6.17.2009
Entitlement
This last week, I've had a lot of time to be lazy and think...mostly because Rachel's been in Europe (Ireland and the Netherlands) and doesn't get back to the States until next week. Anyway, I was thinking about how I (and a lot of people that I come in contact with) consider ourselves "entitled people." We think that because we live in the States, we have the right to do what we want. We're citizens of the USA, so we should have the rights that come with that position, right? But what did we do to receive that right? We were born here. Some people who weren't born here have had to fight for that right because they want what "Americans" have. So how does that affect the way we live? I think it makes us arrogant. And it can make people not care about what's going on in the world around us. I've seen this first hand - I have a job, an apartment, a church, a God, clothes, food, people who love and care about me, and so much more, and because of that, I often don't look around at other people who don't have those things. Here's a thought from James 2:
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
As a Christian, I think I'm entitled to all the "blessings" of God, like so many other people. But really, I have so much already, so why should I be so concerned with everything I have? God has called us to be on the watch for others whom we can serve - isn't that what Jesus did? Washing his disciples feet and ultimately dying for people he didn't even know?
As I think about the concept of entitlement throughout the Bible, I can actually see a lot of examples where God's people felt the effects of it, too.
First one - Jonah: felt entitled to a plant that grew up on its own overnight to shade him. Then, when it died suddenly, he was huffy with God - saying that it wasn't fair that God would take that away from him.
Then there's David. King David. He figures because he's the king and he saw a naked girl taking a bath from his lookout over the city, he can call her and have sex with her. It was all fine until she ends up pregnant and her husband is fighting for King David in the war. David figures...meh, I'm the king, so I can cover this up by putting her husband on the front lines and having him killed. Then I'll just marry her and no one will know the difference.
And Jacob feels he was entitled to a birthright and blessing from his father, even though it was really Esau's right to have both. So he tricks his father and brother, enraging Esau and driving him away from his family in fear of his life. He never gets to see his mom again, and he stays away for a long time because of his deception.
While all of these people may have jumped in with feeling like they were entitled to something, but God still used them to do mighty things. Jonah preached to the people of Ninivah and they repented. David did marry Bathsheba, and their first son died. But God then gave them Solomon, who would become a great and wise king in the future. And Jacob was reconciled with his brother, becoming the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. So God didn't condemn them (good thing, because i'm just like them in my desires for entitlement), but they had rougher lives because of the choices that they had made.
So bringing it back to personal application now, I grew up watching a white Jesus with blue eyes and a nice smile walking around and doing the things that were written in the Bible. Now I'm not saying that just because Jesus was a white guy, I'm scarred for life, but it really made me think that because I was born and raised a Christian, I was one of the ones that God really died for. Now before anyone calls me a heretic, I do believe that God died for me and all people of all races, but hear me out. I was reading in the book of Ephesians, and here's what I read:
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." (Eph. 2:19-22)
It just made me realize more plainly a fact that I already knew, that we (white, United States citizens) are a part of the "foreigners and aliens" that Paul was talking about here. We were never the original intenders for God's redemption, but by his grace, we have been given the chance to be called children of God. Amazing!!!! One last part of Eph. 2 to help reiterate my last point:
"For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
We're not entitled to anything. God has given us grace in giving us what we do not deserve. Thanks to any who have made it this far. I'd welcome any thoughts on the topic. Have a great week!
