This year I'm privileged to be serving with an the precious team at Diamonds conference that hopes to offer encouragement support to individuals living with chronic illness. In the coming few days I hope to post a podcast where one of the Diamonds staff will be sharing more about what we do and how that can be of help to some of you or your loved ones living with chronic conditions. Kindly feel welcome to this information with your friends and family for a wider reach. THANK YOU!”
••••••••••••••••••••••
A few months back, I posted a post that narrowed to a discussion on racism in one of its comments collum. Concerning the essence of what racism actually is, one of my devoted readers, GCH, made an intriguing argument that racism isn't one of the sins described in the Bible and that it's just "a vicious catch-all term invented in the 19th century and used by the Left to subvert God's Created Order". He argues that we should not introduce sins that aren't addressed in scripture.
While I personally disagree with this viewpoint, I absolutely support the exercise of free expression here. Regardless of how different that opinion is, it is still a tremendous contribution and incentive for deeper introspection, broader learning, and additional research in these areas, which I truly appreciate. If you'd like to share further insights on that debate, please check out my post on "DIVERSITY, MINORITY, COMMUNITY, AND EQUALITY".
Over time, GCH's comment prompted me to think more deeply about the problem given by racial distinctions for some people, as well as how the broader concept of human privilege fits into all of this.
From my personal perspective, privilege meant quite different things to me as a child from what it does today. Growing up in a home with both parents, attending private school, and being able to eat pizza once a year were all things I envied from afar as a child. For a while, I believed that having all of that would have made my 'small life' much better.
As a black person who grew up in a country populated by about 98% black people, I cannot pretend to understand how it feels to be discriminated against because of my skin color. Although, on occasion, I choose to relate my upbringing's less affluent standards with racial prejudice because they are both rooted in a disadvantage way beyond one's personal choice. It's even more heartbreaking to envision a life in which one had to bear both or perhaps more.
Privilege abused.
According to Webster, a privilege is a 'advantage', 'favor', or 'benefit' that was not earned or worked for in any way. Of course, this encompasses all aspects of race, citizenship status, country of origin, class, sexuality, mental cognition, ethnicity, able-bodiedness, and physical attractiveness. It is undeniably true that the majority of our privileges in those areas are not neutral, and they are frequently provided at the expense of our neighbors, whether we want them to or not. We have an advantage over those around us, particularly because they don't. That is the only way our privilege can be considered a privilege.
In many cases, this develops in us a sense of superiority over our less privileged colleagues, leading us to believe that we have earned these benefits which we have never actually worked for. As a result, access to specific chances and positions of influence has cost some people a large sum of money in bribes and sexual favors. For those who cannot bend this low, the sensation of disadvantage forces them into extremely little conners filled with wrath, contempt, or envy towards the beneficiaries.
Pride can't be the solution.
In the recent decades, society and political systems have responded to the challenge arising from privilege differences by encouraging the least privileged groups to proudly embrace their distinctions. People of colour, for example, have long been encouraged to appreciate and be proud of their skin hue.
However, at this point, we must learn to halt and ask ourselves if it makes any sense to be proud of something we never earned or asked for in the first place and the kind of message that sends to the different ones around us.
Furthermore, despite the fact that this technique only addresses a few drawbacks, it becomes severely constrained when applied to circumstances where individuals are economically incapable, have physical disabilities or chronic diseases, etc. Seriously, how do we expect someone with limited financial resources to strive to be proud of their awful circumstances? Likewise, if lobbying for a group's recognition with pride is not handled carefully, it may just reverse the problem, resulting in the formerly more respected, protected, and treasured becoming the least privileged like what happened men with the advance of radical feminism.
It is likely that some of the benefits are the result of actual hard effort and honest investment. However, others have been obtained and continue to be sustained through a series of broken systems, dishonesty, and other selfish aspirations, all of which work to foster a sense of pride. It would be a useless task to believe that we could cure a resulting problem of pride with the same pride.
Contentment in disadvantage.
One of the reasons I felt less advantaged growing up was not only the comparison I used to make between my childhood living conditions and those of the kids around me, but also the belief that those circumstances tailored for them would perfectly serve me better than the ones I already had. Speaking from experience, such thoughts concerning situations over which we have no control can be quite uncomfortable, discouraging, and depressing.
They could also prevent us from actively enjoying the myriad benefits that we already have. For this reason, I, too, was prevented from appreciating the most important privileges, such as living in a family or receiving formal education, which I subsequently understood was something most of my contemporaries from less privileged backgrounds merely envied from afar. I may not have had pizza at least once a year, but I did get a wholesome dinner every day, which I was meant to accept with contentment and gratitude to God. Are you wondering why God denied you something that practically everyone else has and takes for granted? Feel free to share your experience with us in the comment section.
Privileged for service, not privileged to be served.
One hazardous aspect of privilege is that it blinds us to the unjust processes that underpin the benefits it provides. The comfort, access, and influence that it provides become so addictive that we never want to let go. Unfortunately, this may become an open avenue for the dissemination of anti-Christian injustices that undermine collective emancipation. Whether we trust God to be almighty and single provider is the big question that must challenge us every day we choose to protect the backup plans stored in our privileges.
Being privileged is not evil, and not all privileges are based on injustice. That is why we must look deeper into our lives to identify the specific privileges we may utilize by participating in God's plan for the less privileged.
Similarly, we must be prepared to condemn the comfort of advantages based on oppressive and discriminatory systems and push for alternatives that promote a just communal freedom. With this in mind, all of our privilege becomes a priceless call to do for the world what Christ has done in our hearts, so that we become the salt and offer the proper flavor in our areas of influence rather than taking advantage of the opportunity for selfish gain.
For its on this that Paul instructs Timothy to
"Command those who are rich in the present age not to be haughty, nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy, and to do good, to be rich in good works, ready to give and willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life"
( 1 Timothy 6:17-19)
Chronic illness is also one of the limitations that could disadvantage some of us in ways we can never imagine. Paul (see Gal 4: 13-15) and Timothy (see 1 Timothy 5:23) are great role models of unwavering commitment to God even amidst health limitations.
No matter how limited we feel we are, there's always something that God has placed in us that can be a blessing both to us and others around us. Kindly feel welcomed to join the discussion as we explore this deeper in the next post.
Thanks for reading.
My input is to remind everyone that we are all God’s creation and share over 99% of our DNA. The only difference between any of us is superficial. If you judge people by how they look, you are superficial.
I question this statement: No matter how limited we feel we are, there's always something that God has placed in us that can be a blessing both to us and others around us.
When I was blown up in 1975, I am sure my surprisingly fast recovery (just six weeks in the hospital) was gratifying to the nurses and doctors in charge of my care.
When I was young, all of my friends had more money than I did. I was scarcely aware of it at the time, but I like to think those experiences gave me character and values.
However, once one is no longer capable of living without 24-hour care, I see no blessings in keeping a dying person in misery. I have had Christians tell me that a shell of a human's desire to hang onto life is a blessing and that bathing a patient who will never improve and wiping feces and urine off a dying person's flesh is somehow a blessing. At a certain point, we are all kinder to our pets than to our fellow humans.