In America, we have almost a preoccupation with individual rights – it’s part of our national identity. Our public discourse is filled with discussions of various rights on a consistent basis. And I have started to wonder how much that has influenced the way we walk out our faith.
If you study the word “right” in the New Testament, you find out that it is hardly used at all.
As believers, the rights it lays out for us are, basically, 1) to be children of God and 2) to have eternal life. That’s it.
As a matter of fact, if you listen to the whole of what Jesus said, you hear, "If you are going to follow Me, you give up all your rights - you die." He says radical stuff like “If a person hits you on the right cheek, turn and give him the left one to hit.” He says, “If somebody tries to steal your coat, give them your shirt too.” Does any of that sound like standing up for your rights?
In the time and place we live in, we can read many articles that say things like, “It is my right as a child of God to have a decent car and a nice house.” But the truth is that while that might sell magazines, you cannot find it in scripture. Name one significant New Testament figure who got materially wealthy because they accepted Christ.
Based on the characters we find in the New Testament, the abundant life Jesus promises us has everything to do with things like peace and joy and fulfillment and spiritual fruit, and very little to do with material things.
True enough - God delights in giving His kids good things. But that is exactly the point – they are gifts God gives. And when we recognize them as gifts, we can be free to enjoy them – they are great! The problem comes when we take something God has given as a gift, and make it into a right. The great danger of taking a gift and turning it into a right is that it binds us and restricts us and keeps us from doing the will of God. We are not free to give and go and do as He leads us. Whereas if we see all our stuff is a gift that we can easily give back to God, we are free – free to live life abundantly.
So the road to spiritual maturity forces us to give up our rights, and to hold the gifts God gives us to enjoy with a open hand, ready to give any of it back to Him if He asks.
