According to Dictionary.com, privilege is defined the following way:
- a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most.
- a special right, immunity, or exemption granted to persons in authority or office to free them from certain obligations or liabilities.
- a grant to an individual, corporation, etc., of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions.
- the principle or condition of enjoying special rights or immunities.
Privilege is a touchy subject. Which, itself, is amazing. Of course privilege is touchy – especially for those who have privilege. It is expected by those who have privilege, that they would, by definition, be exempt from having a conversation about privilege.
And so, as a society, those with privilege often get to dictate what is acceptable to talk about publicly. Public discourse is contained so as to protect the privileged from being uncomfortable.
If you don’t have to deal with or think about politics, because it doesn’t really impact your life, then you are privileged. If you don’t have to think about or deal with issues around race or gender, then you are privileged. If you don’t have to think about or figure out where your next meal is or where you are going to sleep tonight, then you are privileged.
Let me be clear – none of this makes you a bad person, or a good person. It’s more just a recognition of your status in society. Let me repeat that. If you are privileged, it says nothing about what type of person you are. There’s no accusation that you are inherently bad or evil. It’s only a statement of where you are in life right now. Right now being the key.
You might not have always been there. Maybe you were though. You might not always be as privileged as you are either. It’s just where you are right now. The future doesn’t promise that you will remain where you are.
The better question is this – given your level of privilege, regardless of how much privilege you have, what are you going to do with it?
Does it exist for your own benefit? Are you more interested in turning inward on yourself to use your comfort to make your life comfortable, to protect yourself? Maybe you’ll even extend that to your family and friends.
But what about to those who you don’t know? Do you have an obligation to use the privilege you have to benefit others – even those you don’t know?
By definition, privilege frees a person from obligations.
So the question becomes this – if you are a follower of Jesus, can you live by the definition of privilege? Are followers of Jesus exempt from the obligations that God places on them?
Jesus tells us to love our enemies. Are we obligated to do that? Or are we exempt from that, and hence, privileged? Can Christians – disciples or followers of Jesus – truly be privileged?
In Matthew 25, we hear Jesus talking about how nations will be judged. Nations are privileged too, not just individuals. Can a privileged nation be exempt from God’s commands?
Jesus tells us to follow his commands. Jesus tells us to offer forgiveness. Jesus tells us to pray for those who persecute us. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and die daily.
So which is it, Christian? Do we hold onto our privilege? Or do we embrace Jesus? The two are not compatible. It is literally impossible to hold onto our privilege and honestly follow Jesus. Scripture talks about Jesus emptying himself and becoming a slave. Jesus didn’t take his privilege of being the Son of God and use it for himself – instead, he used it for the benefit of all creation. Followers of Jesus are called to follow his lead and example.
For those of us that are privileged, we are called to use that privilege for the benefit of those around us, and to those we don’t even know. It’s the very meaning of the doing until others as we would have then do unto us. It is the meaning of what it means to love our neighbor. It is the very meaning of living into the Imago Dei – the Image of God.
Let us use our privilege to benefit those without privilege. Let us deny ourselves daily, see the image of God in those without privilege, and love our less privileged neighbors. That’s what the unfolding of the Kingdom of God is all about.
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A couple of weeks ago, I referred to our FJ Ministry as a privilege too serve. That fits in with what you are saying here. It is our privilege as privileged people to serve those underprivileged.
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And that’s not a bad thing, just as I said. It’s more a recognition of reality. The better question is, what are we doing with that privilege. In the case of Flying J, we are offering a ministry of presence, community, and offering what materials we can offer. That’s a good use of privilege. It’s empowering people. It’s reminding people of the Image of God in each person.
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This is an issue I’ve struggled with a great deal in proportion to growth in my faith/relationship with Christ. Especially since I’m privileged (born and raised in it). Looking at the history of the church from the days of Augustine and Ambrose up to today, it seems to me the history of Christianity is a prolonged drama of trying to figure out how to live by Christ’s radical vision all the while His church settles ever more comfortably into the privileged seats of society. My own experience so far is that the longer I seek to follow Christ, the more I feel an ever-more defined, obvious pull toward the disenfranchised (especially the homeless, in my case). Christ is to be found not so much in our insular white enclaves, but among the people we privileged grow up being taught to fear and look down upon. But anyway, thank you much for this reflection. It hits home for something that has been really on my mind lately.
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Steven, thank you so much for your words and honesty. I am right there with you. That has been my experience as well. It’s what we struggle with all the time. When the church sees itself as an institution that is supported by a movement, then it falls prey to the sin. But when the movement of Jesus is supported by the institution, amazing things happen and lives are transformed. But there will be resistance to this. There always has been. And yet, we find a way to go forward anyway. Blessings to you.
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