Doesn’t it feel sometimes like my worth is the accumulation of my stats?
It’s like I’m a walking baseball card. If you want to know whether or not I matter as a person, turn me over and check the stats. The more I’ve stacked and racked, the more valuable I am as a person. When we see our value this way also, we tend to hide the stats that don’t add value.
We really worry about how other people see us, so we want to put on the shiniest clothes we have and hide our dirty spots. We aren’t the first ones worried about how other people saw us and worked to hide.
[Genesis 3:6-7]
“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.”
- I ASSIGN VALUE TO ME ON WHAT I’VE DONE
Religions are united in the teaching that only good people go to heaven. The side effect is that I’m lost if I’m honest about how bad I can be in my heart OR I become arrogant if in comparison to you, I’m pretty good. So we spend our lives worried about our stats. Hoping that at the end, God will want us.
(On what do you determine someone’s value?)
[Luke 2:3-10]
“All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.”
What are Jesus’ stats?
- Did have enough money to worry about being robbed
- Mom was known to have gotten pregnant out of wedlock at a time when that meant something!
- Weren’t important enough to get a hotel room, even in her pregnant condition
- Wrapped in strips of cloth, not even a baby blanket
- The only people to come visit were stinky shepherds
The whole story smells of failure! If not for the angels, which Mary and Joseph never saw, this would be the beginning of really sad saga of expected underperformance.
[1 Corinthians 1:26-28]
“Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.”
It’s almost as if God doesn’t care what your stats are. The things that devalue me to you, and to myself, have no impact on my value to God.
2. GOD ASSIGNS VALUE TO ME ON WHAT JESUS HAS DONE
[2 Corinthians 5:21]
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
[1 Corinthians 1:30]
“God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.”