Hard Working People Working Hard
It’s my assumption people work hard. I even think that when I’m at an intersection and there’s a person sitting there begging with a sign. Think about it. That’s a hard, unpleasant, demeaning way to make a buck.
I also assume that there are huge numbers of us who are tempted to believe that things get done only by the sweat of our brow and by our efficient, productive taking care of business.
There are huge numbers of us who believe deep down that people are loved and cared for not because of who they are as people, but because of what they produce as workers.
This can be helpful as far as it goes. It definitely can spur us to, in the words of Nike, “Just Do It.” Sometimes we all need a kick in the hindquarters so we’ll go, in the words of the Olympics, “Faster, Higher, Stronger”.
But…
If that settles in an unhealthy way too deeply in our souls, it will rot us from the inside out.
We’ll risk becoming walking resumes. We’ll risk becoming cruel people who’ll fear nothing more than failure and who’ll shove other people under the bus to protect our image.
We’ll risk becoming the ugly embodiment of the hellish maxim: “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”
And…
We’ll never know the beauty of being the Good Samaritan Jesus celebrates for walking over to help someone and so becomes the embodiment of love. We’ll never be able to really sing, “Amazing Grace… I once was blind, but now I see.” We’ll never truly be able to look at Jesus and see God in our flesh and blood holding everything together through a love and light beyond anything we can produce (Colossians 1).
Please give and receive grace today. Please be free.