Evaluation
August 26, 2020
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Listen to this daily worship
Romans 12: 1-8 (NIV)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
There has been a lot of debate in the press recently about the value we place on what people do. Many of the workers who have cared for their fellow citizens and provided the basic necessities of life during lockdown have been the lowest paid in society. Some of the essential roles they fulfil are also viewed as low status.
We have a history of not fairly valuing different gifts, different but necessary contributions to the greater good. It was not until 1970 (enacted 5 years later in December 1975) that an equal pay act was passed to give women the same salary as men doing exactly the same work. ‘Women’s work’ continued to be undervalued based on comparable male roles. The gender pay gap still exists in 2020, so things don’t change quickly.
So what value do we place on the contribution people make to our society. In the family of humanity we need those who cook, clean and care, look after our children, fill our shelves or empty our bins just as much as the CEOs of the world. So why is a CEO paid 119 times that of the average worker?
Based on monetary considerations alone social media influencers, football players and pop stars are right up there in terms of ‘value’ but there are some small signs of change. In July the cover of a prominent women’s magazine was not a supermodel or a famous actor, it featured a midwife, a train driver and supermarket assistant — some of the key workers we all rely on.
Post Covid is talked of as a watershed moment, a time for the world to change for the better, a time when society seriously considers how we reward work and the worth we place on different roles. Now would indeed be the ideal time to heal and reshape society, to show appreciation for all the members of the family; let’s just hope it doesn’t take 50 years and counting to achieve it this time.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us: now would be the time to acknowledge that they are all necessary and all important.
PRAYER:
Give praise to the one who sees the true value in all of us.
Amen.
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