Are people animals?

My kids love pets; cute little animals that they feed and love. Unfortunately, their pets are usually killed, maimed, or missing in a matter of time. In spite of the fact that their furry little friends’ demise seems inevitable, they still continue to want one—or two. My kids aren't too dissimilar to most kids (and some adults); pets can be fun to have around. However, what makes you different from your pet? Your job? If that’s the case, some of our children need to be reclassified. Is it the fact that we wear clothes and use technology? Truth is those aren't the things that make us human and our pets animals.

I read an article not too long ago that listed seven signs humans are domesticated animals. The author went on to describe them:

1. We survive due to agriculture

2. Population crashes become common

3. Our jaws are small and rounded

4. Diseases cause more injury than war

5. Humans socialize like dogs

6. Humans look and act like children

7. Many adults can digest milk

These were the topic subtitles in the article that published last summer that assumed these were incontestable proofs that we are simply domesticated animals. Articles like this one are not uncommon. There are dozens, hundreds, probably thousands of articles that want us to stand in awe of the evidence that humans are simply advanced animals. The entire premise is based on the theory of evolution.

Assuming you've evolved from a squid, or a lima bean, or a chimp, can cause a person to question how important life really is. In fact, one evolutionist explained our propensity to overrun and/or pollute an environment by saying, “Humans share that honor with other invasive species, including extinct animals like trilobites, as well as living ones like rats, crows, cockroaches and more. Invasive species have roamed across the Earth since life began. Humans are about as special as dirty little rodents, scampering between walls in search of some garbage to eat.”

Darwin wrote about this in one of his lesser-known works, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Today, hundreds of scientific studies claimed to have solid evidence that animals from chimps to rats share the same kinds of emotions and motivations that we do.

These could very well be the same folks who want to make sure that you have a positive self-image before you graduate high school. It seems destructive to a society to consistently brainwash those listening to think of themselves and other people as dirty cockroaches.

So what does God say about the pinnacle of his creation? Genesis 1:24-26, “Then God said, ‘Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.’ And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.’”

To God there is a clear distinction between all animals and humans. And for that reason, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever would believe on his name would not perish…” (John 3:16). So how will the animals believe? It seems clear that we’re not spreading the Gospel to our pets, but to our friends and family. We share hope with strangers and even enemies within the human race. People who will be destroyed on the earth at the Day of Judgment if they do not believe in and trust God.

The urgency is that we need to make sure we think of people as created in the image of God, and encourage others to think of themselves that way as well. And since they are at the pinnacle of God’s creation, they need to hear the saving message that only comes by God —their creator. They are the ones we have to think enough about to give them the hope of Jesus Christ. The more mankind regards their peers as nothing more than domesticated animals, the less they’ll be thinking about being the bearer of The Good News that saves souls. 

Blessings In Disguise

Was Job a blessed man? Perhaps that’s a difficult question to answer. It might depend upon when you look at his life. Prior to him losing his children and his wealth, we would confidently say “yes.” During his trial brought upon him by Satan, we would probably say “no.” And if you look at his life after we read in Job 42:10, “the Lord gave him twice as much as before!” Therefore, perspective matters.

How about your own life? Are you blessed? Blessings come in different forms. Hebrews 12:11 says, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

In our country, blessings come with the territory. We expect to have nice things; we expect to have some level of safety. All of those are truly blessings, but those expectations have perhaps warped our idea of what a blessed life looks like.

Similar to the difficulty of Job’s life are words from James in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials…” Nothing about trails seems joyful, but God must see it differently.

The Lord declares in Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” So what are His ways? What are His thoughts? Because if we had the ability to see life the way God did, then perhaps we would be more grateful, less stressed, and more like Jesus in what we say and do.

Jesus rebuked the apostles in Matthew 8:24-27, “And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, ‘Save us, Lord; we are perishing!’ He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?’ Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, ‘What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’”

What did He know that the apostles didn’t? Shouldn’t Jesus have been afraid, too? Was He completely unconcerned with how His life would turn out? We know there was some fear or reluctance about death, based on His words from the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Would He consider Himself “blessed” at that moment? His words from the cross just a short time later would indicate probably not: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46-47)

However, He trusted God with a bigger picture of His time on earth. Jesus knew that the blessing would come later. It was because of His love and obedience to His father that He went to the cross, and it’s because He went to the cross that we now have the Spirit to intercede for us, to guide us, and to strengthen us. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:10-13, “The Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God… Even so, the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words….”

To surrender our thinking when tragedy strikes and to remember that God does have a bigger plan, is part of the key to having a blessed life. Our job is faithfulness, trusting Him to deliver us. It’s through that understanding and application that we can more fully grasp how trials can be viewed as joyful, James 1:3-4, “…knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Remember that we’ve been given a mind like Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16, Philippians 2:5), so trust Him when you have an experience that tempts you to question God. Remember He may be blessing you in an unconventional way.

Follow ... consistently!

Who do you turn to when important decisions have to be made? That may sound like some kind of advertisement for bank, or our government, but there really is a place that you most likely turn to for guidance. How does the Bible help you? How does prayer help you? How does a mature Christian help you? While those may be appropriate sources for support and assistance, do we use them?

Jesus came to demonstrate that God is a reliable resource when big decisions have to be made. Whether it was choosing apostles to carry on his work, or healing people, or feeding gobs of hungry followers, Jesus modeled turning to God for help. In Hebrews 4:16, after helping us see that Jesus went through the same kind of temptations that we have had to go through, the author says, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

James continues this thought in James 4:7-8, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” These are comforting statements for us to benefit from.

Solomon wrote to his sons telling them that his proverbs would help them to “know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to receive instruction in wise behavior… (Proverbs 1:2-3) So if these wise sayings serve as a guide for us when we’re not quite sure which path to take, not certain about going on or turning around, or just shed some light to our lives, then it makes sense that by turning to God and His word that we should see positive results to our daily dilemmas. Not to say we won’t chose something that we wish we hadn't, but there should be such a dependence upon God that all our thoughts run through a kind of spiritual filter.

In Jesus’ day, the people heard Him speak and were in awe by His wisdom; they recognized that He spoke with authority that naturally drew people closer to Him to seek help on all their problems of life. Matthew 8 describes a man with leprosy who finally realized who could help him with his skin disease; a Roman Centurion recognized Jesus’ authority over the problem of his paralyzed servant. Soon enough people from all around Judea would know to take their problems to Jesus. He became famous for solving all kinds of issues dealing with diseases, demons, physical infirmities, even dead loved ones.

But when His words got tough to follow, the people didn't recognize Him as a viable source for their problems anymore. For instance in John 6 where Jesus tells His followers that unless they “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves (John 6:53). In a sense He was challenging them to do more than just turn to Him when they had a need but to become as reliant upon His words in good times as in troubled times. He wanted them to become dependent upon Him for all decisions in life; dependent upon Him as people are for food. Instead, they had just come for the “free lunch.” John 6:26, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”

The question to us is, do we turn to God’s word for all decisions? When we’re going to buy a car, sign a contract, get married, seek a new job, chose a major in college, discipline our children, etc.?

It’s easy to only turn to God when it’s a spiritual issue, but in reality all things can become a spiritual issue. One decision may open the door for a more righteous opportunity or a more perverted one. We must practice relying on Jesus as so many people did when He walked the earth. Perhaps we could learn from some of the followers’ errors and not just seek Him not for spiritual blessings but for all issues of life. Put that into practice!