Every Man Is my Superior

Many. many years ago, on "All in the Family," Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor), was giving a hard time to a mentally challenged stock boy from Ferguson's market and trying to plane a door that had been sticking at the same time. Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner) tries to get Archie to leave George, the stock boy, alone, and also tells him that the plane that he's using on the door isn't doing anything. Archie, of course, argues with Mike, and one thing leads to another. Eventually, the two of them are arguing, and the mentally challenged man is left with the door and the plane. Ordinarily, I would say that leaving someone like that with a sharp instrument would be a bad thing (a disaster waiting to happen?), but, in this case, it worked out very well. In a few minutes, George had the door planed down. Archie, of course, demanded to know what he did; and George explained to him that the blade was in backwards. George left, and came back later with a plaque that said, "Every man is my superior, because I may learn something from him. Every man is my inferior, because he can learn something from me." This, of course, was not what Archie wanted to hear, but since George had corrected a mistake of Archie's it was hard for him to argue the point.

I think most of us have some special knowledge or talent, something that we feel confident sets us apart from the rest. There's a lot of truth to that, but, at the same time, each of the individuals around us also has a special knowledge or talent that sets them apart. If I can beat you at chess, but you can beat me at ping-pong, then which of us gets bragging rights? Or if I can beat you at chess and ping-pong, there still has to be something that you can do better than I can.

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that because someone is good at one thing, they are more important, or that they are better at all things. I am amused when the media spends an inordinate amount of time covering the opinions of actors on subjects that have nothing to with acting. I understand that a lot of movie fans are interested in what the stars think. I'm not one of those people, personally. For example, I think Matt Damon is a fine actor. He amazes me with his ability to come onto the screen (usually with very little to physically differentiate him from any other role that he has played--in "Dogma" he wore a hoodie throughout the movie, in "The Good Shepherd" he wore glasses, and yet, he never wears a mustache or a beard or grows his hair long...) and just wraps himself into the character he portrays. Within minutes, I am not thinking of the person on the screen as Matt Damon: he is Will Hunting, or Jason Bourne, or whoever. Having said that, I do not know, or care, anything about his political beliefs. His ability as an actor does not make him an expert on politics.

In First Corinthians Chapter 12, Apostle Paul spends some time teaching about how God has given different people different abilities to work together to make the church work. Just as in a physical body, we may use our eyes more than our noses, it doesn't mean that a person's nose isn't important. We can live without our legs, but it sure is nice to be able to get up and walk around. Paul refers to the church as the body of Christ. We are the hands and feet and eyes and ears of Jesus. None of individually can do all the things that are needed, but by working together, my strengths may help overcome your weaknesses, and vice-versa. Our combined strength in God makes the church invincible--the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.