So You Think You're Better?

Dear Readers,

I've been pondering lately the influence of superiority and inferiority in our society. You don't need to look far to see that we value some people and their characteristics more than others. Depending on the factors, there may be some truth to our categorization. But in many cases, I think we miss the point.

Do you think your occupation makes you better or worse than someone else? Well, from your own perspective, you may not imagine yourself less. But we are so good at elevating ourselves. This is a generalization, which can cause trouble, but from a broad view, we are a rather arrogant society.

Perhaps we can look at wages as a way to rank jobs in our society. We might, in that regard, consider CEOs, professional athletes, and some medical disciplines as the highest ranked jobs. Teachers, managers, and small business owners might be in the middle. The lowest ranked jobs might be fast food workers, mechanics, and sales representatives. Again, this is very generalized.

Here's the problem: We tend it mistake earnings for worth. In other words, we correlate finances with value. Income usually connects with one's socioeconomic status, classifying the above occupations as more of a high, middle, and low class society. This might be clarified further to the wealthy, the comfortable, and the poor.

There are many different variables that might determine one's place within our society's structuring of social hierarchy. but there's an important notion, and frankly a wrong one, that must be considered. Does money or labor make you better than someone else? Does a CEO who wears a $300 suit every day and travels between his/her 3 executive offices have any more worth in society than a middle-aged McDonald's drive-thru worker? Let me rephrase this. Is a highly educated brain surgeon who makes $200,000 a year operating at the nation's top hospital have more importance than a cognitively impaired mechanical assistant who lives with government assistance?

Our value cannot be considered in terms of dollars or by the work we do. I believe we are all important within all of the many circles where we find ourselves each day. Perhaps this is in part a connection to the Romans passage where Paul considers the importance of all parts in the Church. In a similar sense, we all have value in our society, regardless of how much we make or how much others feel we contribute.

This carries enormous implications within education, economics, and government. But I want to contemplate what that means on a personal level. It means that we view one another as made in the image of God. That includes NFL players, business executives, pizza deliverers, teachers, lawyers, and every other person, employed or unemployed, in our world. That means that while we might categorize one another for other reasons, our fundamental view of every person should be the same. We all have great worth and great importance. Let's act like it.

Let's sing as one,
Sjc