A Biblical View of Privilege
For some reason, Christianity has become associated with right-wing conservatives, and so it is rare to have conversations about the idea of privilege within Christian theology. This is unfortunate, because the conversation about privilege needs to be had in all circles. Plus, privilege and theology actually work together really well, and looking at them together can actually help you understand both better.
Privilege is an undeserved advantage. The word can be used generically, but what I'm really talking about here is when society systematically bestows privilege on one segment of the population over another segment. For example, I am white, straight, cisgender, a native speaker of English, and able-bodied, and all of these characteristics make it easier for me to navigate the world than for people who do not share these characteristics. I have never had to worry about where I would be able to go to the bathroom, I can pursue education at the highest level in my native language, I can be myself in public without fear of reprisal, and many more things that are so pervasive that most of the time I don't even notice them. And yet, I did not have a choice about my inclusion in any of these sub-groups.
The idea of privilege really hit home to me when I was in Amsterdam. We were walking around this beautiful city whose prosperity was established centuries ago. The money to build all this, our tour guide explained, came from the slave trade. It hit me, then, that anyone who simply lived in Amsterdam would have benefitted from the slave trade, whether they participated in it or not. From what I know of history, I doubt that the Irish and the Mennonite branches of my family, at least, were involved in the slave trade, but they almost certainly benefitted. If nothing else, they ate food that contained sugar and wore clothes made of cotton which probably originated in a slave-operated plantation.
Acknowledging that you have privilege can come with a lot of guilt, since you cannot be privileged over another group without there being an oppressed group. But why should I bear the guilt for something my ancestors did? The idea that people are born with sin is an important part of Christian theology. It is called original sin. But more than that, the idea that children bear responsibility for specific sins of their parents is also in the Bible:
"Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation." (Exodus 34: 7b NIV)
The children are punished for the sins of their parents, not because God is vengeful, but because the children continue to perpetuate and benefit from the sins of their parents. This is certainly true in the case of privilege. The houses built in Amsterdam from the wealth of the slave trade are still standing, and are way more likely to be owned by the descendents of the slave traders than the slaves themselves. The countries that ran the slave trade are still more prosperous than the countries that were raided by the slave traders. And white people actively participate in this by not equitably distributing resources, by defining standards of beauty that favour white people, by not correcting for implicit biases, by criminalizing blackness, and so much more.
The guilt that comes with privilege can be especially uncomfortable because there is absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of it. Centuries of oppression have baked it into the system, and there's no way to change that, short of time travel. I was born into a group of privilege, and now I have to live with it.
I was contemplating this overwhelming, insurmountable, hopeless problem, when I realized it sounded familiar. And all of a sudden, I realized the solution: grace.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2: 8-9 NIV)
Grace is getting something we don't deserve, and it is a central tenet of Christian faith. There is no way we can reach God's perfect standard on our own, just like there is nothing I can do to erase centuries of oppression, but God loves us anyway.
Now you might think that I mean that we don't have to do anything. If we are absolved, then that's it, right? But no--the oppression is still there. And we should do anything we can to work towards changing that.
"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6: 1-2 NIV)
The Bible has one simple message about how we are to relate to others, and it applies here: worry about those around you first. Lift others up, and then trust in God to take care of you. One example of this teaching is the following parable:
"When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 'When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, "Give this person your seat." Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, "Friend, move up to a better place." Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.' (Luke 14: 7-11 NIV)
This little story is just about where to sit among dinner guests, but God calls us to go much higher and deeper than that.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15: 12-13 NIV)
And I need grace to do this, too, because there is no way I could do it on my own.
Privilege is an undeserved advantage. The word can be used generically, but what I'm really talking about here is when society systematically bestows privilege on one segment of the population over another segment. For example, I am white, straight, cisgender, a native speaker of English, and able-bodied, and all of these characteristics make it easier for me to navigate the world than for people who do not share these characteristics. I have never had to worry about where I would be able to go to the bathroom, I can pursue education at the highest level in my native language, I can be myself in public without fear of reprisal, and many more things that are so pervasive that most of the time I don't even notice them. And yet, I did not have a choice about my inclusion in any of these sub-groups.
The idea of privilege really hit home to me when I was in Amsterdam. We were walking around this beautiful city whose prosperity was established centuries ago. The money to build all this, our tour guide explained, came from the slave trade. It hit me, then, that anyone who simply lived in Amsterdam would have benefitted from the slave trade, whether they participated in it or not. From what I know of history, I doubt that the Irish and the Mennonite branches of my family, at least, were involved in the slave trade, but they almost certainly benefitted. If nothing else, they ate food that contained sugar and wore clothes made of cotton which probably originated in a slave-operated plantation.
Acknowledging that you have privilege can come with a lot of guilt, since you cannot be privileged over another group without there being an oppressed group. But why should I bear the guilt for something my ancestors did? The idea that people are born with sin is an important part of Christian theology. It is called original sin. But more than that, the idea that children bear responsibility for specific sins of their parents is also in the Bible:
"Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation." (Exodus 34: 7b NIV)
The children are punished for the sins of their parents, not because God is vengeful, but because the children continue to perpetuate and benefit from the sins of their parents. This is certainly true in the case of privilege. The houses built in Amsterdam from the wealth of the slave trade are still standing, and are way more likely to be owned by the descendents of the slave traders than the slaves themselves. The countries that ran the slave trade are still more prosperous than the countries that were raided by the slave traders. And white people actively participate in this by not equitably distributing resources, by defining standards of beauty that favour white people, by not correcting for implicit biases, by criminalizing blackness, and so much more.
The guilt that comes with privilege can be especially uncomfortable because there is absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of it. Centuries of oppression have baked it into the system, and there's no way to change that, short of time travel. I was born into a group of privilege, and now I have to live with it.
I was contemplating this overwhelming, insurmountable, hopeless problem, when I realized it sounded familiar. And all of a sudden, I realized the solution: grace.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2: 8-9 NIV)
Grace is getting something we don't deserve, and it is a central tenet of Christian faith. There is no way we can reach God's perfect standard on our own, just like there is nothing I can do to erase centuries of oppression, but God loves us anyway.
Now you might think that I mean that we don't have to do anything. If we are absolved, then that's it, right? But no--the oppression is still there. And we should do anything we can to work towards changing that.
"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6: 1-2 NIV)
The Bible has one simple message about how we are to relate to others, and it applies here: worry about those around you first. Lift others up, and then trust in God to take care of you. One example of this teaching is the following parable:
"When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 'When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, "Give this person your seat." Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, "Friend, move up to a better place." Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.' (Luke 14: 7-11 NIV)
This little story is just about where to sit among dinner guests, but God calls us to go much higher and deeper than that.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15: 12-13 NIV)
And I need grace to do this, too, because there is no way I could do it on my own.
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