Identity, authority, resources (II) Dignity

I have a painful memory of an incident many years ago, where I was giving a mathematical lecture to a group of mathematicians. Sitting in the the audience was a high-powered (as in famous) mathematician. My lecture was torn to pieces concept by concept as I presented it, with each thing being dismissed as trivial, and not worthy of utterance. For the longest time I couldn’t quite, figure out why it was so painful. Certainly it was humiliating, but I could later understand that not only the lecture, but also my dignity was under attack. In other words, not only was my lecture being dismissed, but I was being dismissed as well. There’s a lot of that in the ego enriched culture of academia!

I remember a statement by Mother Teresa, she said “Nakedness is not just for a piece of cloth!” The type of nakedness that we feel in a public humiliation, or in an out of hand dismissal by somebody who is important to us, has a lot to do with not being afforded dignity. Dignity can be defined as our inherent sense of self-worth and value as human beings. It is different from respect, which likely needs to be earned. Dignity should not have to be earned, it should be a human right. Jesus it is the supreme example of someone who affords dignity, even while at the same time, disagreeing. The woman caught in the act of adultery is a prime example. He treated her as a person worthy of dignity, while at the same time not condoning her sin (John 8:1 – 11). No wonder the Scripture speaks of Him as One full of grace and truth (John 1:17)!

It’s not easy to walk the fine line of balance, giving both grace and truth in our interactions with others. And it is part of “in many things we all fail” (James 3:2). Too often, being right overrules our need to be gentle and full of grace. But it works two ways as well, even when something is delivered in grace, it may not be received in grace. In the extreme, disagreement can be confused with hate and fear. And sometimes those who appear arrogant are acting out of a sense that attack is the best form of defense. My “friend” at the lecture had, at the beginning of the lecture, been caught out by taking at face value, something that was a joke.You have to wonder how much of a part that played in his behaviour!

Father, I have learned that if we expect to get our dignity and self worth from others, we are likely to be disappointed. When I find myself in such places, I need to come back to You, and to remember again that You have a very high regard for me. My value is in what You were willing to pay for me, the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. So I need to take my identity and value and dignity from You Lord, not from the world. I have dignity Lord, because You afford it to me. When I loose my sense of this Father, help me to choose to care more for what You think about me, than what others think about me, be good or ill. And I give You honour glory and praise again this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen