There is “Good” in Everyone
This is going to be one of my favorite posts. I’m excited to write it, and for you to read it.
A famous preacher named Rob Bell from Michigan wrote a book called Velvet Elvis a while back. In the book, he says that he believes that you can find “Jesus” in everything and everyone. Now I know that not everyone reading this believes in God or Jesus and I’m sure that some of you are completely turned off by those words. So instead of using the word Jesus, I will use the neutral word “Good”. Because Good is simple, friendly and universal. (Christians, take away an “O”, non-Christians, leave it as “Good”. Cool? Cool!)
I really like the thought of being able to find the Good in everyone. It’s really nice. But I want to say that my thoughts on this aren’t as cheesy as they sound. I swear! Just hear me out…
Take a guy like Eminem. Eminem is one of the most famous American musicians of all time. He’s sold tens of millions of albums. He’s spent the last decade selling out arenas. He is so big, that the spell-check on my computer knew his name. Anyway… Eminem proclaims in his songs that he is hated by middle-class parents all over America. And I’m sure he is right. A lot of parents can’t stand Eminem! They think his music is out-spoken, angry, negative, rude, malicious, hateful, obscene, and just plain wrong. They think it is “Bad”. But as Rob Bell said, How could someone created by God not have God inside of him? I know why people hate Eminem, but personally I think he is a genius. I think Eminem is wise, witty, realistic, and honest. Think about the many Christian and non-Christian musicians and speakers who are so clean on stage, but are terrible people in real life. These people live lives that aren’t authentic and aren’t Good, but they claim to that they are real and true. They lie to themselves and lie to everyone else. Now take a guy like Eminem. Tell me, who is more real and authentic than that guy? He admits that he’s crazy, that he’s abusive, that he had a very troubled upbringing, that he is a menace to society, and that he is very far from a perfect father, a perfect son, and a perfect person in general. That’s real. That’s Good.
I’m sorry to have shoved Eminem down your throat and I don’t mean to overly glorify the guy, but to me he is a great example of a “bad” person who truly has a lot of “Good” in him. Think of the worst person on earth and you can still find good. Because, though we are all flawed humans, we still have Good inside of us. All you have to do to see the Good in someone else is take the blinders off and truly look for Good. Stop looking for all the bad! Look for Good. One more example, Intelligence is a Good trait to have, right? It’s never considered a bad trait. The most “evil” of people are usually the most intelligent. Hitler, Stalin, Attila the Hun, all highly intelligent individuals. I’m not saying we should give these guys a break. We all know that they were terrible human beings. All I’m saying is that I’m sure somewhere, no matter how minuscule, we could find the “Good”, the “Jesus” in anyone.
That is all. Have a Good day.
