Blessed or Privileged?

Yesterday I came across an interesting article in the April issue of The Lutheran that raised a question I've been pondering since. It's a question that I believe is important for all of us to consider.

Because the online article is only available to subscribers, below I've included the passages that caught my eye.

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A distant voice of alarm called out as I read the snazzy postcard I received in the mail from a local church. "Come and See Our Newly Renovated Community Center!" it read. A glamorous picture of the remodeled and expanded building glossed the center of the card. The closing line read: "God has richly blessed us!"


The large congregation was in a middle-class area. Undoubtedly, their economic affluence had helped make the building project a reality during these difficult economic times.

I studied the card for a moment and set it aside, but hours later that voice persisted. "What is it?" I thought.


Another voice came to mind. It was that of my friend, Rubi, a social worker and member of a Lutheran congregation. "We are blessed!" I could hear her say, "We have a strong community, beautiful children and the sun is shining on us today!"


Her church is of modest means. No doubt the congregation that sent the postcard is blessed, but is their new building a sign of God's blessing? What about churches in more modest neighborhoods? Are less wealthy congregations somehow less blessed?


Sometimes we say "we are so blessed" when we mean "we are so privileged." I know, as I sit and type on my fancy computer that this is a tricky ethical conversation. I'm not out to critique the gap between the rich and poor at this moment. I'm not suggesting we hand over all our material possessions. I'm suggesting we think about the difference between the privileges and blessing in our lives. It's a question of not only semantics but theology.


Maybe, in the face of our social addiction to materialism, it's become normal to confuse our blessings with our privileges. The prosperity gospel is all around us. Famous "pop" church leaders preach that material success is an indication of God's favor or blessing. Cultural messages teach us to idolize material things like fancy cars, nice clothes, sexualized bodies, and expensive homes. Suddenly a big, beautiful home or an elaborate vacation becomes a "blessing."


But the opportunity to own material things like a brand-new car, a gym membership, or an expensive suit is ours as a result of our economic privilege.


In the U.S., whites have been historically privileged over people of other ethnicities. All over the world, corporations are privileged over individual farmers or factory workers. Throughout the centuries, society has privileged certain characteristics over others. Privilege is a result of social construction. It's born of systems such as slavery, colonization, and patriarchal societies that honor certain kinds of work. Privilege is not divine providence.


...When we equate God's blessing with material things, it can give rise to an attitude that we are an "exceptional" country that is somehow more blessed and "better" than the rest of the world because we are materially privileged. We may think our technology is the best, our ideas are the best, our views about religion, our way of life...you get the idea. But perhaps we aren't necessarily exceptional-just privileged.


Jesus reminds us in John 10:10 that he came so we might have "abundant life." What does that mean to us? Do our material goods compose "abundant life?" What blessings make your life abundant?


The line between a privilege and a blessing isn't always clear. Sometimes there is tension. For example, is a glass of clean drinking water a blessing or a privilege? Is the peaceful neighborhood where I live a blessing or a privilege? Is my first-rate education a blessing or a privilege? Is my local, excellent hospital emergency room a blessing or a privilege?

*Credit: Lindsay Mack, former ELCA missionary; The Lutheran April 2011 - emphasis mine

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Are will guilty of speaking of our privileges as "blessings?" Does it matter what term we use? (I think it does.) Are we really correctly representing to the world what it is to be blessed when we put vanity plates reading "HISWILL" on our Lexus or tell them that God "gave us"  our new laptop/iphone/car/big house/etc?

I wish more Christians would seriously consider this question.

Terrible T-Shirt Tuesday: Wait, What? Edition

Found here

Sometimes I see "evangelism tools" that are destined to be completely ineffective, not because their message isn't true, but rather because it's presented in such a confusing manner that it would take longer to explain it to people than they probably care to listen. I think this is one of those cases.



WWJB Saturday: Hey Mr. Tambourine Man Edition



Found here

Because when it comes to proving your enthusiasm for your faith, merely bringing your own tambourine to church isn't enough.

