What Counts
Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 2 Corinthians 5:16
According to the Flesh – Those of us who grew up in the church have a built-in response to this phrase. The first thing we think of is something bad, usually something sexual. All of that previous Puritanical indoctrination just jumps up and shouts at us. Let me put your fears to rest. Paul has something else in mind.
The New English Bible captures the thought much better: “With us therefore worldly standards have ceased to count in our estimate of any man.” Paul’s phrase is all about adopting the world’s way of measuring worth. He tells us that, once Jesus reigns supreme in our hearts and minds, we never again rely on the world’s measuring system to evaluate the worth of any person.
The world’s worthiness calculator has lots of keys and dozens of built-in formulae. There are keys for education, wealth, power, influence, celebrity-status, sexual attractiveness, physical appearance, networking, social class, politics, age, race and religious affiliation. But God’s worthiness calculator has only one key; only one formula. God’s calculator key is this: Jesus is my Lord and Savior – Press YES. That is the sole determination of my worth in the Kingdom. God’s evaluation is digital – ON or OFF, YES or NO. Simple. Revolutionary.
Paul tells us that once we press the YES key on God’s calculator, all of our evaluation standards of others change. We no longer count according to the world’s input keys. None of those things matter. We count the same way God counts – according to the Jesus key.
Is this true of your evaluating actions? Have you given up the world’s input keys for determining worth in yourself and in others? Is your determination of another person’s value based solely on the YES key?
The world wants you to believe that success is measured by who you know and what you have. Networking is often a polite way of saying that I want to use you for my gain. The world measures your value by what you can do for me. But when Jesus is Lord, all of that is left behind. I serve Him. You serve Him. We are brothers.
