Reverse Hierarchy

Okay, so I have a lot of thoughts tonight. Most are from previous days that I haven't had the chance to type out--but regardless, they all sort of go together. For the sake of attempted clarity, this post will be about one in particular.

I was sitting in a work training yesterday (which was about job coaching and job development for people with disabilities) and the comment was made regarding developing positions for individuals with disabilities to not only benefit their lives but to benefit the company overall, and more specifically, higher paid employees who don't have time/don't want to take care of minute company tasks.
This got me thinking and the words "higher paid employees" really stuck out in particular.
It didn't set right with me. Which is sort of hypocritical because I am a higher paid employee.
It's an obvious given that our society, and all societies in the history of mankind, has/have been and is based on hierarchy of some kind. In terms of the workforce and workforce development, this looks like a pay-scale. For government and organizations this looks like status or position. For the church..well let's not get into that.
Humanity understands hierarchy because at our core, we understand that there is something greater than us--even if we don't admit or 'believe' it. We can't fight it.
But at the same time, as history has proven over and over, we consistently place ourselves in that place of 'something greater', hence many social structures and American culture as we know it.
I could be wrong on some of these things. Like I prefaced at the beginning of this blog, a lot of these are incomplete thoughts that will probably get edited/changed later in life as I experience and learn more. So if something is totally off-base, feel free to correct.
It just seems to make sense. This innate understanding of 'something greater' (God) is the very reason we cling to hierarchy, yet the distortion of it places it on people. This is how evils such as prejudice, racism, human trafficking and many, many more can even come into play.

Much more can be said about that, and anthropologists and philosophers alike can add content/correct errs. For now, I'm focusing on how this manifests in socioeconomics because that was how this thought originated. Bear with me.
Our society has higher paid employees because of a pay scale. This pay scale is to enforce what one 'deserves' for the work they do. Therefore, if someone doesn't receive a lot of money while working, their work is not as deserving due to lack of education, skills, training, time spent working etc. While this makes sense to us--it doesn't in the eyes of Jesus.
In this philosophy, what you do defines who you are.
The mindset of Jesus is the exact opposite; who you are defines what you do.
Jesus talks over and over about actions being an overflow of the condition of the heart (see 'Sermon on the Mount' for details).
Think about this & really let this truth sink in.
What we do does not define who we are--but who we are will categorically affect the things that we do.

In the Christian worldview, the belief that we can do more to be more is called "works-based faith". It assumes that we are valued because of what we do and can therefore gain spiritually by doing "better". This is false belief though, and if you understand anything about the way humans function healthily, it makes sense to call it a lie.

The Kingdom of God is flipped; meaning it is the complete and polar opposite of this way of thinking/doing things. There is hierarchy but it differs vastly and is not dependent on actions. Meekness is greatness, internal qualities are beauty rather than external ones, and what one does doesn't place or revoke value on/from them but who they are does. Which, in the Christian worldview, seems hopeless when you look at humans in term of an innately sinful nature. That's not the whole view though because God has created each person in His image therefore placing intrinsic value within them. He then gives those who believe in Him the Holy Spirit to transform their messiness into the character of Jesus, who holds all of those qualities that are pleasing to God.

If we could believe this..like really, truly believe this..so many things would change.
If we would believe this, it could help in times of 'identity amnesia' which always leads to 'identity replacement' (heard those phrases from a sermon--not my own).
If we would believe this, it would eliminate any false, works-based faith that so permeates American sunday school curriculum (that is not a blanket statement, but typically true).
If we would believe this, lies could be defeated so much easier and falling into traps of people pleasing and self-centeredness would be a lesser occurrence.
If we would believe this, we would be so much more free.

Understanding who we are in light of a crazily awesome God should settle us to a place of security, knowing we are loved by Him regardless of what we do. I know I'm hitting on a lot of different topics all in one here, but the thought of social hierarchy prompted this thought-chain and made myself more aware of things I'm believing (truth and lies). And I don't think I'm alone in those beliefs.

Let's believe truth.
Let's live lives based on the hierarchy of the Kingdom of God and pray it will change our society to look more like that.
This really starts within me, but if you're with me on this stuff..I challenge you to dig deeper.

[signed, Allison-Idon'tknowhowtoendablogentry-Clark]