The Unique Factor

If I ask a room full of people to shout out their dream cars, it’s sure to get the crowd going!

“Bentley … Lamborghini… Maserati … BUGATTI …”

…would be among the passionate responses I would receive.  Have you ever wondered what makes these cars dream cars…what makes them so special? I would say that more than the beautiful designs and powerful engines they boast, what makes these cars special it’s the fact that they are rare.

Rarity is attractive. It is generally a product of much resources, attention, and care. And the reality is that things that are rare are uncommon…both in quality and value, when shouldered against their mass-produced counterparts. So it makes sense that everyone desires to have things that are unique…but I would say that even more that that everybody desires to be unique.

No one wants to be a mass produced commodity! No one wants to be just another number…just another Joe. Why? This refusal to accept commonality is an instinctive trait that is hardwired into every human soul. Even in a generation where people are stretching to be carbon-copies of their favorite celebrities, at the core of every person remains a desire to stand out as one.

At the core of every person remains a desire to stand out as one.

In the quest to resist commonality, people generally toil to acquire credentials…adjectives that they believe will make them unique. These adjectives are typically connected to what we do in life, whether we be preachers, plumbers, or doctors. In Christian circles, there are common sayings like “God has a special plan for your life”. The implication of such statements is typically understood as “God has a special task for you to accomplish in your life…that will make you unique from anyone else.”

But I believe that there is something seriously flawed with such ideologies. They give what we do in our lives the leverage of making us unique. But how many people do you truly know that have done a task that is truly unique…a task has never been done by anyone else before? The truth is that – and I hope this doesn’t disappoint you – more likely than not, whatever you are set out to accomplish with your life, someone else has already accomplished before or is accomplishing as we speak. You are not nor will be the only preacher, doctor, or plumber that has ever lived.  I am reminded of King Solomon’s famous quote – that “there is nothing new under the sun…what has been will be again and what has been done will be done again”.

But I would still like to offer the thought that God indeed has a special plan for your life – but not a plan like you may have imagined it. For starters, no plan will ever make you unique – it can’t. The truth is that no task you are called to accomplish has the power to give you such a quality. What you do has a lower hierarchical stature than who you are – it is only a product…an extension of your existence. What you do can never make you unique. The truth is that you cannot even become unique…you have to be created that way.

You cannot even become unique…you have to be created that way.

Genesis 1:27 says that we were created after the image of God. So in regards to our quest to become unique, this verse can give us rest…because there is nothing common about the Image after which we were formed! He is, in fact, the epitome of unique. In light of this, I would like to offer you the thought that you are also unique. You are a rarity in the realm of existence. Just think about it. There is only one you. Even if you have an identical twin that shares the exact genetic sequences that dictate your appearance, he or she is not you. There can only be one you…and rarity cannot get a lower value than one.

 Rarity cannot get a lower value than one.

What makes you unique is Y O U. Your uniqueness is an intrinsic quality that is just as part of you as you are yourself – if that make senses. Do you know what this means? It means that you, being totally unique and unlike anything that has ever existed or will ever exist, make unique, whatever common thing that come in contact with! In an ironic twist of events, you will discover that it is not the plans, occupations, or the tasks you accomplish that make you unique, but rather your association with with these tasks that makes them unique.

It is you that has something to offer! In this, God indeed has a special plan for your life…because you are special and the being so are the very catalyst that makes the plan He has for you special. It is not necessarily because the work He has set out for you has never been done before, but because you, the unique factor are to impart your uniqueness to that that work!