Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him!

"I'm going to have a party, but I don't think,

that I'll ask Hooper Humperdink.

I'll ask Alice, I'll ask Abe.

I'll ask Bob and Bill and Babe.

I'll ask Charlie, Clara, Cora..."

Hooper Humberdink, this was my favourite book when I was little. I identified so well with poor Hooper. I shared his pain at not getting invited to parties. Always being the last chosen for sports sides. Living socially at the bottom of the barrel, as it were. I am clearly not alone either. I searched around the Internet for Hooper Humperdink and found a myriad of people who all identified with poor Hooper.

I have long puzzled over just what it is that makes some people the center of attention whilest pushing other to the fringes. Call it the 'X' factor or whatever. It's most clearly visible in teenagers. Teen 'A' is the life of the party and the center of all attention, attracting a large group of followers. Naturally extroverted, Teen 'A' enjoys all social interaction and thrives (or appears to...). Teen 'B', on the other hand, is naturally introvert, shy and quiet. Social interaction is difficult and uncomfortable. For some reason the world seems to say: "Everyone must be like Teen 'A'. Teen 'A' is better. Let's all be friends with Teen 'A'. Teen 'B' is a wierd loser!"

Of course I'm speaking in extremes here. There's much more to it than that surface analysis. But the point is that we all do this. We all have a built in set of standards by which we measure people. And according to those standards we elevate one person above another. One person is "better" than another because of how they act or socialise or even look. We judge others according to our own lopsided scale.

Enter Jesus into history. He came with a completely new scale. A completely new set of standards that levelled the playing field. It seems that He alone could truly view people as equal. He ate and socialised with the rich and the poor, with sinners and the self righteous. He touched the untouchables. He returned dignity and hope to a women scorned by all. He found time for rowdy children in the middle of a sermon. He chose the uneducated fringe people, fishermen and tax collectors, to be his disciples and attracted doctors and political leaders. Each person he met was treated as equal. Each person loved as an individual.

The challenge for us is clear!