Dealing with privilege as a Christian
Every few months, I summon the courage to write an article that I can’t summarise in a thread of tweets. The title of this article is something that has been on my mind for a long time. How can a Christian balance between confidence/appreciation for God’s blessings in their life vs being prideful? As Christians, we are aware that pride is a sin that God sternly warns us about. Particularly, the two main points that drive home the gravity of this sin are:
- Pride is a prelude to the downfall of a man [Proverbs 18:12, Proverbs 16:8].
- God despises a proud person [Proverbs 6:16–17, Proverbs 16:5, James 4:6].
Therefore, it is important as Christians to always glorify God for all our successes and remain humble even when we are complimented by people [Proverbs 29:5].
However, there is a big difference between humility and guilt as a person of privilege. For those who have experienced this guilt, you will agree that there are times we have questioned our God-given privilege. We have asked why we are in a better position than others if God is fair and just. Typically, it is expected that people who question God about their status are the less privileged. However, there are a lot of Christians who have been blessed by God and are living under the guilt of this blessing. They do not understand why they were chosen for God’s blessings. This is the Christian version of impostor syndrome.
In addition, there are situations where other people make you feel guilty for these blessings. We find that when we are around these people, we tend to be quiet about the testimonies God has done for us. We do not want to say we got this job, or completed this project or won this award. Even when we do, we say it a hush tone or say it as fast as a tongue twister.
First of all, it is important to remember that the enemy only comes to steal, kill and destroy our joy [John 10:10]. The privilege God has given you should be a source of joy to you and others. Our light is meant to so shine that others may see our achievements and give God all the glory [Matthew 5:16]. To paraphrase, God blesses us to advance His kingdom. We are not meant to hide our testimonies or achievements. In fact, we are the light of the world and we should not be hiding [Matthew 5:14]. I like to use real-life scenarios or personifications to depict God’s words, so let me add this. We are actually fulfilment centres (Amazon’s locution for distribution centres) for God’s blessings. God blesses us so that we can be a blessing upon others. By living in guilt or allowing others to dim our light, we are limiting the fulfilment of God’s purpose.