Drive By Evangelism...Literally

Today as I was driving home, I was stopped at a stoplight behind a truck with vanity plates that read "GODRULZ." Although I found the owner's public display of faith far more classy than the approach many others have taken with their vehicles, it brought one major question to my mind.

"Why?"

I mean, besides the owner's obvious enthusiasm for his/her faith, what do they think this will accomplish? Do they think some lost soul will be stopped behind them at a stoplight and suddenly think "Huh. You know, maybe God does rule."? Is it some needed reminder of God's sovereignty as they head out for their morning commute? How many people just look at it bewildered thinking "Go drools?"

Just Be Honest

I've had a melancholy sort of week. It was a state of mind that led to a lot of reflection and looking back over the years. I was thinking of my time in American Evangelical Culture, the people I met there, the ones I'm still in contact with, the bridges I burned with others, those who burned the bridges in my direction, churches I visited, churches I attended, churches I left, etc. I have two bad habits when I spend a lot of time in thought. I overanalyze simple things and simplify complex ones. As I continued to reflect, I tried to think of the one piece of advice I would give to people/churches/organizations that exist within that culture. Could I boil it down to one thing?

At first I assumed that it would be something about treating others with love and compassion. But there are plenty of people in that culture who do behave with love. And when it comes to those who don't, they usually claim that they are. So that wouldn't really work. I let all the faces, places, and experiences I had in that world flip through my mind's eye one by one. As I did, the emotions of those experiences, good and bad, rushed back. It became a more personal challenge now. It wasn't just about the advice that I would give to the culture in general. What advice would I give if I had the chance to give it to those I had personally encountered?

Just be honest.

Terrible T-Shirt Tuesday: Misconstruing Art Edition

Found here   For even more fun, read the customer reviews

How is this awkward? Let me count the ways.

1. Having an old man's face directly on your left boob. It's like one of those paintings where the eyes seem to follow you around the room. I don't want my boob doing that. Awkward.

2. An old man leering at a younger woman while holding a pitchfork. It's like the beginning of a low budget horror movie. Awkward.

3. The fact that the top of the porch behind them reads "Still Legal in Most States" Um...in what state is marriage not legal? Unless your gay or polygamous, I don't think that's an issue. I know of no one state that is seeking to outlaw heterosexual marriage. Misleading and confusing claim. Awkward.

4. Unintentionally endorsing incest. Whoever thought that Grant Wood's "American Gothic" was the perfect picture of traditional marriage, obviously hasn't studied much art. A quick study (or half assed google search for that matter) would have quickly informed them that "American Gothic" is a painting of a farmer and his unmarried daughter. The real life individuals who posed for the painting were the artist's dentist and his sister. Making these two an example of marriage would be incest, something that in fact is not still legal in most states. Awkward.

5. Taking something completely out of context to try to push your own agenda. Extremely awkward.



The Emotional Appeal

Did he really just say what I thought he said? I couldn't believe my ears. Here I was sitting in chapel at my Conservative Christian College. It was a Friday "praise chapel" which was all praise and worship rather than a speaker. The student who was leading the worship that day was talking about how easy it can be to go through the motions. He said "I'm sure we all know of the worship format of 2:3:2. Two slow songs to draw everyone in, three upbeat songs to pump them up, and two slower emotional songs to prepare them for the message." My ears perked up immediately. No, I didn't know that. I had no clue that there was a recognized formula for achieving the proper emotional response to your message. As much as I understand the need for leaders to be intentional about structuring a worship service, I couldn't help but feel a little manipulated. (Joel Wentz wrote a great article for Relevant about this very issue that I would highly recommend you read.)

During my time as an American Evangelical, I spent a few years within the more charismatic circles of the movement. A number of my close friends and roommates were involved with such movements, so it started when I began tagging along with them to various events. But there were two very distinct moments that opened my eyes to the issue of emotional manipulation within the church. I'd like to share those stories with you.