People and Things
I am a pretty laid back guy. But there is this one thing that I experience from time to time that drives. me. crazy! I can deal with a broad range of irritating and frustrating things without getting worked up about it, but when I have a technology problem, it makes me furious.
In a moment I transition from being a sane and rational person who capably navigates the challenging waters of life into some kind of crazy man.
I find myself having to control the volume of my voice and even fight the urge to break things. It is a weird and not very good experience. But as I've thought about this weird little part of being me over the years, I think the reason why I get so angry about this kind of thing is because, even though I use technology all the time, I don’t really understand technology. I just see these devices whose entire reason for existing is TO WORK. To just do what they are supposed to do. And when they don’t do that, it drives me crazy. I'm getting angry just thinking about it.
I’ll admit that I probably need to work on that a bit, but the reason I wanted to talk about it is because I think that sometimes we start thinking about other people kind of like I think about my technology. In short, we start treating people like objects that only exist to perform certain functions. Maybe it’s someone really important in your life, or maybe it’s just the person in front of you driving 10 miles an hour even though you are in a hurry. Either way, when we start treating people like objects and those people don’t perform how we want them to, we get really mad at them. We might even see them as useless obstacles that are taking up space in our important lives.
But here’s the thing though. People are not objects. They are people! And as it turns out, that’s a really important distinction. In all of existence, there are basically two categories. There is God, and there is His creation, which we are all a part of. And in God's creation there are, again, basically two categories. There are people, and there is everything else. Because the thing about people—even the annoying ones—is that we are all the only thing in all of creation that is created in the image of God. Literally the only thing.
That means that all people are special and important, no matter who they are or what they’re doing. That includes everyone who annoys you, and that includes you.
So if your computer is driving you crazy today, I’m probably not the best guy to talk to about that because I have that exact same problem. But if the people around you are driving you crazy, consider the possibility that you might feel that way partly because you have stopped thinking about them as people at all.
But they are people. Whoever they are and whatever they are or aren't doing, they (and you) are people. Complicated people created in the image of God.
If you can remember that, maybe you will see them and yourself differently. And maybe some really good things will come from that.
