Honor and Significance...
Two things have been heavily on my mind in the Past few months. The first is the concept of Honor and the second Significance, specifically that every person matters.
My attention has been drawn to the subject of Honor by several online discussions with former classmates and alumni of my Alma Mater, bringing my attention back to a statement we all aspired to live by, a code of honor that seems outdated in our generation but was no less real to us, and remains real to me today. It is exemplified in what we came to know as the "Code of a Gentleman" It begins as follows: "Without a strict observance of the fundamental Code of Honor [cf., that a gentleman does not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do], no man, no matter how 'polished', can be considered a gentleman. The honor of a gentleman demands the inviolability of his word, and the incorruptibility of his principles. He is the descendant of the knight, the crusader; he is the defender of the defenseless and the champion of justice… or he is not a Gentleman."
The second subject, the significance, intrinsic value, of every person; put simply the fact that every person matters, has likewise been prompted by several things: my own extended adjustment difficulty with moving from a small community to a larger less connected one, Repeated exposure to God's work elsewhere in the world to eliminate human trafficking and to minister to both it's victims and perpetrators, and most recently a film called "To save a Life", portraying the power of simply befriending the friendless, to change and even save lives.
Both the code of Honor, demanding above all, honesty, and the belief that every person matters, spring from the same source. If it is as we believe, that all people are given life by the conscious choice of God to bring them into this world, then not only are we duty bound to live consistent with that belief, but that living consistently includes the duty to respect one another through honoring them by being honest and never seeking to lie, cheat, or steal from another. Honoring another as valuable means that you look into the eyes of the bagger at the grocery store, through the windshield at the driver in the car trying to "get in" in traffic, at the prostitute, at the drug dealer, at the friendless awkward teenager...at everyone. and see and believe that they are as human and significant as you. Honor demands that we do as simple things as greeting one another and leaving space in front of us in traffic; and as hard things as not seeing people as commodities to be traded, through exploitation of workers, through pornography, through using and abusing others to get ahead.
Most of all the church must be a place where every person matters and where we are intentional about seeing each other's significance. We cannot afford to bypass one another. It must be a place where we teach our children to treat all of their peers as genuine people, even at the cost of their own popularity. Where we as adults welcome all into fellowship and inspire courage in one another when the price of honor gets high. A place where sin is seen as not a flaw in the person but a damage that has been done (even if by the person's own choice) to the valuable individual. We should employ the gospel to clean and repair one another as we would graffiti or vandalism on a great piece of art, with great care to avoid adding damage, while looking to restore the treasure.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark--
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Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
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