Sunday, January 12, 2014

Equalizer

Equalizer
January 13, 2014
Galatians 3:28  "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

I used to work in a busy down-town district where parking was not easily attained.  Many of us had to park about a kilometer away from our work place and take a shuttle bus to the high-rise building.  Looking around on that bus, you could see all different kinds of people.  Some where wealthy and others not so much.  Some where educated and others not so much.  Some where dressed for the lime-light and others not so much.  The bus, however, was a great equalizer.  For the five minutes we rode that bus, we were all the same; we were all equal.  Education didn't matter on that bus, nor did it matter the style of clothes on your back.  The amount of money in your pocket wasn't a factor inside the equalizer; we were all neatly contained as similarly valued cargo as the bus carried us to our destination.  No one was greater than anyone else inside the equalizer.

As followers of Christ, the Bible teaches that the Lord is the Great Equalizer.  There is no socioeconomic status in His eyes.  Your body fragrance or the jewels adorning your fingers do not impress the Lord to be considered of greater worth than someone else.  There is nothing that could elevate you in the Lord's eyes above another human being.  The Lord does not consider any earthly scenario where you are more worthy than someone else.  And since the Lord considers us all equal, we must see each other the same.  We are to consider ourselves no more or less important than anyone else.  This is an easy message to say, as we all know we are not above others.  But it is not so easy to say when we sometimes consider ourselves much less important to the Lord.

It is common place to perceive the importance of others and feel debased.  We express this when we get excited upon seeing a famous person up close enough to get his or her autograph.  We put a few people on a pedestal, thinking they are somehow more important than ourselves, those rich or famous people we sometimes call idols.  We even do this within the Christian community, placing our pastors or mentors as generating more value in the Lord's eyes.  When we place importance on another human being over ourselves to the point of idolizing them, we devalue our own importance in the eyes of the Lord.  In a sense, we are communicating to the Maker that He made us like trash to be trampled upon.  When we compare ourselves to others in appraising our self-worth, we undo the Lord's work in our lives.

You are just as valuable to the Maker as anyone else and your earthly career or socioeconomic contribution is no less important than the next guy, even if he is rich or famous.  In the Lord's eyes, there is no slave or free-man, just humans in need of a savior.  In the Lord's eyes, there are no famous or unknown, just hearts that need the love of the Father.  In the Lord's eyes, there are no rich or poor, just sheep who need a shepherd.  If we are in Christ, we are all equal.  He has raised the head of the lowly man to equal that of everyone else.  Christ has made us all equals and if we consider ourselves less we reduce our potential effectiveness for Him.  He has made each and everyone one of us to serve Him in the place where we are right now.  Your position is just as equal as the perceived famous person you are considering of more importance than yourself.  You'll only reach half your potential if you sell yourself short.  Your contribution is just as important, even if no one else sees it.  The Lord has made you equal.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:
  Rom 12:3-8, Gal 3:26-29

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