Value

I have been pondering this for a very long time.  The most recent killings of black men and police officers here in the U.S. are just highlights to me of the same theme I have been focused on for many years – value.  There has been a firestorm over both people’s perception of and their life experience of being valued.  As a woman, I understand very well what it feels like to be treated as “less than” to be “de-valued” by various populaces and individuals.  I believe all people have experienced and understand this at some basic heart level in our fallen world – many much more deeply than others, depending on the society they live in.

When I first heard the words “Black lives matter” I’m sad to say, I reacted the same way that many I saw around me did.   I felt, as though someone else was trying to put themselves above everyone else.  But, what I came to realize, as I looked at this much more deeply is that Blacks do not feel valued.  They do not feel truly seen for who they really are and embraced.  Black people are precious and unique.  No person in their true heart was made to be ignored, just tolerated and worse yet, hated, denigrated and disrespected. No person should automatically be judged in a surface  way and automatically dismissed due to sex, race, religion or anything.  People, in the way God made them, were actually made to be celebrated.  It’s true of Latinos, Asians, Women and Men – all people. I believe this is also a key reason terrorists and radical control and manipulation has come into existence in our world.  In places where men and women in cultures feel disrespected, un-valued, unseen, un-known – rebellion, unrest, fear, hate and unfulfilled actualization of who God meant for people to be in our world stir up violence and destruction.  Where the true gifts God has put into people have been trashed by themselves or other cultures and individuals, it becomes the true loss of an irreplaceable one of a kind masterpiece and all of mankind, and particularly those who cannot see it, are poverty stricken as a result.

I also see the police community’s very same dilemma.  They too have felt “de-valued”. Their daily mission puts them distinctly in a situation where they experience more danger and negativity than people can even begin to imagine.  Let’s face it – when a police officer is involved in a situation, it is because there is something wrong. They daily run to “harm’s way”.  They are put into very fast moving events where they must sometimes instantly evaluate who is good and who is a threat.  When your whole job every day is a series of situations with many people who are not at their best, where the worst of human tendencies, character and behavior are being exhibited and you are not only there to protect others from that, but are charged with managing those individuals and situations to safe resolution – that is a difficult and demanding job, both personally and professionally.

There are bad people in every walk of life - those who have given themselves to a false image.  That does not mean that every person is bad.  Our fear of bad must never be an excuse to fail to embrace the good.  It is not right to de-value all because of some.  It is sad and wrong to fail to look for, embrace and value the good and beautiful that God has put into people different than us - His image resides in every person, but can only be fulfilled by permission and agreement with Him.  For people, those who follow Jesus – we know this battle is not really against individuals or people groups.  It is actually against powers and principalities set in place by the enemy of our souls.  It is a spiritual battle and can only be fought in the spirit.  So, where we sometimes fear the differences of others, we have the opportunity to sow in the opposite spirit and take time to really see them – see them as God does and help them see and celebrate themselves in His eyes!  He values each one!  We may feel safer with or gravitate to those who look like us or think like us, but, God has put a banquet before us and we get to taste and see that He is good in all the diversity He has made.  It is both a joy and vital duty to stretch ourselves outside of our comfort to see deeper and embrace and honor those things God has put uniquely into each people group and person for His glory.  Sometimes those things may be covered or hidden – but, they are always worth digging to find! That is God’s heart and there are amazing things to be found in each that our world desperately needs.  Funny thing, at heart – we are all much more alike than we are different.   It is wonderful and important to celebrate our differences and our alikeness both.

The truth is that until Black lives really feel as though, perceive that they are and feel embraced as ones who matter – the statement “All lives matter” can never be true.  This is also a call upon blacks and every people group to “from within themselves” see and value their own lives enough to take seriously what they do with them, how they take part, how they live out the giftings and unique value God has put into them. The same is true for Police Officers – until they are perceived as mattering “All lives” do not matter.  Women, Latinos, Asians, and all other people groups – the hard fact is that until ALL lives matter, are valued and embraced to live out their true calling – then the statement “All Lives Matter” is just a fine chain of words that sound really great and actually mean nothing.  Lip service will never be heart service.  All of us must ask where we are failing to see the good, the value and unique gift that others are to us.  I believe this is actually an opportunity for a greater revelation of the value of ALL that Papa has put into us all. The enemy is vested in distraction, strife and hate.  God is vested in honor, value and embracing His best.  This is not just optional, this is necessary for the future of all generations and our world.