Lent
April 4, 2019
Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14
even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. –Philippians 3:4b-6
In my Pro-reconciliation/Anti-racism work, I am personally dealing with the idea of white privilege and being part of the dialogue with others grappling with white privilege. Apparently, privilege is not limited to white people, as our society now must address the wealthy buying their children’s way into prestigious college, taking a slot that someone with less money deserved because of his or her academic and personal achievements. Wealth has its privileges as, being male and being heterosexual do. And I am sure the list could become longer if we thought about it enough.
Paul was privileged. He was apparently from what I would call an upper middle-class family, had a good pedigree, was well educated, and obeyed every Jewish law to the letter. He had the go-ahead to persecute a new sect that identified as followers of Christ because they did not practice the Jewish faith properly. Of course, Paul did not identify as privileged at all and most likely would have said these Christ followers were the oppressors of the Jewish faith.
There are degrees and layers of privilege and to be honest most people hold some type of privilege that some others cannot claim. One of the traits of privilege is that people rarely recognize it in themselves, although it is clear to see in others. I am left handed and must make all kinds of adjustments to a world designed for right handed people. In a lot of cases one just learns to accept it as a nuisance. Privilege becomes problematic when it results in discrimination or oppression.
For followers of Christ, privilege gets in the way of loving ourselves and our neighbors. Thus, it is imperative that we examine ourselves to find out how privilege is impacting our ability to serve God as conduits of love in our world and that we turn away from what is harmful to ourselves and others and strive for wholeness where privilege is no longer needed as God’s nurturing love is all anyone needs to be complete persons of worth.
Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of all that divides us. Make us whole. Make us one. Amen.