Who Is Really Important

There are plenty important people in the world. Throw in all the important people from the beginning of time, and you would have an astronomical number of important people. What does one need to do to be counted among these distinguished masses? Who decides who is important? You know, I don’t think I’m important enough to make the decision on who is important. I would not want that job, and I’m not sure I like the way the world considers who is important anyway.

I have done many things during my seventy years: played baseball and basketball, worked on a farm, and in a grocery store, pumped gas, worked road construction, driven a school bus, graduated high school and college (with mediocre grades), and taught middle school 27 years, preached, and pastored 40 years, went to seminary (a lot better grades than college), and served in churches in various ways. I am a writer and I’ve written a book. I am a husband and a dad and a Pa. I guess because of my responsibilities I’ve been important to a few people. But in the scheme of things I don’t think that any of my accomplishments, anything I’ve done, makes me important. After all I’ve never been able to dunk a basketball and was never an outstanding baseball player. I have no trophies, wasn’t a notable preacher or teacher or writer. I have never been a hot movie star or a great singer; I am not rich; I can’t afford fancy cars or a huge house, nor can I afford to take exotic trips wherever I want every few months; all the things that appear to measure importance in today’s society.

I imagine many of you who grew up poor, and like me didn’t know you were poor, learned how to recognize when someone of importance tried to make sure you knew that you weren’t as important as them. I have experienced that from people all my life. I know that feeling very well. Even as a seventy year old man I can tell when my number is move further to the back to accommodate someone perceive better than me. It happens everywhere, even in the church setting. But I have learned to accept it, although I don’t particularly like it.

Finally, here is where my rambling has been going. Everyone of us who have been humiliated by those more important, more worthy than us, I want you to be sure that you know that you are important where it really matters. God thinks you are extremely important, and there is nothing you have to accomplish to be important in God’s eyes. He loves you so much. To him you and I are just as important as anyone who thinks they top us on the importance scale. God loves you and me and them the same, and that is a very good thing, and very comforting. Believe me, I am looking forward to going to heaven where all of us are the same.

For God so loved the world, you and me, every person, that he gave us Jesus to save us and keep us from perishing. That’s the Good News.