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The
will of God is a field, not
a tight-rope.
Human Machinery
We
pierce our souls - turning life into mere
existence - when we see people primarily
as commodities. The culture around us constantly
diminishes humanity, and everyday language is
a good indicator.
In
the business world we no longer have "personnel"
but "human resources." We reduce living and loving
beings, to the status of breathing machines. As
Eugene Peterson notes: "In our present culture all
of us find that we are studied, named, and treated
as functions and
things."
We
"network" with each other. Isn't that a computer
term for how machines hook together to work more
efficiently?
Everyone
is a potential "buyer" for what I sell; "student"
for what I teach; "member" for the church I lead;
"recruit" for the ministry that is shorthanded; or
"resource" for a task that needs to be
done.
"Spiritual
gifts" are faddish in our day - as never before in
human history - because they undergird our
contemporary emphasis on usefulness and
functionality. We measure a person's value by
their capacity to perform. People exist, it seems,
to fulfill a higher purpose - usually numerical,
architectural, or monetary in nature. And in such
a utilitarian environment, we feel pressured to
make a "spiritual contribution." We fit in, we're
told, because of a role we play or a ministry we
do.
Could
anything be more
counter-gospel?
Our
language reflects the glaring de-personalization
of our age. Because so many of us struggle with
meaningful relationships, we trade the effort for
something more "manageable" and seemingly "safe."
Consequently, we treat each other more as
commodities than
companions.
We
take pride in terms like "driven" and
"task-oriented" and have attached inordinate honor
to the word "achiever" - so much so that
"achiever" has preferred status over "lover" or
"friend."
When
we view people from this mechanistic
mindset, we trade away the essence of life
itself. When production, doing, achieving, and
organizing is the essence of our lives
then love becomes either an inconvenience or a
plain nuisance (in marriage, family, church, or
workplace).
As
long as results trump relationships,
we embrace the cultural shift from human
beings to human machinery. And in the process, we
deny the most fundamental reality of our humanity;
that we are made in the image of God; the Lover,
the Friend, the Relational
One.
Jesus
rarely seemed to be hurried or harried. He stopped
counting at 12, and never called the disciples His
team members. He called them friends - and lived
like it. It was well with His soul. May that be
true for us,
too.
In HOPE
-
David
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