The trap of oversimplifying

The tendency to reduce things to a singular value judgment translates into how we relate to other people. We want to reduce them to a score. This person is a “good guy”. That person is a “top performer.” In reality, every person has strengths and weaknesses. Every person is having victory over sin in some areas of life and is struggling in other areas. Every person can contribute if they are given opportunity to work to their strengths. Every person can fail if they are placed in situations that prey on their weaknesses. But, we take all the complexity that makes up each person and give them a composite score based on whether they are strong in the qualities that we consider important and positive and not too weak in the qualities we consider important and negative. Is it healthy for us to view people by a composite score? Or, are we called to see them in all their complexity? Are we called to love them regardless, to appreciate their gifts and abilities, to bear with their quirks, to forgive their transgressions, to exhort them to good deeds? Yes, we are. We will not do that faithfully if we start to view people as a score on a scale. We can make the same kind of mistake when we evaluate groups too. Our church is “healthy”. Our church is “struggling”. Are those even valid statements? Oversimplifying causes us to miss out on either the blessings or the challenges that we need to see.