HOW VALUABLE ARE YOU?

The internet has leveled the playing field, but it hasn't changed the reality of the game much.

Yep, you can create a wikipedia article or write your own blog or publish yourself on youtube, but you still are a nobody in our culture until your article/blog/twitter/video goes viral.  Until 4 million people watch or read your stuff, your influence is subpar.  You have to be "found" before you're valued.

I started writing daily or so for this blog for 2011 because I miss the outlet and the challenge to write and think in this venue. Not because it makes me valuable.  As far as blogs go- this small space of the internet a nobody really.

So yesterday I saw this video of a homeless guy with a radio voice.



He was interviewed by the Early Show crew on CBS here when he was at 3 million hits. (worth watching by the way).  Now the original video I linked to above is at almost 9 million views at the point of my publishing this- and is likely old news to you by now.  Bottom line: he went from being a nobody "homeless man" with a sign in Ohio on Monday to being "Ted Williams"- a highly sought after radio voice in a matter of like 3 days.  Amazing.... and ridiculous.

Ted was no less unique or valuable 3 months ago than he was 3 days ago than he is today than he would be if he never was featured in a youtube in the first place.  This man's value is not based on his performance, but his nature as an image bearer of God (Genesis 1:27).  This image of God reality is one that our culture only validates when someone has a marked contribution.  However there are hundreds of thousands of homeless men and women around the world who have "no voice" but are very valuable nonetheless.

Proverbs 29:7 reads "The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern."

I love Ted's Story. I however believe that there are Ted like stories all over the world.  I believe that as a believer, it's my calling by God to be a voice for the voiceless... for the millions of orphans around the world, for the millions of people in villages all over this globe who have no "official record of their birth" and will never make a history book, for the quiet, overlooked, and neglected in our society.  It is our collective responsibility to speak on behalf of those without a voice.

May the children, the poor, the discriminated, and the abused always have a voice among God's people, regardless of how many people ever know their name or story.