In the movie, “Shrek” there is a funny scene when Donkey jumps up and down, yelling, “Pick me. Oh, I know. Pick me.” Even though it’s a cartoon, we identify with his desperation. Whether we admit it or not, we like to be ‘picked,’ to be made to feel valued by another. Feeling inconsequential is common to every one of us. Watch little boys strut their stuff as they try to make somebody notice them. Many adolescent girls go through a time when they are at grave risk because they will do almost anything thing to get boys to pay attention to them. Having a ‘boyfriend’ makes them ‘somebody.’ Grown-ups want to matter, too. A little self-disclosure would be healthy here. I try not to let the size of the Sunday crowd effect how I feel about myself, but it does! Strange, isn’t it, that we attach so much importance to such passing things, even when we ought to know better?
Christina Kelly, an editor of magazines for young women, wrote a revealing essay. “Why do we crave celebrities? Here’s my theory. To be human is to feel inconsequential. So we worship celebrities and we seek to look like them. All the great things they have done we identify with in order to escape our own inconsequential lives. But, it’s so dumb. … doing it makes us feel even worse. We make them stars but then their fame makes us feel insignificant.” (as quoted in King’s Cross, 2011) A title, a tiara, an award, another degree, a front-page photo, a bigger paycheck: these are the things we are told will make us people who matter. They don’t!
All kinds of self-destructive behaviors grow out of the feelings of worthlessness that stalk us in the dark of our soul. Some find that alcohol or chemicals numb the pain. Of course, they also rob life itself! Others choose promiscuity, willing to trade their dignity for a few moments of fraudulent intimacy. Others become excessively religious, attempting to erase the uncleanness of sin through pious acts. Some become driven to succeed, in the memorable phrase of Charles Colson, willing to ‘run over their own grandmother’ to win the race for position or money. Some give up hope and their cynicism turns them into a pit of misery and self-loathing.
God has picked you! Read this familiar text without rushing through it. Let the amazing message sink in. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son." (John 3:16-18, NLT) You’re valued because you exist, not because of what you achieve. Before you ever did a thing, God loved you!
My favorite book in the Bible is Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Again and again, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he reminds us of the depth of God’s love for us. "You were dead in your transgressions and sins, … gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts … we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, … For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:1-10, NIV) Dead, worthless, destined for destruction: but God intervened! And why? Love alone.
The great lie is ‘you don’t matter.’ If I believe it, I dig deeper into sin as I try to rescue myself while I jump up and down yelling at the world, “pick me!” The grand truth is that each one of us matters so much that God sent a Savior to rescue us and to restore the glory in us for which we were created. Do you believe that?
Here’s my prayer, one of the richest in the Scripture. "I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." (Ephesians 3:16-19, NLT) Amen
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
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