Saturday, April 2, 2011

The Nedlog Rule or Sanctity of Life?

Last weekend we watched this video on the Miracle of Life in our worship services.  It’s powerful.  One of the best I’ve seen on the topic.
“Sanctity of Life” is practically an absurd notion in our world.  All around us we see contrary examples of human lives that are used, abused, or abandoned, and not held in any kind of holy or thoughtful regard.  Whether the topic is abortion, fighting in the Arab world, human trafficking, or ________________ (fill in the blank from today’s top news stories), it doesn’t appear that life is considered to be very sanctified.  But that isn’t how we want to be viewed or treated!
Most people like the concept that their life is special.  My rights, my needs, my feelings are paramount, and I often have an expectation that others should treat me accordingly.  The wise publicist keeps this in mind when promoting almost anything, from fast food to fast cars… you can have things the way that you want them because you deserve it! 
Of course, the only problem is that others may hold me to the same standard of responsibility toward them that I hope they will have toward me.   Call it the Nedlog Rule (opposite of the Golden Rule).  This set of competing expectations is one of the keys to understanding conflict in marriages (and most relationships), but that’s a topic for another day. 
Sanctity of Life may be a crazy concept by today’s standards – but the fact that it is treated with disdain by many people points to some of the fundamental and fatal flaws in a world that emphasizes an individual’s “rights” over someone else’s.   It is in many ways a reflection of pervasive selfishness.
The basis for Sanctity of Life is this: God has created every human being.  Every one.  He put His stamp, His image upon each one that He gave to no other part of His creation.  I’m not against those who want to preserve trees, spotted owls, or gray whales, but those campaigns are not in the same category as preserving human life.  God set His human creation apart and, unlike plants or animals, He has given each one the potential of living with Him forever.  
Not only did God create every person, He loves every single one.  Christ died for everyone!  That includes those who are near death due to age or illness, those who are pre-born in their mother’s womb, and everyone in between.  And if God so loves, that means that those who claim to be followers of Him must walk where Jesus walked – and do our part to SERVE and SHARE His love with a world of people who need it. 
It would do us all good to remember (and to live in such a way that we recognize) that every human being is a unique, unrepeatable, miracle of God!

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