Fantasy Football Value

 Genesis 9

 In football there is a term for how valuable individual players are for Fantasy Football.  Essentially, if you swapped out one player for another that is available, would the player you currently have be more or less valuable than that other player. Often, this is how we think about people. Is the person I work with doing everything they are supposed to be doing, or should I go find another employee who would be more valuable to the company? Are my friends and family supporting me in the way I need them to, or should I go find a new set of people with whom to spend my time?  Is my church doing the things I want them to, or should I go find a new one, with better people in it that are doing more for me and the community?

These are valid questions. We wonder if the people around us are worthy of our time and valuable enough to continue to invest in.  Years ago the insurance industry had to reckon with the value of people.  If someone was in a car accident, how valuable was their injury, or their death? Initially they calculated worth by how much a person could be expected to earn at work throughout the rest of their life. An older person, then, was worth much less than a younger person. This was 'the cost of death' and it was a way to measure how much each life was worth (see 'Lives Vs. the Economy' by Planet Money).

But I'm not convinced that's how God sees people. In Genesis 9 God blesses Noah and his sons, sending them out after the flood to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. 9:1). The next instruction from God is to refrain from shedding blood, because humanity is made in the image of God. Killing another person would be like trying to kill God, so it must be banned. Here we have a clue as to how important people are to God. God has rescued humans from a flood, despite "every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts [being] only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). A few verses later the scripture says the earth was filled with violence. Yet, despite their wrong actions, God warns against taking people's lives. Another person's evil actions, even violence against you, are not enough to warrant the taking of a person's life. It must be stopped, and God confirms this with a sign.  Just as God promises to never flood the earth, taking human life, so people must not take each other's lives, and our reminder of this covenant is a rainbow in the sky.  

It wouldn't have been the first rainbow people had seen, nor would it be the last, but every time it is seen in the sky it is meant to remind humanity not only that God will not take life, but that we are not to take other's lives either, no matter what evil someone has done. Remember that God is good to us, and we ought to be good to one another.  Eventually the insurance industry figured this out, too. People aren't worth just a few hundred thousands dollars based on how much they could potentially earn for the rest of their lives; they were worth so much more.  A life went from valued at thousands of dollars to millions and millions of dollars. We are all worth so much, and we are worth even more to God. Remember that every time you see a rainbow in the sky; its God's sign to all of us of our worth to the Lord and to one another.