Almost two weeks ago roughly 3.2 million people across Australia tuned in to what some called the television event of the year. It was the finale of 'The Voice', and whether they had followed the series or not, people everywhere wanted to know who the winner was. Now to be fair, 'The Voice' is probably the most legitimate of all the reality TV singing/talent shows. Its major draw card in this respect was its 'blind auditions' where professional mentors select singers based on their sound alone, as they are not given the opportunity to see them until after they choose. It bucks against the trend of the likes of 'Australian Idol' which often makes specific reference to image and mass marketability as a criterion for success. It's an interesting bit of television as that sliver of extra credibility makes those who watch the show believe in its humanity. The show is about true singing talent and nothing else. No more can viewers criticise outcomes for being shallow and appearance centric. It is value and worth in its truest sense, as contestants are considered for what they can do, and not merely according to how they look.
It's an attractive message. How much better would our society be if we refused to value those who are blessed with good looks over and above others? Wouldn't it be great if people could be recognised for who they were on the inside, rather than just what they look like on the outside? It's a nice sentiment and genuinely one which we would and should agree with. People should not be valued and liked on the mere criteria of appearance.
This though is my problem with 'The Voice', and it is the exact thing that is its apparent strength. 'The Voice' values people according to what they can do. In effect it has merely replaced appearance with ability. Now granted it is a show about finding singers. Its concern for talent in this respect is natural and to be expected. It is however a subtle and dangerous message which teaches a worldly value that if we make sure to avoid human valuation based on appearance, then we are safe. The positivity of its message masks its downside.
Our world believes this: that it is a good thing to give value to a person according to what they are able to contribute. The real question though is, is this a biblical worldview? On what grounds are we encouraged to value people in Scripture?
At one level, humanity's value rests on God's own decision to value us. In Psalm 8:4-8 for example, as a measure of how wonderful God is, David remarks,"what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour."Likewise, in that most well-known of verses (John 3:16), we read,"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."That God values mankind is clear. He elevates it in his creation, he cares for it and loves it enough to sacrifice for it.
On another level though, the dignity and value of humanity is built into the very fabric of the world. The creation account notes in Genesis 1:26 that God says,"Let us make man in our image, in our likeness". We are specially made to be like God in a way that no other part of creation can lay claim to. We are afforded a dignity that in some way reflects God's own dignity. The value of mankind then, and indeed the value of every individual person, rests on their existence as human. The biblical data suggests that people are important because they are people, not because of either their appearance or their ability to contribute to something we deem productive. Indeed people are valuable because God made them.
We must be careful to guard our perspectives and thinking from the influence of the world. Things which appear very positive can mislead and undermine the values taught in Scripture in such a way that we find ourselves preferring the views of our society, over the way testified to by God in his Word. The trap is that we embrace the whole of something when it is only a small element that we should approve of. And it is something that we need to be wary of through all of the things we experience and in particular those things that are marketed to us via the media.
In this case, the consequences of having the world's faulty view of humanity is quite severe. A failure to recognise the significance of mankind as image-bearers of God has ultimately led our world to freely endorse practices such as abortion. On a different issue, the same root problem applies to our view of those who we do not tend to associate with. We fail to recognise the value of those who are poor, homeless or asylum seekers as well as those who work labour heavy jobs such as garbage collectors, builders and plumbers. In an odd way, we even do the same to the wealthy and well off as we snub our noses at their 'snobbery'.
We should love and value people, because they are people, not because we like them. Where we are failing to do so, we need to repent and consider them as precious in God's sight. So in that vein, here are some questions to consider -