What to do...

I've been thinking about our sense of entitlement. This isn't just about fairness. This is about my rights. I have the right to think what I want. I have the right to act a certain way, because it's who I am. I have a right to spend my money the way I want. I have a right to be happy in my job. I have a right to have respect from other human beings, and when I do not get that respect I have a right to let it be known. To kick and scream about my rights. To talk badly about those people.

We take this a step further when we give our children rights they haven't even asked for. My child has a right to be involved in every activity. My teenager has a right to go out and not spend time with the family, just because they can. To not be involved in the family unit, because that wouldn't be fair to make them plug in.

Our country has done nothing but feed into our sense of entitlement. We have a right to go into other people's countries and tell them how to run it. We have a right to bail out, to go further into debt, just so we can have more. So we can be America, the powerhouse. We have the right to defend ourselves. To protect. To preserve. Land of the free. . .

However, I find that Jesus' teachings are opposite all of that. What does he tell the rich young ruler, who had obeyed all of the "commands since he was a boy"? That he lacked one thing. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, and follow me." The young man left defeated. The text says that he had great wealth, most of which I'm sure he worked hard for and was entitled to. It was his right to have his wealth and to keep it. To give his 10% to the church and keep the rest.

In another passage, Jesus makes a point to his disciples after watching the widow give her offering to the church. She gave what she couldn't afford, all she had. She didn't claim her right to eat, to have wood for a fire, for a place to lay her head. She gave all she had.

There are many more examples of people not claiming their rights, like Mary Magdalene anointing Jesus with perfume that was worth a years wages. How many of us would give our years wages to honor our King?

We have fallen way short of the mark that Jesus left for us. If not for His grace we would be dead. I think if I were in the crowd that day Jesus was arrested, I would have screamed for him to defend himself, to fight back. To claim his place as the Son of God. I would want that for Him. That was his right. If he had done those things, I would be dead. Because he claimed no rights, I am free. What am I doing with that freedom. Have I gone so far in claiming my rights, that I've missed the opportunity to show the same love Jesus showed for me that day? I think I have. . .now what am I going to do about it?