Three Children Playing

People Are People No Matter How __________

posted in: Inspiration | 0

Three Children PlayingIn Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who, Horton the elephant famously discovers that “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

As I consider all of the violence, hatred, divisiveness, and fear that is making the news all over the world today, I want to propose that we expand Horton’s discovery to a broader realization that people are people:

No matter how small,

No matter how large,

No matter how similar,

No matter how different,

No matter how black,

No matter how white,

No matter how married,

No matter how single,

No matter how wealthy,

No matter how poor,

No matter how right,

No matter how wrong,

No matter how beautiful,

No matter how plain,

No matter how popular,

No matter how isolated,

No matter how educated,

No matter how ignorant,

No matter how religious,

No matter how secular,

No matter how sinful,

No matter how free,

No matter how old,

No matter how young,

No matter how employed,

No matter how needy,

No matter how armed,

No matter how defenseless,

No matter how much in the majority,

No matter how much in the minority,

No matter what job they have or don’t have, what position or power they wield, what influence or relationships they have built, what beliefs they hold dear or refute, what race, what ethnicity, what age, what gender, what generation, what politics, what nationality, what religion, what affiliation, what association, what characteristic or distinction, no matter what separates us, no matter what divides us, over and above everything that defines, differentiates, and identifies us, people are people first and foremost, and people were created by God to love, care for, support, encourage, inspire, educate, train, mentor, coach, develop, and invest in other people.

From the moment a zygote is created in the womb from the fusion of a man and a woman joining in the effort of procreation so that the “two become one flesh” as God declared it in the book of Genesis, to the moment that the body ceases to function and begins to decay, a person is a person no matter what anyone believes, says, or does about it.

And…

A person is a life.

A person is a gift.

A person is a soul.

A person is a mind.

A person is a heart.

A person is a spirit.

A person is a presence.

A person is an influence.

A person is a personality.

A person is an identity.

A person is a legacy.

A person is a story.

A person is an opportunity.

A person is an investment.

A person is a treasure.

A person is a creation of God, intrinsically valuable and eternally gifted with a unique and specific life that may be imitated or replicated, but can never be duplicated — each individual designed and delivered related but different, similar but particular, common but special.

A person is a person, and a person has value.

So, when individuals, organizations, communities, societies, nations, or civilizations step back and evaluate their actions, their laws, their norms, their cultures, their traditions, their expectations, their commonly held beliefs, their morals, their leadership, and their aspirations as they are described, lived, taught, enacted, evolved, engaged, implemented, governed, enforced, educated, and handed down from generation to generation — when you consider what you teach your children, what you model for them, what you stand for, what you inspire, what you bring out in others, what you support, what you vote for, what you value — when you get down to the bedrock of who you are and who you want to be, it is essential that it start with a recognition of the personhood of God and the resulting personhood of every human life God created including your own.

You may not like everyone, agree with everyone, or want to be with everyone, but at the heart of a successful worldview is an acknowledgement that everyone is someone — people are people, no matter what, because God created them.

“Well Steve, that sounds a lot like humanism.  Is that in the Bible?  Is that really even Christian?  Couldn’t I hold that view even if I wasn’t Christian?”

First of all, let me say that I rejoice with all people who recognize the sovereignty, sanctity, personhood, freedom, and value of every human life as these are at the very heart of the Christian gospel message and the root of our connection with God and so our eternal life and salvation.

God is, after all, both the author of your individuality — with all of the unique differences that identify you — and the greatest unifying influence ever to exist.

The call of the Christian gospel is for every human life to be united into a single body in Christ, a single person with Christ as our soul — all different, all unique, all individual, all special, all essential, all connected, all unified by a single common identity, pursuit, and purpose to live together with peace, joy, freedom, fulfillment, relationship, accomplishment, inspiration, enlightenment, and abundant blessings — starting as soon as possible both individually and collectively.

At the heart of it, the very definition of personhood is discovered in God’s statement to Moses at the burning bush.  When Moses asks God who He is, God says something that is not easily translated from the original Hebrew to English, but it comes out as something like “I am the one who is” or “I am who I am” or simply “I am”.  It is a statement of existence, identity, and personhood —  “I am”.

And it is this statement of presence, awareness, and value — “I am” — that individuals, organizations, communities, societies, nations, and civilizations must recognize, appreciate, and empower if they are to succeed and flourish.  It’s not a matter of opinion or politics — it is an objective fact that human life has value and that supporting life and establishing its worth is a blessing to be treasured.

So, make the choice today to join God in this simple declaration of life, “I am”.  And then listen to the voices of all those around you and encourage them to declare their personhood, their freedom, their value, and their contribution with the simple words, “I am”.

For although it may start as just one or just two, as you listen to and acknowledge the lives that surround you, you will discover that personhood is the foundation on which God can change the world starting with you.  Because while you are just one small voice, it’s like Horton discovered, getting to the turning point is often just a matter of adding that one additional voice on the side of life, hope, and salvation to make a positive change become a reality,

“And he climbed with the lad up the Eiffelberg Tower. ‘This,’ cried the mayor, ‘is your town’s darkest hour! The time for all Whos who have blood that is red to come to the aid of their country!’ he said. ‘We’ve GOT to make noises in greater amounts! So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!’ Thus he spoke as he climbed. When they got to the top, the lad cleared his throat and he shouted out, “Yopp!” And that Yopp… That one small extra Yopp put it over! Finally, at last! From that speck on that clover their voices were heard! They rang out clear and clean. And the elephant smiled. “Do you see what I mean?… They’ve proved they ARE persons, no matter how small. And their whole world was saved by the Smallest of ALL!'” – Horton Hears a Who, by Dr. Seuss

Follow Steve Simons:

Bible Believing Follower of Jesus Christ. Preacher. Conservative. Republican. NRA Member. Chevy Truck Guy. "God's Answers Are Always Simple. God's Answers Always Work." #GraceRevolutionGeneration #IAmNotAfraid

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