That Ain’t No Joke

I recently ran into an old family friend but the exchange didn’t go exactly how I imagined. 

He was wearing the shirt of an old cross-town rival and it prompted a thought that I was sure would be a joke we could laugh about. It wasn’t!

Where I grew up, we all wore green and our old rival was red to the core. It was always a slobber-knocker of a game no matter the records when those teams tangled on the field. 

I made a snarky comment about being on the wrong side of the river and he said, “that’s the problem right there!”

See, he works across the river. He’s invested plenty of time with sports and other activities across the river. I’m sure he even dines and buy groceries across the river from time to time. But he lives here. His participation in local government and paying taxes is here. His roots are planted here. 

Why do we do that? Why do we look at others’ decisions, deeds, and dreams and begin to hold them in some crucible of contempt? 

Comparison is a dangerous trap that drives a wedge of division in a place built for community. When we’re constantly looking at others’ successes and failures and weighing them in the balance of our own scales they never hold anything of significance. And all too often I’m guilty of weighing nothing but loads and loads of empty insignificance.

Comparison begins to carefully craft inside of us something that eventually becomes visible to those around us; anger, jealousy, envy, pride, quick-tempered, fear, loneliness, resentment. We try to contain our emotions but they swirl in our minds building up enormous energy until they eventually find a crack and begin to seep out of us like a leaky faucet. Drip, drip, drip. It’s barely noticeable, at first, but eventually it consumes us. Then it becomes a routine part of our day. We run every experience through a grid of comparison to see which circumstances can be labeled as something worth dwelling on in this little comparison game in our head. 

We stroll through the supermarket, scroll through social media, and stare at people at school and work; overwhelmed by the constant barrage of others’ looks, personality, clothing style, careers, family photos, vacations, and trinkets and toys. We ask questions like, “why don’t I…, why do they…, why can’t I…, what about…” We begin to measure every fiber of the situation as fair or unfair trying to figure out who owes who what. 

How do we get out of the tangled mess of this comparison trap? When we have a right view of God, ourselves, and others we find a new filter that frees us from the need to constantly compare ourselves with others. 

We are uniquely designed with a purpose and for a purpose. DNA is a beautiful yet mysterious part of scientific makeup. I don’t understand it. But I know it has been intricately woven to make me who I am. And there’s nobody else in the world just like me (And everybody said, “AMEN!”). We have a Creator who knit us together and brought us into the world for a reason. He has a plan for our lives. And I promise it’s not to spend every waking moment wishing you were somewhere else, doing something else, or with someone else. 

We have been uniquely placed in this place at this time. I don’t know the Creator’s plan for your life. But I do know that He has you here at this time and place for a reason. It reminds me of this line, “He has made every man to live on the earth and has appointed their times and the boundaries of their habitation.” The community where you live and the people that you see, He did that for you. To live in community with those around you.

We can make unique contributions to impact those around us. I know sometimes we feel like we have nothing of significance to offer. But you do. There’s something in you, there’s something about you that someone else needs to see. Needs to hear. Needs to feel. Needs to experience. It’s your gift to the world. We’re not spending our time wishing we had what someone else has; we’re declaring to the world the gift the Giver has given us to share! 

There’s a God who loves us and He loves every person around us. He’s placed a stamp of His image in every one of us. He wants us to live in harmony with others. He wants us to share our gifts and experiences with one another. He wants to forge our diversity together in unity. He wants us to build up one another. He wants us to see this world we’re living in as the training grounds for the kingdom to come!