Lately I
have been reading numerous posts on Facebook describing how during this
Covid-19 scare, it is those who lack college that are the most valuable members
of society. The farmer, grocery store worker, truck driver, sanitation worker,
etc. are allowed to work during this crisis because they are considered “key essential”
personnel and thus, the ones who are of real value to a society.
This is
true, they are of great value, and I would say that they have been overlooked
for quite some time but for those who say this, have they not considered that
doctors and nurses, both of which require a college degree, are extremely
important during this crisis? They are being exposed to infected, sick people
daily.
What about
biologists, chemists, and others who are working to find a cure? What about the
professors who taught them how to do this? There are government officials who
are trying to maintain order and making policy for the good of all, are they of
no real value? There are certainly many others of great value and I don’t mean
to ignore any, but I think my point is made; there are those, both with a
college degree and without, who make a difference in our daily lives,
especially during a health crisis such as we are dealing with today.
What gives a
person worth?
Does what we
do, how we benefit others, determine our worth or is it something else? Does
the amount of money we make increase our value? Does simply having a college
degree give us greater worth? Perhaps we could change the wording to more
accurately express what we mean or should mean. I thought the term “key
essential,” in this case, was accurate but after reading other people’s opinions
on this, I’m not so sure.
What gives a
person worth?
From a
biblical perspective, what gives you and me worth is God. Go to Genesis, the
first book of the Bible, the first chapter, and we find God saying, “Let us
make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26, NKJV). The next
verse states, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He
created him; male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27, NKJV).
If you read
carefully, you will discover that out of all creation, only man was created Imago
Dei, in the image of God. This does not mean that we bare His
physical appearance. It means that we are self-aware, we know good from evil, we
have the ability to use reason and logic, etc. I would also argue that we have
an innate sense that God exists; I believe He planted this in us to guide us to
seek Him. This would explain why man has always had gods. We know there is
something out there that is responsible for this world, for rain, the sun,
harvest, life, death, and so on.
Great
thinkers throughout time have sought to answer the questions of origin,
meaning, morality, and destiny. I have written about this before (see blog posts
from March 23, 2015; Jan 4, 2015) so I will not elaborate much here but to say,
from my studies, only the God of the Bible gives us clear answers to these
questions:
Origen – As
we saw earlier from Genesis, chapter one, we were created by God and for God.
Meaning or
purpose – Our purpose is to worship God and live in communion with Him.
Morality – God
gave us instructions in the Bible. To live morally glorifies God and blesses
man.
Destiny – Heaven
or hell. God gives us the choice but on His terms.
What gives a
person worth?
Wealth?
While
having an abundance of money can be nice, it can also cause many problems. It
can change us for better or worse. It can bring bad people into our lives
because they seek to gain from our wealth; some can be family members and
relationships can be destroyed. Some may think too highly of themselves and try
to lord over others, including family. The Bible warns about greed,
haughtiness, and wrong thinking (1 Tim. 6:10). It has quite a lot to say about
wealth and wise is he who seeks knowledge in the matter. There is nothing wrong
with wealth if it is used for good but it does not give us worth, at least not
true worth.
Status/Power?
God is a God of order and he gives some authority to rule over others to
maintain order. The Scriptures tell us that God sets rulers and deposes rulers
(Dan. 2:21) and, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For
there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are
appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance
of God, and those who resist will bring judgement on themselves. For rulers are
not a terror to good works, but to evil… (Romans 13:1-3, NKJV). What it does
not say is that those in authority are any better, they are simply placed in a
position to carry out God’s plan for their life but He can end that at any time.
Education?
The
Bible, especially in the writings of King Solomon, speaks to the issue of
knowledge and education. Solomon, considered by many to be the wisest man to
ever live, said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools
despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7, NKJV). I think there is a misconception
today about education. On the one hand, some argue that formal education,
college/university, makes you superior. Perhaps this is most prevalent in the
military and corporate world.
Most CEO’s are college graduates but not all.
Take Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), and Richard Branson (Virgin
records, airlines, etc.) for example. Gates and Zuckerberg dropped out of
college and Branson never graduated from high school. Would anyone argue their
intelligence? At the same time, to my knowledge, none of these practice any religious faith. While they may be intelligent, by human standards, they are not by God's standard.
In the military, officers are college graduates but there are
also thousands of enlisted personnel who have degrees. I feel it is safe to
say, formal education does not make you superior, but I do believe it can be
helpful, sometimes necessary. Would you allow a person to operate on you who
never went to medical school?
What gives a
person worth?
One thing we
all share in common, rich or poor, educated or not, ruler or slave, we will all
surely die and stand before the Lord one day. Will He judge us based on any of
these criteria? No! He will judge us based on whether we received His gift of
eternal life, bought and paid for through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Our salvation is based on nothing more nor less, but our rewards will be based
on what we did with what we were given.
Remember the
parable of the man who left his three servants’ money to invest while he was
gone? One received five talents, another two, and the third got one talent.
When he returned, the one who had been given five had doubled his master’s money;
the man with two had done the same. The one who had been given one talent,
probably because he was never a good worker anyway, had buried his in the
ground and did nothing. Even if he had put it in the bank, the talent would
have drawn interest, but he was so lazy that he would not even do that, he
simply did not care (Mat. 25:14-30).
What has God
given you? Did you go to college? Graduate high school? Get your GED? Do you
work in a bank, a gas station, hardware store? Are you an accountant, a
fireman, a doctor, or a lawyer? Do you repair appliances, do home repair, or
work in sanitation?
I would say
that whatever you do, whatever your education, do it as unto the Lord and not
men (Col. 3:23). Seek His approval and pleasure and do not judge others as
better or lesser than yourself. Is God not the ruler and judge over all?
Friend, if
you are struggling with a sense of superiority or inferiority, give it to God
and ask Him to show you how to please Him and be content wherever you are in
life. Some of the happiest people I have known had almost nothing but they had peace,
contentment, and joy in the Lord. I desire this more than anything this world
has to offer.
May God
bless you as you seek Him~