionate to the present moment.

For a long time, I thought this was about ego or external validation.

It is not.

It is about legitimacy.

The Original Injury

When a father repeatedly belittles a child — privately or publicly — the child’s nervous system learns:

  • Visibility is dangerous.
  • Emergence threatens authority.
  • Status can be stripped.
  • Legitimacy is negotiable.

That becomes a survival template.

Belittling later in life activates this imprint.

The limbic system reads:
Belittling → Positional Threat → Existential Danger.

But that template is false.

The Two Levels of Legitimacy

There are two layers of legitimacy that cannot be erased.

1️⃣ Ontological Legitimacy

Every human being is made in the image of God.

Genesis 1:27 establishes intrinsic worth before achievement, before reputation, before hierarchy.

That means:

My existence is not contingent.
My value is not socially constructed.
My dignity is not granted by dominant figures.

It is given by God.

Belittling does not erase image-bearing status.

2️⃣ Redemptive Legitimacy

Through Christ:

  • I am adopted.
  • I am justified.
  • The verdict has been rendered.
  • There is no higher appeal.

The cross was not merely symbolic.
It was judicial.

Romans 8 makes this clear:
There is no condemnation.
No separation.
No re-trial.

Legitimacy is sealed.

The False Court

The limbic system confuses two courts:

  1. The Divine Court (verdict complete).
  2. The Social Court (verdicts constantly shifting).

Belittling feels like the divine court reopening.

But it is only noise within the social court.

The verdict of the Judge of all the earth is not up for renegotiation.

Why Rage Appears

When belittled, the old imprint says:

“My legitimacy is being stripped.”

Rage is the attempt to restore rank.

But if legitimacy is ontologically and redemptively settled,
rank restoration is unnecessary for survival.

The surge is historical, not theological.

The Work of Rewiring

This is not about inventing self-worth.

It is about aligning emotion with doctrine.

Pictures help.

  • A tree planted by rivers of water.
  • A vine growing according to its nature.
  • An oak standing in wind.
  • Christ calm before Pilate.

These images retrain the limbic system to inhabit settled legitimacy.

The Shift

Old Pattern:
Belittling → Existential Threat → Fight or Withdraw.

New Pattern:
Belittling → Noise → Remain.

Because:

  • My image-bearing status cannot be stripped.
  • My redemptive verdict cannot be overturned.
  • My emergence does not require dominance.
  • My dignity does not require defence.

The Aim

Not dominance.
Not passivity.
Not suppression.

The aim is sovereignty under Christ.

To live as though the verdict is final.
Because it is.

​

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