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Mann's
Message
September
26, 2009
I’m Only
Human, Right?
by Danny Mann
Three parable and Adam and Eve . . .
Once upon a time there was an accountant. He managed vast sums of money
for enormous corporations. One day, he devised a brilliant plan to skim
1% off the top of every company’s profit.
His family had outgrown their house, his car was a lemon
and needed to be replaced, and his wife loved nice things and shopped with no
regard for the balance of their checking account.
So, it wasn’t an issue of wanting more money. He needed more money.
And what was 1% to those great big companies?
Then there was an audit. His brilliant plan wasn’t so brilliant after
all. He was caught.
His defense?
“I’m only human, right?”
Once upon a time there was a teenager. He wasn’t a very good athlete, he
struggled with making good grades, and his parents were too busy with their 60
hour work weeks to show any interest in his life.
But there was this group of kids at school – kids like him who just didn’t fit
in. They accepted him. They didn’t care about his athletic ability
or his grades. All they cared about was having fun.
One of the ways they had fun was to stay out late, take a little acid, and go driving around in their cars.
One night, this teenager, high as a kite and driving like a bat out of hell,
ran a red-light and t-boned a minivan. No one was killed, but several
people were seriously injured.
His defense?
“I just wanted to fit in. I’m only human, right?”
Once upon a time there was this woman. She was married to a man who took
her for granted. He never said, “Thank you.” He never told her she
was pretty. And she couldn’t remember the last time he had told her he
loved her.
But there was this other man – a slightly younger man. He moved in down
the street. Shortly after he moved in, she baked a welcome-to-the-neighborhood
cake and delivered it to him.
The man had nice eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled. He
didn’t take her for granted. He said, “Thank you.” and meant it.
Eventually, he told her she was pretty, one of the prettiest women he had ever
known. One day, he told her that he loved her.
She was spending too much time with this new man – and it
was the wrong kind of time, the intimate kind of time.
It was a small town. They were caught. The next thing she knew, she
was in divorce court.
Her defense?
“I felt lonely and neglected. I’m only human, right?”
Once upon a time, a long time
ago, there was this couple. His name was Adam. Her
name was Eve.
They were given a beautiful place to live – a perfect place. There was no
sickness there, no danger – and, each evening, their Creator came and walked
with them. It was paradise.
They had the run of the place, could do anything they wanted. Well, there
was this one thing their Creator told them not to do. But they did it
anyway.
That night, when their Creator came to walk with them, they hid from him.
They were afraid. They had never been afraid before. But fear-free
days were gone for good.
Their defense?
“The serpent made me do it,” she said. “He said it would make me
special. I’m only human, right?”
“This woman you gave me,” he said, “told me it would make me special. I’m
only human, right?”
But here’s the thing they didn’t realize. When their Creator made them,
he made them in his image and in his likeness. (Genesis
And neither are you – only human. You’re more than human. There’s a
part of you, a part of me, that is like our
Creator. And while this human part will give out and die after a while,
our Creator part is going to live forever.
Most of us are paying pretty close attention to our human part. We feed
it, keep it clean, take it to the doctor when it gets
sick.
But are you paying any attention to your Creator part? Any
attention at all?
It’s going to last forever.
And that’s a very long time, don’t you think?
For more information call or e-mail the church office.
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