What if she hadn't sung?
By now, you have likely seen Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent (if you've been wandering on the outer fringes of Borneo for the last 10 days, click here to see it). The 47-year old was laughed at when she came out on stage and announced her dream of being a singer, hoping to be as successful as Elaine Paige. One young woman in the audience smirked and derisively rolled her eyes. Why this reaction?
Susan is not beautiful, slim, young, blonde, or any of the other things we have been conditioned to associate with the music industry, or with the entertainment industry generally. It is that simple. She didn't fit the picture - Christina, Britney, Madonna, Beyonce, and the like - so people expected her to be an untalented joke. And then she sang, and blew the room away.
Susan Boyle is a wonderful singer. But what if she wasn't? What if she was tone deaf? Or if she had simply walked off the stage in the face of the reception she received? There probably would not have been the standing ovation, the adulation, the acceptance that was evident after people heard her voice.
We judge people by their looks, without knowing who really are. And we've been doing it for a long time.
God sends the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem, to anoint as king of Israel the son of Jesse he has chosen to replace King Saul. Samuel asks Jesse and his sons to attend a sacrificial gathering. When Samuel sees Eliab, the eldest, he assumes this is the one chosen by God, since he is a tall, handsome man. But God says to Samuel, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
Six more of Jesse's sons pass by Samuel and all six are rejected. He asks Jesse if there are any more sons, and Jesse tells him there is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep. Samuel sends for him, David, the least of his brothers even in the eyes of his father, and the Lord confirms he is the one chosen to be king.
If David had never become king, it would not have mattered; God did not choose David because of how he looked or what he could accomplish. David was accepted because of who he was. But the audience accepted Susan only because of what she could do. They did not know who she was, but she had utility, a usefulness, to which they responded.
God doesn't care about our usefulness; he cares about us as individuals, just as we are. What should be our basis for valuing people?
Susan is not beautiful, slim, young, blonde, or any of the other things we have been conditioned to associate with the music industry, or with the entertainment industry generally. It is that simple. She didn't fit the picture - Christina, Britney, Madonna, Beyonce, and the like - so people expected her to be an untalented joke. And then she sang, and blew the room away.
Susan Boyle is a wonderful singer. But what if she wasn't? What if she was tone deaf? Or if she had simply walked off the stage in the face of the reception she received? There probably would not have been the standing ovation, the adulation, the acceptance that was evident after people heard her voice.
We judge people by their looks, without knowing who really are. And we've been doing it for a long time.
God sends the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem, to anoint as king of Israel the son of Jesse he has chosen to replace King Saul. Samuel asks Jesse and his sons to attend a sacrificial gathering. When Samuel sees Eliab, the eldest, he assumes this is the one chosen by God, since he is a tall, handsome man. But God says to Samuel, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
Six more of Jesse's sons pass by Samuel and all six are rejected. He asks Jesse if there are any more sons, and Jesse tells him there is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep. Samuel sends for him, David, the least of his brothers even in the eyes of his father, and the Lord confirms he is the one chosen to be king.
If David had never become king, it would not have mattered; God did not choose David because of how he looked or what he could accomplish. David was accepted because of who he was. But the audience accepted Susan only because of what she could do. They did not know who she was, but she had utility, a usefulness, to which they responded.
God doesn't care about our usefulness; he cares about us as individuals, just as we are. What should be our basis for valuing people?
Comments
Had she sung like an injured sheep she would have been cast aside as the frumpy loser everyone thought she was ... the same person inside, but somehow a lesser one. Sad.